AEK and PAOK handed tough draws in Champions League
 

AEK Athens were handed a tough tie against Celtic or Rosenborg in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, while PAOK will face Spartak Moscow if they manage to defeat Basel.

Watch PAOK begin their UEFA Champions League journey against Basel on Tuesday, July 24th LIVE from AGONAsport. Details here! 

As Super League winners, AEK enter the Champions League in the third qualifying round, competing in the Champions Route. In Monday’s draw, the Kitrinomavri were hoping to avoid clubs such as Salzburg, Celtic and Rosenborg, but luck wasn’t on the Athenians’ side.

AEK were drawn to play the winner of the Celtic - Rosenborg second qualifying round tie. Taking into account Celtic’s European pedigree, the Enosis certainly didn’t want to meet the Scots, but Rosenborg are tricky opponents too and will make Celtic’s life, and potentially AEK’s, difficult.

The first leg will take place away on either the 7th or 8th of August, before the return is held in Athens on August 14. 

Although they have struggled in Europe in recent years, Celtic are the perennial champions of Scotland, earning the domestic crown seasons times in a row. In the 2017/2018 campaign, the Scottish outfit actually defeated Rosenborg 1:0 in the Champions League third qualifying round, later finishing in third spot of Group B behind Bayern Munich and Paris-Saint Germain. They were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the Last 32 stage by Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Celtic won the European Cup (now known as the Champions League) in 1967.
 

Norwegian champions Rosenborg are based in Trondheim, playing their home matches at the atmospheric Lerkendal Stadium. Overall, Rosenborg are the most decorated team in Norway, winning the Eliteserien on 25 occasions. Rosenborg have won the past three editions of the championship.

Following their 0:1 aggregate loss to Celtic in the 2017/2018 Champions League third qualifying round, Rosenborg dropped down to the Europa League, where they were in third place of Group L after losing to Zenit Saint Petersburg and Real Sociedad.
 

SPARTAK AWAIT WINNER OF PAOK-BASEL PAIRING IN LEAGUE ROUTE

In the case that PAOK manage to overcome Basel in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, the Dikefalos tou Vorra will play against Spartak Moscow in the next phase, a club which participated in the 2017/2018 Champions League group stage and even thrashed Sevilla 5:1 in the Russian capital.

The first match is scheduled to be played in Thessaloniki or Basel on August 7/8 and the second will be hosted by Moscow on August 14.

Spartak Moscow hold the right to call themselves one of Eastern Europe’s most successful teams, becoming USSR/Russian champions 22 times and reaching the semi-finals of the 1990/1991 Champions League. Last season, Spartak lost out to Liverpool and Sevilla in Group E, and the Muscovites then dropped a 3:4 aggregate defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League Last 32.
 

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: SDNA.gr

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