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Israelis may haunt Chelsea Benfica faces Lazio in Champions League qualifyingPosted: Friday July 25, 2003 11:23 AMNYON, Switzerland (AP) -- Two-time European Cup winner Benfica was drawn against Lazio in the final qualifying round for this year's Champions League at UEFA headquarters Friday. Benfica hasn't been in the Champions League since reaching the group stage in the 1998-99 season. "We know we face a great team, but there is still a chance for us," Benfica's general director Antonio Simoes said. "It's a nice feeling to be back in Champions League contention. We might have drawn an easier team, but this is happening: We are playing Lazio, one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and we are proud of that." Benfica won the European Cup in 1961 and '62 and has finished runner up three times, the last in 1990. Its Portuguese rival, Porto, won the UEFA Cup in May. Lazio won the last ever Cup Winners Cup in 1999. "It's a very difficult match," said Lazio's organization manager Giovanni Gardini. "It's very important for us to have a good match in Rome and then go to Lisbon. It is now going to be very difficult for Lazio." The second round of qualifying will be completed on Aug. 6. The third round of qualifying is scheduled for Aug. 12-13 and Aug. 26-27. Four-time European champion Ajax will play at either Grazer AK of Austria or SK Tirana of Albania in its first match. Borussia Dortmund, winner in 1997, travels to Belgium's Club Brugge, and 2000 UEFA Cup winner Galatasaray hosts the victor of CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria and FC Pyunik of Armenia. Premier League club Chelsea will play the winner of Slovakia's MSK Zilina or Israel's Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Chelsea made headlines in October 2001 when six of its key players refused to travel to Israel to play Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the second round of the UEFA Cup. Hapoel beat Chelsea over two legs and went on to the quarterfinals. "The circumstances have changed since the last time, and as far as I'm concerned, if they get through their next round and UEFA makes its decision, we'll go to Tel Aviv," said Chelsea club secretary David Barnard. Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the first Israeli club to make the group stages of the Champions League last season, was excited at the prospect of facing Chelsea. "It's very, very exciting because it's a big club, and we hope it will be a good game," said the club's general manager, Eli Drix. "But first we need to beat Zilina." Maccabi is currently playing its European games in Budapest, Hungary, but Drix hopes a UEFA meeting on July 28 will allow the club to play in Israel. Newcastle will play at either Partizan Belgrade or Djurgarden of Sweden. Partizan eliminated Newcastle in the European Cup Winners Cup in the first round in 1998. "We could be going back to Belgrade," Newcastle chief operating officer Russell Cushing said. "It's a different team, different atmosphere, different manager. "We didn't have such a good team as we have now. I like to think we have a very, very good set of players at the moment, probably the best in 30 years. Everything is in our favor." Scottish champion Rangers will play either FC Copenhagen of Denmark or Malta's Sliema Wanderers. "I think we would need a bit of luck. I don't think the squad is strong enough to have a campaign to go all the way," said Rangers manager Alex McLeish, who expected Copenhagen to qualify. The Champions League group stage will have 32 clubs divided into eight groups of four each. Each club plays six matches to decide who advances to the knock-out round. The winners advance to the quarterfinals. The draw for the group stage is on Aug. 28 in Monaco, Monte Carlo, where the giants of European soccer will come into the draw, including past winners AC Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
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