NYON: Zenit Saint-Peters­burg will open their Cham­pions League campaign against AEL Limassol following the draw for the third qualifying round made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.

Andre Villas-Boas’s Zenit advanced to the round of 16 last season, while Cypriot side AEL last reached the group stage in 2012-2013 season.

FC Copenhagen were dra­wn against Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipro­petrovsk, who are back in the competition after a 25-year absence.

There will also be a first meeting of Dutch side Feye­noord and Turkey’s Besiktas and Swiss outfit Grasshopper Zurich and Ligue 1 side Lille.

“Avoiding long journeys is always better,” said Lille coach Rene Girard, whose side finished third in Ligue 1 last season.

“But that doesn’t mean it will be easy, quite the contrary,” he added.

“This is a reference team in Switzerland so we have a lot of respect for them. It will be good for Lille. It will not be easy, but with games like this we grow. “The only tea­ms to have played before in the league route are Belgian club Standard Liege who host Panathinaikos of Greece for the first leg of their tie.

In the champions route, 2011/12 quarter-finalists APOEL FC open against FK Rabotnicki or Helsinki, and two-time group stage participants Aalborg BK were drawn with GNK Dinamo Zagreb or VMFD Zalgiris.

The third qualifying round takes place over two legs on July 29/30 and August 5/6.

The 15 qualifiers from this round advance to the play-offs where they will be up against Arsenal, FC Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and Athletic Bilbao.

League Route:

AEL Limassol (CHY) v Zenit Saint-Petersburg (RUS)

Dniepropetrovsk (UKR) v FC Copenhagen (DEN)

Feyenoord (NED) v Besiktas (TUR)

Grasshopper Zurich (SUI) v Lille (FRA)

Standard Liege (BEL) v Panathinaikos (GRE)

Games will be played July 29/30 and August 5/6

Champions Route:

Group 1:

Valetta (MLT) or Qarabag (AZE) v FC Salzburg (AUT)

Cliftonville (IRL) or Debrecen (HUN) v BATE Borisov (BLR) or Skenderbeu (ALB)

Slovan Bratislava (SVK) or The New Saints (WAL) v FC Sheriff (MDA) or FK Sutjeska (MNE)

Aalborg (DEN) v Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) or Zalgiris (LTU)

Legia Warsaw (POL) or Saint Patrick’s Athletic (IRL) v KR Reykjavik (ISL) or Celtic (SCO)

Champions Route:

Group 2:

Dinamo Tbilissi (GEO) or FK Aktobe (KAZ) v Stromsgodset (NOR) or Steaua Bucharest (ROM)

HSK Zrinjski Mostar (BIH) or Maribor (SVN) v Santa Coloma (AND) or Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)

Rabotnicki (MKD) or Helsinki (FIN) v Apoel FC (CHY)

Sparta Prague (CZE) or Levadia Tallinn (EST) v Malmo (SWE) or FK Ventspils (LVA)

Lodogorets Razgrad (BUL) or Dudelange (LUX) v Partizan Belgrade (SRB) or Thorshavn (FAR)

Fixture dates for the Champions Route to be confirmed at a later date.

Published in Dawn, July 19th , 2014