Ukrainian football will return to the Champions League next month when Dynamo Kyiv take on Turkish side Fenerbahçe in the second qualifying round, the club’s first competitive game since the start of the Russian invasion.
Dynamo were among the four teams in Wednesday’s draw for the runners-up in the mid-tier leagues.
Dynamo were second in the Ukrainian league when they came to a halt in February after invading Russia. The league never resumed. No league title has been awarded to leaders Shakhtar Donetsk, but the rankings have been used to decide Ukraine’s entries for upcoming UEFA club competitions.
It’s unclear where Dynamo will host Fenerbahçe in the first leg on July 19 or 20. The second leg will take place in Turkey on July 26 or 27.
Shakhtar officials are in talks to use Polish club Legia Warsaw’s stadium when the team begins its Champions League group schedule in September.
Dynamo will need to go through three qualifying rounds to join Shakhtar in the 32-team group stage.
Russian teams have been banned by UEFA from European club competitions, but the decision is being challenged by four clubs before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Zenit Saint-Petersburg won the title of Russian champion.
In the other pair of league runners-up, Danish club Midtjylland have been drawn to face Cypriot side AEK Larnaca.
A separate draw for domestic champions in the second qualifying round pitted Israeli club Maccabi Haifa against Greek side Olympiakos, while Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb will face either North Macedonia’s Shkupi, either the Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar, and the Swiss club Zurich will face either the Polish team Lech. Poznań or Qarabağ of Azerbaijan.
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