Champions League jigsaw about to be completed

The final pieces in this season's Champions League jigsaw will fall into place on Wednesday when the six-week long qualification process comes to an end.

Former European champions Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam and Inter Milan should all seal their places in the final group stage when they play the second legs of their third qualifying round ties.

United should have no problems against Hungarian champions Debrecen after winning 3-0 at Old Trafford two weeks ago, while Ajax should consolidate their home advantage against Brondby after a 2-2 draw in Denmark.

Inter, 2-0 winners in Ukraine in the first leg should see off the challenge from Shakhtar Donetsk at home.

But there is still plenty to play for when Villarreal meet Everton in Spain and in the matches between Werder Bremen and Basel, Slavia Prague and Anderlecht, Club Bruges and Valarenga and Rangers and Anorthosis Famagusta.

Neither Villarreal nor Everton have played in the competition proper before and the Spanish side start as favourites after a 2-1 first leg win in England two weeks ago.

If Everton should recover from that defeat and Manchester United win as expected, England will have an unprecedented five teams in the competition this season following Liverpool's successful negotiation of the qualifying process on Tuesday.

Liverpool, the reigning European champions who did not have an automatic right to enter the group stage so had to start qualifying in July, made sure of their place with a 3-2 aggregate success over CSKA Sofia, despite losing 1-0 at home on Tuesday.

The draw for the group stage takes place in Monaco on Thursday at 1600 local time (1400 GMT).