The winners of the Welsh and Irish leagues face fixtures against the victors in Slovenia, Luxembourg, Malta, Croatia, Slovakia, Andorra, Lithuania and Finland.

The football clubs that will automatically qualify for the group stage of the 2007/2008 UEFA Champions League have been announced, but before that gets underway, there are three qualifying rounds in which the other competitors are decided.

These qualifying rounds are where the teams from Europe’s weaker footballing nations get their chance to compete for a place in the money-spinning group stage of football’s richest club tournament.

These smaller sides are supplemented, in the later qualifying rounds, by sides that finished second, third or fourth in Europe’s bigger leagues. As a result, they did not qualify automatically for the group stage.

2007/ 2008 Champions League Qualifiers – The Smaller Nations

In truth, the chances of a club from one of Europe’s smaller nations, such as Luxembourg or Andorra, reaching the group stage are almost zero. These teams, often made up of amateur players, have to take on three two-legged rounds against sides with much higher budgets and much bigger support. Often there will be a surprise package or two that qualifies for the group stage, but these clubs will usually be from middle rung national leagues such as Switzerland or Austria.

Still, that’s not going to stop the so-called minnows having a good go at it, and this year sees the champions of Andorra, San Marino and Montenegro have their first crack at the coveted European crown.

At the first round level, it’s very much a case of eliminating the weakest of the weak, while the victors go on like lambs to the slaughter against the bigger fish that enter the fray in the second round. But there are dreams, and one day, one of these tiny clubs may just cause an almighty shock and get to take on the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester United on the money-generating bigger stage.

2007/ 2008 Champions League Qualifiers – Complete List of Qualifiers: Qualifying Round One

The following clubs will enter the 2007/ 2008 European Champions’ League in the first qualifying round:

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

IF Elfsborg (Sweden)

MSK Zilina (Slovakia)

FK Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

NK Domzale (Slovenia)

Tampere United (Finland)

FK Ventspils (Latvia)

FC Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)

FC Olimpi Rustavi (Georgia)

FBK Kaunas (Lithuania)

FK Pobeda (Macedonia)

FH Hafnarfjördur (Iceland)

FC BATE Borisov (Bulgaria)

Derry City FC (Republic of Ireland)

KF Tirana (Albania)

FC Pyunik (Armenia)

FC Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)

Marsaxlokk FC (Malta)

The New Saints FC (Wales)

Linfield FC (Northern Ireland)

FK Khazar Lenkoran (Azerbaijan)

F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

FK Astana (Kazakhstan)

HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands)

FK Zeta (Montenegro)

FC Rangers (Andorra)

S.S. Murata (San Marino)