Originally Posted by
Red Zone
No it's three rounds. First tie would be against a Scandinavian or Easter European team. Second (third round so usual exit round) against a team ranging from Basel/Gent/Anderlecht/Feyenoord via Maribor/Rijeka/Apollon to Dundalk/Carry Bag/Santa Claus so depends on the luck of the draw. Final round before group stages would be the best of the Round 3 teams plus the likes of Spurs/Roma/Villareal.
As I've said all along, this new competition is going to be just as hard as ever to get to the Group stages unless we get very lucky with the draw, the only difference is that there will be even less prize money for doing so.