The best European football clubs are currently preparing for their national leagues. For some prominent clubs from the second row, however, it will be very serious in a few days.
For the second time, the preliminary round of the Champions League is played in a league. Again, 36 teams will take part, and if the conference has liked the simultaneous games, you can look forward to January 28, 2026. The last league game day takes place. That is still a bit going, and even the 1st matchday, which extends from September 16 to September 18, will only be in the back heads of the fans of FC Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund.
Delivery of the league aphase on August 28th
You are more in view of August 28th. On that day, thanks to digital help, it is primarily determined which eight opponents each team will meet in four home and four away games.
Some fans and especially coaches will currently have little other than the Champions League. José Mourinho should be one of them, because for his club from Istanbul it is about creating a good starting point in a few days to be in the lottery on August 28th.
Jose Mourinho still has to worry about moving into the league of the Champions League. In the worst case, Fenerbahce could be passed through to the Conference League.
Fenerbahce competes in the first leg of the third qualification round near Feyenoord in Rotterdam. The hurdle for the second in the table last season in the Turkish league could hardly be higher. Feyenoord ended the first league in the history of the Champions League in 19th place, winning 3-0 against FC Bayern.
Bruges and Feyenoord Round of 16 2024/25
The club also survived the playoffs for the round of 16 from the Dutch honorary division, AC Milan switched off. It was only in the next round against Inter, which made it to the final.
In the same round, FC Bruges had to delete the sail against Aston Villa after surprisingly clearly prevailing against Atalanta Bergamo in the playoffs.
Like Feyenoord and Fenerbahce, the Belgian club only rises in the third round of qualifications. But also for Bruges with RB Salzburg, a pretty prominent name is also waiting. The Austrians had to get in the second round because they had only become second in their national league last season, and also only on the last pusher.
RB Salzburg prevailed in the second qualification round against the Norwegian runner -up Brann Bergen.
Loser on the Placement path land in the group phase of the Europa League
After all, her duel with FC Bruges is one on the placement path so -called by UEFA. In this qualification, the national runner-up, third or fourth-placed medium-sized football nations such as Portugal, Türkiye, Belgium and Austria end up. Anyone who leaves in the third round in this way ends up directly in the League League league.
| encounter | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Fenerbahce Istanbul | 07.08. | 14.08. |
RB Salzburg – FC Bruges | 07.08. | 14.08. |
Glasgow Rangers – Viktoria Pilsen | 07.08. | 14.08. |
OGC Nice – Benfica Lisbon | 07.08. | 14.08. |
In the Champions path land all national champions who have not automatically qualified for the league. This includes the masters of smaller football associations such as Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Poland or Sweden. If you leave here, on the other hand, you still have to qualify for the league in the Playoffs of the Europa League. The losers of this round end up in the Conference League.
| encounter | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
Malmö FF – FC Copenhagen | 07.08. | 14.08. |
Lech Poznan – Red Stern Belgrade | 07.08. | 14.08. |
FK Cairat Almaty – Slovan Bratislava | 07.08. | 14.08. |
Ludogorets Rasgrad – Ferencvaros Budapest | 07.08. | 14.08. |
Dynamo Kyiv – FC Paphos | 07.08. | 14.08. |
KF Shkendija – Qarabaq Agdam | 07.08. | 14.08. |
The fourth and last round: the playoffs
The last hurdle on the way to the league is the 4th qualification round. It is marketed centrally by the UEFA and is called “Playoff” round. Anyone who leaves here automatically ends up in the Europa League league.
Even before the first round of the third round of qualifications start on August 5, the teams know who they would have to clear in the playoffs in order to continue playing in the most important and lucrative competition. The draw takes place in Nyon the day before.
Four masters only get in the playoffs
Sturm Graz, Celtic Glasgow, FC Basel and Bodö Glimt, as masters of their national leagues in Austria, Scotland, Switzerland and Norway, first in the playoffs and can theoretically also meet.