UEFA Champions League Qualifying Rounds 2020-21

[HajdukSplit]

Despite the 2019-20 CL season still going on the qualification rounds for next seasons Champions League began yesterday with the preliminary rounds consisting of the bottom four leagues playing a mini-tournament in Nyon to determine one spot in the 1st round. The format remains the same as the previous seasons but the big change is games are now single elimination until the playoff round (first team drawn is the home team). Four teams from the 'Champions Path' will qualify for the group stage while two teams from the 'League Path' will qualify for the group stage

PRELIMINARY ROUND (August 8 & 11)
Tre Fiori (SME) vs. Linfield (NIR) 0:2
Drita (KOR) vs. Inter Club d'Escaldes (AND) 2:1

Final: Drita vs. Linfield (winner advances to the next round, the three losing teams drop to the EL)

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND (August 18/19)
Ferencvaros (HUN) vs. Djurgardens (SWE)
Celtic (SCO) vs. KR Reykjavik (ISL)
Legia Warsaw (POL) vs. Drita/Linfield
Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) vs. Fola Esch (LUX)
Connah Quay Nomads (WAL) vs. FK Sarajevo (BIH)
Red Star Belgrade (SRB) vs. Europa FC (GIB)
Buducnost Podgorica (MNE) vs. Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)
Ararat (ARM) vs. Omonia Nicosia (CYP)
Floriana (MLT) vs. CFR Cluj (ROU)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) vs. Riga (LVA)
Qarabag (AZE) vs. Sileks (MKD)
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) vs. KF Tirana (ALB)
Dynamo Brest (BLR) vs. Astana (KAZ)
Molde (NOR) vs. KuPS (FIN)
Flora Tallinn (EST) vs. Suduva (LTU)
Celje (SVN) vs. Dundalk (IRL)
KI Klaksvik (FAR) vs. Slovan Bratislava (SVK)

SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND (August 25/26)
The draw is tomorrow (August 10) with the 'League Path' starting at this round, the seeding is already known. Teams with * must advance from first round, if not the team who beats them in the first round take their seeding, teams in capitals start from 2nd round

Champions Path
Seeded: Celtic*, DINAMO ZAGREB (CRO), Astana*, Ludogorets Razgrad*, YOUNG BOYS (SUI), Red Star Belgrade*, Qarabag*, Legia Warsaw*, Maccabi Tel-Aviv*, Molde*
Unseeded: FC MITJYLLAND (DEN), Sheriff Tiraspol*, CFR Cluj*, Ferencvaros*, Dundalk*, Slovan Bratislava*, Suduva*, Omonia Nicosia*, FK Sarajevo*, Dinamo Tbilisi*

League Path
Seeded: Besiktas (TUR), Viktoria Plzen (CZE), Rapid Wien (AUT)
Unseeded: PAOK (GRE), AZ Alkmaar (NED), Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO)

THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND (September 15/16)
Draw will be on August 31, here are the teams entering this round
CHAMPIONS: Olympiakos (GRE), Slavia Prague (CZE)
LEAGUE: Benfica (POR), Dynamo Kiev (UKR), Gent (BEL), Krasnodar (RUS), Stade Rennes (FRA)*
*Rennes will enter the Champions League group stage if one of the following teams wins the EL: Manchester United, Sevilla, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, also Krasnodar will move up to the playoffs

PLAYOFF ROUND (September 22/23 & September 29/30)
This will be the only round which two legs will be played, draw is on September 1. The teams entering this round:
CHAMPIONS: Ajax (NED)*, Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
*Ajax will qualify for the Champions League group stage if Lyon do not win the Champions League, if their place Olympiakos and Slavia Prague would move up to the playoff round

Click to read more...

 

[HoseEmDown]

I know it takes a few seasons before the coefficients change and the amount of teams and where they enter gets changed but the way things are doesn't make sense. Scotland is currently the 14th ranked league, they were 20 in this cycle, yet their champion has to start in the 1st qualifying round. Greece is 17th and Czech Republic are 15th and their champions enter the 3rd qualifying round. Austria which is 12th enters in the playoff round. Just seems like it's totally unfair to some teams having won a decent league and having to go through several rounds just to make the group stages.

 

[Evilo]

Yeah don't worry everything is done so that you get the same teams every year.

 

[Savi]

I know it takes a few seasons before the coefficients change and the amount of teams and where they enter gets changed but the way things are doesn't make sense. Scotland is currently the 14th ranked league, they were 20 in this cycle, yet their champion has to start in the 1st qualifying round. Greece is 17th and Czech Republic are 15th and their champions enter the 3rd qualifying round. Austria which is 12th enters in the playoff round. Just seems like it's totally unfair to some teams having won a decent league and having to go through several rounds just to make the group stages.

