I’ll have more analysis and comments later but for now just a quick update on the results of today’s drawing. Some of the groupings, as in past seasons, was almost a bit too predictable but there are some interesting matchups ahead (Real Madrid – Juventus springs to mind as does Manchester United – Celtic and Arsenal – Fenerbahce).

I think that Barcelona and Manchester United look to have received the best groupings of the top seeds while Arsenal and Bayern Munich are going to be in a very tough groups. Liverpool are also in a tough group but should be able to advance as should Atletico Madrid.

The groupings are as follows:

Drogheda United, Modrica and Domzale enjoyed winning Champions League debuts after dismissing their first qualifying round opponents on Wednesday. Irish champions Drogheda will face Dynamo Kiev after defender Graham Gartland gave them a 1-0 win at Levadia Tallinn to complete a 3-1 aggregate win over the Estonian champions.

Bosnian title holders Modrica scored twice in the last two minutes in a 2-1 home win over Dinamo Tirana that gave them a 4-1 aggregate win against the Albanians. They now go on to face Danish side Aalborg.

Slovenia’s Domzale (whom I incorrectly predicted would be knocked out) racked up a 2-0 home win over Luxembourg’s Dudelange to earn them a 3-0 aggregate victory. They now go into the second round to take on Croatian rivals Dinamo Zagreb. Dinamo Zagreb, who are hoping for their first Champions League group stage appearance in eight years, registered a 3-1 overall win against Northern Ireland’s Linfield after being held to a 1-1 home draw.

The big scoreline was put up by Sweden’s IFK Gothenburg after they thrashed Murata 9-0 on aggregate. Gothenburg midfielder Niklas Barkroth scored twice in a 4-0 home rout of the San Marino side this week. Gothenburg now face a second-round clash with Swiss champions Basel.

The second qualifying round sees some well-known names enter the competition. Anderlecht, Fenerbahce, Glasgow Rangers and Sparta Prague are all part of this second round and the action will only continue to heat up as we progress. The first legs of the second qualifying round are set to go next Tuesday and Wednesday with the return legs on Aug. 5th and 6th. The complete list of second qualifying round matchups are listed below. My predictions are in bold and so far in this competition I am doing OK. I was 11 of 14 in the last round. I don’t know that I can pull that off again but here goes

Anorthosis Famugusta (Cyprus) v Rapid Vienna (Austria)
Drogheda United (Ireland) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
IFK Gothenburg (Sweden) v FC Basel 1893(Switzerland)
Tampere United (Finland) v Artmedia Petrzalka (Slovakia)
AaB Aalborg (Denmark) v Modrica (Bosnia)
Domzale (Slovenia) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Anderlecht (Belgium) v BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) v MTK Hungaria (Hungary)
Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) v Wisla Krakow (Poland)
FC Inter Baki (Azerbaijan) v Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
Brann Bergen (Norway) v Ventspils (Latvia)
Rangers (Scotland) v Kaunas (Lithuania)
Panathinaikos (Greece) v Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
Sheriff (Moldova) v Sparta Praha (Czech Republic)

The draw for the first two qualifying rounds of the Champions League was held on July 1st. One of last season’s quarter-finalists, Turkish side Fenerbahce, will begin this season’s campaign in the second qualifying round against Hungarian champions MTK Budapest. Last season’s UEFA Cup runners-up Glasgow Rangers (The club’s correct name is Rangers FC but they are sometimes referred to as Glasgow Rangers for European matches to avoid confusion with other clubs) will face the winners of the tie between Andorran champions Santa Coloma and Lithuania’s Kaunas.

Here is the complete draw for the first two rounds of qualifying.

First qualifying round draw
First leg: July 15/16
Second leg: July 22/23

1. Linfield FC (Northern Ireland) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
2. Valetta FC (Malta) v FC Artmedia Petrzalka (Slovakia)
3. FC Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) v NSÍ Runavík (Faroe Islands)
4. FC Santa Coloma (Andorra) v FBK Kaunus (Lithuania)
5. S.S. Murata (San Marino) v IFK Göteborg (Sweden)
6. Llanelli AFC (Wales) v FK Ventspils (Latvia)
7. Anorthosis Famugusta (Cyprus) v FC Pyunik (Armenia)
8. FK Inter Baki (Azerbijan) v FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia)
9. Tampere United (Finland) v FK Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
10. F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) v NK Domzale (Slovenia)
11. KS Dinamo Tirana (Albania) v FK Modrica (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
12. FK Aktobe (Kazakhstan) v FC Sheriff (Moldova)
13. Drogheda United FC (Ireland) v FC Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)
14. FC BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Valur Reykjavík (Isreal)

Second qualifying round draw
First leg: July 29/30
Second leg: August 5/6

• Rangers FC (Scotland) v Winners Match 4
• SK Brann (Norway) v Winners Match 6
• Winners Match 8 v FK Partizan (Serbia)
• Winners Match 9 v Winners Match 2
• Winners Match 7 v SK Rapid Wien (Austria)
• Winners Match 10 v Winners Match 1
• Panathinaikos FC (Greece) v Winners Match 3
• Winners Match 5 v FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland)
• Winners Match 12 v AC Sparta Praha (Czech Republic)
• Winners Match 13 v FC Dinamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
• RSC Anderlecht (Belgium) v Winners Match 14
• Beitar Jerusalem FC (Israel) v Wisla Kraków (Poland)
• Fenerbahçe SK (Turkey) v MTK Budapest (Hungary)
• Aalborg BK (Denmark) v Winners Match 11