Just now in the Swiss Nyon the opponents of the Ukrainian teams in the UEFA Cup were determined. Dnipro got relatively lucky, avoiding a meeting with Parma and Sporting. Kucharevsky's team will face the Serbs. But Dynamo and Shakhtar, one could say, were unlucky. Shakhtar will meet one of the strongest teams in Germany – Schalke 04, and Dynamo will face the solid Spanish Villarreal, which usually reaches at least the quarterfinals in the UEFA Cup.
Let us recall that Dynamo and Shakhtar ended up in the pot of teams that took third places in the Champions League, and will play against representatives of the UEFA Cup who took second places in their groups. Here is who they could have faced: Steaua, Schalke 04, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Villarreal, Auxerre, Sochaux, Benfica.
Dnipro, as the winner of its group, had to compete with one of the clubs that took third place in their groups. The options were as follows: Heerenveen, GAK, Basel, Alemannia, Partizan, Sporting, Parma (Austria was also third, but played in the group with Dnipro, so this option was eliminated).
Let us add that Dynamo and Shakhtar will play the first match at home (February 16 or 17), and Dnipro away. The return legs of the UEFA Cup round of 32 are on February 24.
Full draw results. Round of 32: "Valencia" (Spain) – "Steaua" (Bucharest, Romania) "Panathinaikos" (Athens, Greece) – "Sevilla" (Spain) "Ajax" (Amsterdam, Holland) – "Auxerre" (France) "DYNAMO" (KYIV, UKRAINE) – "Villarreal" (Spain) "Olympiacos" (Athens, Greece) – "Sochaux" (France) "SHAKHTAR" (DONETSK, UKRAINE) – "Schalke" (Germany) "Fenerbahce" (Istanbul, Turkey) – "Zaragoza" (Spain) CSKA (Moscow, Russia) – "Benfica" (Lisbon, Portugal) "Feyenoord" (Holland) – "Sporting" (Lisbon, Portugal) "Newcastle" (England) – "Heerenveen" (Holland) "Stuttgart" (Germany) – "Parma" (Italy) "Lille" (France) – "Basel" (Switzerland) "Athletic" (Spain) – "Austria" (Vienna, Austria) "Middlesbrough" (England) – "Graz" (Austria) "DNIPRO" (DNIPROPETROVSK, UKRAINE) – "Partizan" (Belgrade, Serbia) "Alkmaar" (Holland) – "Alemannia" (Germany)
The round of 16 of the UEFA Cup was also drawn. The following pairs of winners will meet in it: GAK\Middlesbrough - Sporting\Feyenoord Panathinaikos\Sevilla - Parma\Stuttgart Valencia\Steaua - Dynamo Kyiv\Villarreal Basel\Lille - Ajax\Auxerre Olympiacos\Sochaux - Heerenveen\Newcastle Shakhtar\Schalke 04 - Alemannia\Alkmaar Partizan\Dnipro - CSKA Moscow\Benfica Austria\Athletic - Fenerbahce\Zaragoza.