For the first time in its history the final of the UEFA Champions League will be staged in Moscow. The arena selected for the showpiece event on 21 May next year is none other than the 85,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium, the venue for the 1980 Olympic Games.

Never before has the final of Europe's most prestigious club competition travelled so far east. And of the 76 clubs hoping to get there, only two will actually make the journey. The long process of finding Europe's champion club of the 2007/08 season begins this week with a clutch of qualifying games.

The number of places available to each national association is determined by the performance of their clubs over the previous five seasons, and this season's field is finally being graced by the champions of Andorra, San Marino and Montenegro, who were admitted to the first qualifying round by UEFA's Executive Committee.

A total of 28 teams went into the hat for the draw for the first qualifying round, which was held in Nyon at the end of last month. And even though this first wave of hopefuls is made up of the champions of Europe's least powerful leagues, it still features some useful outfits, among them Dinamo Zagreb, who kick off their challenge against Khazar Lenkoran of Azerbaijan, and Swedish champions Elfsborg, who take on Northern Ireland's Linfield.

No respite
The 14 first round winners will have no time to rest on their laurels, however, going on immediately to face the 14 sides that qualified directly for the second qualifying round. Raising the bar considerably in this next phase will be two former champions, with 1986 winners Steaua locking horns with Zaglebie Lubin of Poland, and their 1991 counterparts, Crvena Zvezda, facing either Macedonian minnows FK Pobeda or Levadia Tallinn of Estonia. Joining them will be three sides who contested the group phase last time around: Bulgaria's Levski Sofia, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Danish league holders Copenhagen.

Among the teams entering the fray at the same stage will be Giovanni Trapattoni's FC Salzburg, who take on either The New Saints or FK Ventspils, as well as familiar faces Glasgow Rangers, Rosenborg, Slavia Prague and Besiktas, all of whom have the firepower to reach the group phase.

The marathon begins
The 14 sides emerging from the second round are then joined in the final qualifying round by 18 other sides who qualified directly for this stage: Liverpool, last season's losing finalists and the 2005 champions, and Arsenal of England, Sevilla and Valencia (Spain), Lazio (Italy), Toulouse (France), Werder Bremen (Germany), Benfica (Portugal), Ajax (Netherlands), AEK Athens (Greece), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Dinamo (Romania), Celtic (Scotland), Anderlecht (Belgium), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Fenerbahce (Turkey) and FC Zurich (Switzerland).

Only then will the line-up for the group phase be decided, with the 16 survivors of the gruelling summer schedule going into the draw for the final 32-team tournament alongside the 16 clubs who qualified outright: Inter Milan, Roma and AC Milan (the holders) representing Italy, Real Madrid and Barcelona (Spain), Manchester United and Chelsea (England), Lyon and Marseille (France), Stuttgart and Schalke 04 (Germany), FC Porto and Sporting (Portugal), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Olympiacos (Greece) and CSKA Moscow (Russia).

Among this elite group, reigning champions AC Milan boast the best UEFA coefficient with 133.808 points, followed by Barcelona (119.374), Liverpool (112.618), Inter Milan (107.808), Arsenal (104.618) and Real Madrid (104.374).

First qualifying round
First legs to be played on 17 and 18 July, second legs on 24 and 25 July.
1- Khazar Lenkoran (AZE) - Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
2- APOEL FC (CYP) - BATE Borisov (BLR)
3- FC Sheriff (MDA) - FC Ranger's (AND)
4- FH Hafnarfjordur (ISL) - HB Torshavn (FAR)
5- The New Saints FC (WAL) - FK Ventspils (LVA)
6- FK Pobeda (MKD) - FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
7- FC Olimpi Rustavi (GEO) - FC Astana (KAZ)
8- FK Zeta (MNE) - FBK Kaunas (LTU)
9- Tampere United (FIN) - S.S. Murata (SMR)
10- F91 Dudelange (LUX) - MCK Zilina (SVK)
11- Linfield FC (NIR) - IF Elfsborg (SWE)
12- Derry City FC (IRL) - FC Pyunik (ARM)
13- Marsaxlokk FC (MLT) - FK Sarajevo (BIH)
14- NK Domzale (SVN) - KF Tirana (ALB)

Second qualifying round
First legs to be played on 31 July and 1 August, second legs on 7 and 8 August
Winner 12 - FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) - Winner 6
Rangers FC (SCO) - Winner 8
Debreceni VSC (HUN) - Winner 11
Zaglebie Lubin (POL) - FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU)
KRC Genk (BEL) - Winner 13
Winner 5 - FC Salzburg (AUT)
Winner 7 - Rosenborg BK (NOR)
Winner 4 - Winner 2
FC Kobenhavn (DEN) - Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR)
Winner 10 - SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Winner 9 - PFC Levski Sofia (BUL)
Winner 14 - Winner 1
Besiktas JK (TUR) - Winner 3