Scotland ended season 2019/20 in 20th place so that means their champion starts the 2020/21 season in Q1
Scotland will end season 20/21 in 14th place so that means their champions starts the 2021/22 season in Q3

it's not that hard

 

[HajdukSplit]

Second round draw

Champions Path
Floriana/CFR Cluj vs. Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Young Boys (SUI) vs. KI/Slovan Bratislava
Celtic/KR vs. Ferencvaros/Djurgardens
Flora/Suduva vs. Maccabi Tel-Aviv/Riga
Legia Warsaw/Drita-Lindfield vs. Ararat/Omonia
Celje/Dundalk vs. Molde/KuPS
Buducnost/Ludogorets vs. FC Mitdjylland (DEN)
Dynamo Brest/Astana vs. Connah's Quay Nomads/Sarajevo
Qarabag/Sileks vs. Sheriff/Fola Esch
Dinamo Tbilisi/Tirana vs. Red Star Belgrade/Europa

If Cluj progress that matchup with Dinamo is a pretty tough one for both teams this early, Dinamo were in the CL last season while Cluj made the EL knockouts, luckily for UEFA's sake no fans for a possible Tirana-Red Star matchup

League Path
AZ Alkmaar (NED) vs. Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
PAOK (GRE) vs. Besiktas (TUR)
Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) vs. Rapid Wien (AUT)
Pretty even matchups, hard to gauge where these teams are at, for example Besiktas enter this season with massive financial problems, the Lokomotiva of the most recent season I would say would have decent chances against Rapid, but they lost many players and Rapid are far more experienced

 

[Savi]

Lokomotiva are a Dinamo affiliate right?

 

[HajdukSplit]

It’s not as obvious as it was some years ago (they had the same email address ffs ) but yes they still exchange players frequently with the guys playing well on Lokomotiva going to Dinamo and talented youngsters going to Loko. There is also always shady financial stuff between them like Dinamo paying for a player with an expiring contract and keeping him at Loko when they could simply wait to get him for free (Loko has no sponsors or fans so this is pretty much how they survive)

However some fans there tend to overlook this, especially this past season because they actually play good football, a modern pressing style, and they play exclusively young players. Only positive that I can give them is Loko actually have a decent school outside the Dinamo guys, they developed Pjaca, scouted Brozovic and gave him his top flight debut and the likes of Vrsaljko, Kramaric, Badelj were all loaned there. They even win the u19 title recently which is rare in a country dominated by two clubs (Rijeka don’t have a great youth system)

 

[HoseEmDown]

Scotland ended season 2019/20 in 20th place so that means their champion starts the 2020/21 season in Q1
Scotland will end season 20/21 in 14th place so that means their champions starts the 2021/22 season in Q3

it's not that hard

It isn't that hard but it doesn't make sense. I would say the top 20 or so league's have at least one team that's good enough to play in the group stages. It doesn't make sense that moving up a few spots in coefficient one year means you get to skip two rounds of qualifying and get an additional two or more weeks of break. I get the big league's bring in big money but there are some big clubs in other league's being forced to play several rounds just to get to the ground stages. You can't tell me that the champions of the Netherlands doesn't deserve a direct spot in the group stages?

 

[hatterson]

It isn't that hard but it doesn't make sense. I would say the top 20 or so league's have at least one team that's good enough to play in the group stages. It doesn't make sense that moving up a few spots in coefficient one year means you get to skip two rounds of qualifying and get an additional two or more weeks of break. I get the big league's bring in big money but there are some big clubs in other league's being forced to play several rounds just to get to the ground stages. You can't tell me that the champions of the Netherlands doesn't deserve a direct spot in the group stages?

From a financial standpoint it makes far more sense to have the 3rd or 4th team from England in the group stage than to have Celtic.

It has little to do with the quality of the team and everything to do with the global fanbase and TV viewing.

 

[Evilo]

And it's wrong.

 

[hatterson]

And it's wrong.

Right or wrong from a "sports fairness" standpoint matters little when you're talking about tens of millions of dollars.

 

[Evilo]

I'm telling you, this is also wrong business wise.
Tons of people I know have stopped watching the CL because it's always the same teams.
They involve much less people when only a few leagues (2 maybe 3) can pretend to reach the CL final.
I can tell you in 5 years if nothing changes you will see a decline in interest in countries not concerned with the CL.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I'm telling you, this is also wrong business wise.
Tons of people I know have stopped watching the CL because it's always the same teams.

It's a bit ironic that you say that because I stopped watching ligue 1 for the same reason. Because it is always the same team...

I used to watch around 50+ games now I don't even bother, i just watch the score and highlights.

 

[Evilo]

It's a bit ironic that you say that because I stopped watching ligue 1 for the same reason. Because it is always the same team...

I used to watch around 50+ games now I don't even bother, i just watch the score and highlights.

Why ironic?
What I do find ironic is that you can't find interest in L1 with all its talents but you find it interesting to see the same 5 clubs in the CL QF each year.

 

[Savi]

Well tbf in the CL it's all star teams playing each other, in L1 it's 1 all star team beating up on everyone else

 

[Evilo]

And what's your point?
It amazes me how people can just ig ore the issue and try to be smart-ass es when they completely miss the point.
Someone supporting Caen will always cheer for his team and go the stadium. Even in L2.
But they will get tired of the CL because it's always the same teams.
That a Canadian or US footix can't have interest in L1 is so totally unrelated to this discussion it's crazy.

