Ukraine's Dnipro-1 to play Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian league runner-up Dnipro-1 was drawn Wednesday to face Greek club Panathinaikos in the second qualifying round for the Champions League.
Dnipro-1, hoping to join Shakhtar Donetsk in the competition's group stage, will play the first leg at “home” on July 25 or 26 with the game set to be hosted in neighboring Slovakia, on Ukraine’s western border, at Košice.
Ukraine national and club teams cannot host international games in their own country for security reasons during the invasion by Russia. UEFA has excluded all Russian teams from its club competitions for the second straight season.
Teams from Russia’s military ally Belarus also must play in neutral countries and BATE Borisov will face Aris Limassol if it advances past Partizani of Albania in the first qualifying round, which is played from July 11-19.
Teams entering in the second qualifying round must beat three opponents to advance to the elite 32-team group stage that starts in September.
Dinamo Zagreb was the highest-ranked team in Wednesday’s draw and will play at home first against Astana or Dinamo Tbilisi.
Galatasaray was once a group-stage regular in the Champions League when Turkey’s champion got direct entry. The Turkish title winner was drawn to play the first leg away to Žalgiris Vilnius or Struga.
Moldovan champion Sheriff beat Real Madrid in a September 2021 group-stage game and was drawn Wednesday to face Maccabi Haifa or Hamrun Spartans if it eliminates Farul Constanța in the first qualifying round.
Genk, which lost the Belgian league title to Royal Antwerp in stoppage time of the last game, was drawn to face Swiss league runner-up Servette.
First-leg games are played July 25-26 and return games are on Aug. 1-2.
Losing teams switch across to the qualifying rounds of the second-tier Europa League.
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