Since the draw for the 3rd qualifying round is being done tomorrow, I guess we can start talking about this.

Sporting is seeded for tomorrow's draw, which means they have 25 possible opponents in the 3rd round:

SK Slavia Praha
Real Betis Balompié
FC Basel 1893
Wisla Kraków
Udinese Calcio
FK Partizan / FC Sheriff
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Maccabi Haifa FC / Malmö FF
Everton FC
FC Steaua Bucuresti / Shelbourne FC
Brøndby IF / FC Dinamo Tbilisi
SK Rapid Wien / F91 Dudelange
PFC CSKA Sofia / KF Tirana
Debreceni VSC / HNK Hajduk Split
Trabzonspor/ Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Vålerenga IF/ FC Haka


The teams in bold are the ones I would prefer to avoid, for different reasons. There's not need for us to draw a strong team like Betis or Slavia Prague. Eastern European teams - such as Trabzonspor, Steaua, Partizan - tend to play counter-attacking soccer which we tends to give us problems. The only team that really scares me is Shakhtar Donetsk. They're in the middle of their league season and they played very well during last year's CL campaign.


Also, Celtic's nuclear meltdown in Slovakia yesterday (5-0????!!!! ) could potentially help out Sporting. If Celtic fails to advance and Sporting qualifies for the group stage, they will automatically be placed in the pool of 2nd seeds. Having to face Barça and Brugge in the group stage is a whole lot better than having to face Barça and Chelsea!

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