Source: Telegraph
Champions League draw: live
Draw in full:[LNB]Young Boys (SUI) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) Sporting Braga (POR) v Sevilla (ESP) Werder Bremen (GER) v Sampdoria (ITA) Zenit St-Petersburg (RUS) v Auxerre (FRA) Dynamo Kiev (UKR) Ajax (NED) Salzburg (AUT) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR) Rosenborg (NOR) v Copenhagen (DEN) Basel (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA) Sparta Prague (CZE) v MSK Zilina (SVK) Partizan Belgrade (SRB) v Anderlecht (BEL) [LNB] Related Articles'Spurs will go further in Europe than Arsenal'Tottenham's five possible Champions League opponentsYoung Boys: need to knowGareth Bale on target for TottenhamHarry Redknapp riledTottenham Hotspur 1 Villarreal 41st leg - August 17/18; 2nd leg - August 24/25 [LNB]11.30[LNB]Tottenham secretary Darren Eales is doing his best not to look smug and self content. But still failing. 'Tough draw', 'Young Boys have some good players', 'etc...and so on'. But his grin gives him away. He's a happy man. And that just about wraps things up. Already looking forward to the group stage draw...[LNB]11.16[LNB]Tottenham fans will be as happy as Yaya Toure's agent after that. The softest team in the draw and second leg at home. But a word of caution, the Young Boys of Bern are no push-overs, having beaten Fenerbahce away in the last round. Still, could have been worse for Spurs. Much worse. [LNB]11.13[LNB]Werder Bremen play Sampdoria in what will undoubtedly be the tie of the round. [LNB]Except for Spurs fans, who couldn't possibly have picked a better result from today's affair if they had organised the thing themselves. [LNB]11.12[LNB]Young Boys are drawn first...and get this, they will play Tottenham! [LNB]11.10 [LNB]We are currently drawing the five ties in the Champions League play-offs that will involve actual champions rather than runners up or, mercy, teams that finished fourth in their league. [LNB]We''ll move on to the proper stuff in a moment. [LNB]11.01 [LNB]'Moments away' apparently means 15 minutes... [LNB]11.00 [LNB]We're moments away from the biggest football related preliminary round draw this week. I don't know about you, but the anticipation is starting to make me tingle with excitement. Either that or I've got pins and needles in my left leg from sitting watching Sky Sports News for longer than is really healthy this morning. [LNB]10.45 [LNB]Tottenham have never been in the Champions League, or even the qualifiers, before, of course. And Ledley King for one can't wait to get started, even if he'll probably only manage 20 odd minutes of the first leg before pulling up lame. [LNB]"It's seems like it's been forever coming, so we all look forward to seeing who we'll actually be playing," he said. "It's a massive game for the club and I'm sure we'll be ready for it, whoever we play," he said. [LNB]"As long as it isn't Sampdoria," he might have continued, but didn't. [LNB]10.30[LNB]It isn't only about the Champions League today, of course, as at 12.30 the draw is also made for the Europa League play-offs. Manchester City, Aston Villa, Dundee United, Celtic and TNS were already assured of their place, while Liverpool and Motherwell made up the British contingent with victories last night. [LNB]10.20 [LNB]The real doomsday scenario for Tottenham in today's draw would probably be Sampdoria. The Italian's were unbeaten at home in Serie A last season and in Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini they have match winners that Harry Redknapp would have nightmares about. [LNB]Kiev, too, would present its own problem in terms of a long journey as well as facing a side whose season has already started with Dynamo winning three and drawign one of their opening four fixtures. [LNB]A better than evens chance of avoiding both but still a concern. [LNB]10.00[LNB]And so it begins again. Less than a month since Andres Iniesta brought about a conclusion to the World Cup finals, the wheels of European football crank in to gear once more and we find ourselves gazing at men in suits getting their hands on some balls in a bowl like it carries any sort of significance. [LNB]Such is the endless cycle of football. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. [LNB]Unless, of course, you are a Spurs fan, in which case at 11.00am today the world will pause and the possibility of a Champions League run will become that bit more tangible. For the rest of us left wondering what happened to summer, they will not care. And nor should they. [LNB]Will it be Sampdoria, Dynamo Kiev, Braga, Auxerre or a bunch of Young Boys who provide the final hurdle to Tottenham making it to the big time? [LNB]All of Tottenham's possible opponents, reduced to five due to the seeding system, are beatable. But they all present possible banana skins, too. [LNB]Kiev might not be the force they once were but remain habitual group stage participants. Sampdoria return to the top tier competition in Europe for the first time since 1992, when they made the final, rejuvenated after a turbulent time on and off the pitch that would find sympathy with fans of Leeds United, Portsmouth and Newcastle United. [LNB]Beating Celtic might not mean much these days but Braga were tidy enough in the previous round in overcoming the Scots. Auxerre and Young Boys would probably please Harry Redknapp. Though the Swiss side beat Fenerbahce in Istanbul in the last round. And not many sides do that. [LNB]Opportunity and danger exist in equal measure, then. Jermain Defoe believes Tottenham will go further in the Champions League this season that Arsenal. But Arsenal have a head start. And Tottenham aren't actually in the competition proper yet. [LNB]Today will go a long way to determining if they manage it, and if all last season's efforts were actually worth the bother. Just ask Everton what it feels like when it turns out not to be. [LNB]
