Liverpool seeding confirmed by UEFA

Champions League winners Liverpool are one of a dozen seeded teams, and will also be seeded should they advance to the second qualifying round of the competition, UEFA announced yesterday when confirming the seedings for the first two qualifying rounds.

The Champions League draw will be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.

Twenty-four clubs will be involved in the first qualifying round draw - including Liverpool who were given special dispensation to enter the competition despite missing out on one of the top four qualifying spots in the English Premiership in the 2004/05 campaign.

Sliema Wanderers, the Malta champions, will also enter the fray in the first qualifying round of Europe's premier competition.

As one of the unseeded teams, Sliema could be drawn to face Liverpool. Considering the financial incentives a two-legged tie with the English giants and Champions League winners would yield, Sliema will be praying that the luck of the draw pits them against Liverpool come Friday.

If this fails to materialise, Sliema will be hoping in a favourable opening tie against one of the lesser-quoted sides in the seeded pot, namely Ireland's Shelbourne and Latvia's FC Skonto.

At the second qualifying round of the Champions League, an additional 16 clubs will enter the competition with all but three of those entrants being seeded for the draw.

The first qualifying round will be played over two legs on July 12/13 and 19/20, with the second qualifying round following on 26/27 July and 2/3 August.

The draw for the third qualifying round will be made on July 29. The final will be played on May 17, 2006 at the Stade de France in Paris.

UEFA Cup

Maltese clubs Birkirkara and Hibernians will also follow Friday's draw with interest after they qualified to compete in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

Birkirkara booked their berth in the UEFA Cup after finishing second in the Premier League ahead of Hibernians. The latter were promoted to the UEFA Cup after Birkirkara won the FA Trophy.

As two of the unseeded teams in the Southern-Mediterranean group, Birkirkara and Hibernians could be drawn against the following teams: Rapid Bucharest (Romania), Apoel FC (Cyprus), NK Domzale (Slovenia), AC Omonia (Cyprus), FK Vardar (Macedonia), NK Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia Herzegovina), NK Zepce (Bosnia Herzegovina).

The first legs of the UEFA Cup first qualifying round matches will take place on July 14 with the return scheduled for July 28.

The final of the 2005-2006 UEFA Cup will be played in Eindhoven.