Kraljevi Kvota - Champions League qualification Play-Off

The Champions League for the 2025/2026 season is just around the corner. There are eight spots left to fill, and we will take those eight teams through the final round of qualifiers, or play-offs. The first legs are scheduled for tonight and tomorrow, while the second legs are scheduled for August 26th and 27th.

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Ferencvaros-Qarabag
The most trophy-winning Hungarian club has reached the last place and is within reach of the Champions League. In the first round, they were free, and in the second, they eliminated Armenia Nou with an aggregate score of 6-4. Then, the away game brought them to Ludogorets, and after a 0-0 draw in Bulgaria, they showed their quality with a 3-0 win at home, and they enter this play-off match as slight favorites to enter the Champions League. Their opponent is Qarabag, a team that is a mix of local and foreign players, mostly Brazilians. The Azerbaijanis also had a bye in the first round, then defeated Selbourne 4-0 on aggregate, and in the third they defeated Shkendija 6-1. The Azerbaijanis may have a slight advantage because the second leg is played on their home ground, but they will first have to survive Budapest.

Crvena zvezda-Pafos
Red Star, as the most trophy-winning club from the Balkans, and the winner of the European Cup in 1991, always has an imperative to play in European competitions. With Vladan Milojević at the helm of the coaching staff, they are guaranteed to compete in Europe. The Red and Whites had a bye in the first round, then in the second round they defeated Lincoln of Gibraltar 6-1 on aggregate, and then they defeated Polish champions Lech 4-2 on aggregate. They enter the play-offs as favourites to qualify, with Paphos standing in their way. The Cypriot club was founded in 2014 and has never played in the Champions League. The Russian billionaire who runs the club is trying to make that dream come true, but they will have a very difficult task. They had a bye in the first round, then in the second round they beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 on aggregate, and to the surprise of many they were better than Dynamo Kiev, celebrating 2-0 and 1-0, but now they face the hell of the Rajko Mitić Stadium in the first leg, and will be the hosts in the second leg.

Bodo/Glimt-Sturm Graz
Another team that has never played in the Champions League is the Norwegian champions, Bodo/Glimt. Last year, they were stopped on the road by Red Star Belgrade, and this year, due to their excellent results in Europe in previous seasons, the Norwegians have only two games in the play-offs, against the Austrian representative, Strum from Graz, who also did not have to play a single round of qualifying. This time, the team from Norway is the favorite to finally play in the most elite European competition, and whether they will succeed in doing so remains to be seen, because the Sturm team is also wondering who wants to secure a second consecutive participation in the Champions League.

Celtic-Kairat Almaty
The famous Scottish club from Glasgow, the green and white part, Celtic is on the verge of another participation in the Champions League. This team won this competition back in 1967 and is by far the best team in Scotland, and now they want to repeat their place in the Champions League, in which they participated last year. Standing in their way is Kairat from Kazakhstan, a club that has never played in this competition, and their greatest success in European competitions is participation in the Conference League in the 2021/2022 season. Unfortunately for the Kazakhs, they have the toughest possible rival in the playoffs, and will be complete outsiders to enter the much-coveted Champions League, but they are guaranteed a place in the Europa League group stage, which is not so bad.

Basel-Copenhagen
Swiss champions Basel have skipped all the qualifying rounds and reached the playoffs, where they will try to enter the best European competition in which they have not played for eight seasons. However, they will not be favorites against Danish Copenhagen, who had a bye in the first round, and in the second they defeated Drita with a score of 3:0 on aggregate, and then, after a 0:0 draw in Sweden, they outclassed Malmö with a score of 5:0 at home. The Danes are in favor of playing the first game away from home, because the atmosphere at their Parken stadium can be fantastic, and even stronger teams than Basel have fallen there.

Fenerbahçe-Benfica
The famous Turkish club has been waiting for a place in the Champions League since 2008. The Turks skipped two qualifying rounds, and then, after losing 2-1 away to Feyenoord, they outclassed the Dutch at home with a score of 5-2 and reached the playoffs, where their rival is Benfica, a team that won the Champions League twice in a row in the 1960s. The Portuguese team faced Nice in the third round, which they beat twice 2-0, showing that they are ready for the elite. The team from Lisbon is the favorite to advance, but such matches, with clubs that have a huge army of fans, are always very uncertain, so that is expected from this duel.

Rangers-Club Breeze
The other team from Glasgow, the blue part, also reached the play-offs. Rangers were undefeated in the first round, while in the second they defeated Panathinaikos and then Plzen. This team played in the Champions League three years ago and will certainly give it their all to do so again this year, but will be underdogs in the two-legged tie with Club Brugge. The Belgians played in the Champions League last season and were unbeaten in the first two qualifying rounds of this season. In the third, they beat Salzburg twice, 1-0 and 3-2, and now have a good chance of securing a place in the top flight against Rangers.

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