The 16 teams with the highest rankings of the 32 remaining clubs under UEFA’s complex co-efficient system will be seeded.
So far seven clubs - United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Roma, Parma, Mallorca and Bordeaux – are guaranteed to be seeded with eight of the remaining nine expected to be the clubs who finish third in the Champions League groups.
However, if Partizan Belgrade beat Marseille in their final group game they will finish third and win a place in the UEFA Cup, but they will not be seeded.
Not sure if there is a precedent for two teams who met in the Champions League qualifiers playing each other again in the UEFA Cup in the same season, but there doesn’t seem to be anything preventing it in the competition rules.
The chance to put the record straight against the Serbian champions may be welcomed in some quarters, but as the first defeat cost the club some £8million it would be fairly hollow revenge.