 

[Savi]

A Caen fan will watch his own teams games. But you think he will also watch Dijon VS Le Havre over Barca-Bayern ?

 

[hatterson]

I'm telling you, this is also wrong business wise.
Tons of people I know have stopped watching the CL because it's always the same teams.
They involve much less people when only a few leagues (2 maybe 3) can pretend to reach the CL final.
I can tell you in 5 years if nothing changes you will see a decline in interest in countries not concerned with the CL.

You should probably tell this to the ratings companies and advertisement buyers.

The numbers show that the CL is not losing viewers, especially not in large amounts.

 

[Evilo]

A Caen fan will watch his own teams games. But you think he will also watch Dijon VS Le Havre over Barca-Bayern ?

What does it have to do with anything?

 

[Evilo]

You should probably tell this to the ratings companies and advertisement buyers.

The numbers show that the CL is not losing viewers, especially not in large amounts.

Yes and I tell you they will. Especially in Europe.

 

[Savi]

What does it have to do with anything?

About as much as dragging Caen fans into this discussion probably

@hatterson is right though, the big clubs/matchups will always draw the biggest crowds, some (like you) might find it boring and don't watch anymore but for every Evilo that checks out there will be 10 new ones tuning in

edit: not 10 Evilo's because then HF would explode probably

 

[Evilo]

My god you again missed the point.
Think twice man.
I'm talking about a small team's fan (Caen as an example) interest in CL and you keep on bringing up crap.

And I still watch so you missed that. Again.
I'm talking about more and more European fans fed up with the 4 or 5 same teams playing the CL QF.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

My god you again missed the point.
Think twice man.
I'm talking about a small team's fan (Caen as an example) interest in CL and you keep on bringing up crap.

And I still watch so you missed that. Again.
I'm talking about more and more European fans fed up with the 4 or 5 same teams playing the CL QF.

I still do not get it. The same 4 or 5 teams is misleading. We have seen many more teams than that reach the semi finals in the past few years and many surprise cinderella teams too. Meanwhile in france, PSG is simply dominating everything. I am sure a Caen fan (who probably would not give a shit more about CL if Sparta Pragua instead of Man City made it to the semi final) then if a team like Nantes challenged/won ligue 1. Actually the world wide tv rating might be lower if not one of the "super popular" team is involved. Great for some niche europeans fans but globally not much of a difference if at all.

 

[Evilo]

"Niche european fans".
Is that what you call the millions of fans who are NOT fans of a big club?

Arrogance of those fans is astounding.
Just like the other day when another poster said Aberdeen is not playing the same sport as Chelsea.

53	2008	Manchester United (3)	1 – 1 ap (6 - 5 tab)	Chelsea FC	Stade Loujniki (Moscou)	67 310
54	2009	FC Barcelone (3)	2 – 0	Manchester United	Stade olympique (Rome)	62 467
55	2010	Inter Milan (3)	2 – 0	Bayern Munich	Stade Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid)	73 490
56	2011	FC Barcelone (4)	3 – 1	Manchester United	Stade de Wembley (Londres)	87 695
57	2012	Chelsea FC	1 – 1 ap (4 - 3 tab)	Bayern Munich	Fußball Arena München26 (Munich)	62 500
58	2013	Bayern Munich (5)	2 – 1	Borussia Dortmund	Stade de Wembley (Londres)	86 298
59	2014	Real Madrid (10)	4 – 1 ap	Atlético Madrid	Estádio da Luz (Lisbonne)	60 976
60	2015	FC Barcelone (5)	3 – 1	Juventus	Stade olympique (Berlin)	70 442
61	2016	Real Madrid (11)	1 – 1 ap (5 - 3 tab)	Atlético Madrid	Stade Giuseppe-Meazza (Milan)	71 942
62	2017	Real Madrid (12)	4 – 1	Juventus	Millennium Stadium26 (Cardiff)	65 842
63	2018	Real Madrid (13)	3 – 1	Liverpool FC	Stade olympique (Kiev)	61 561
64	2019	Liverpool FC (6)	2 – 0	Tottenham Hotspur

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Indeed, so many cinderlla runs.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

"Niche european fans".
Is that what you call the millions of fans who are NOT fans of a big club?

Arrogance of those fans is astounding.
Just like the other day when another poster said Aberdeen is not playing the same sport as Chelsea.


Indeed, so many cinderlla runs.

11 different teams in 12 years... and there have been a fair share of surprise semi finalist like Monaco, Roma and Ajax just the past 4 years. And this year I could see a Lyon, Atalanta or Leipzig potentially creating an upset.

About the niche fans. Yes teams from Greece, Turkey, Russia, Romania are amazing and probably more hardcore than any fans of the big clubs but even these fans would not careless about other teams than their own.
Honestly... would you rather watch Steaua Bucarest vs Partizan Belgrade? Or Atletico vs Juventus? Any random football fans from france to portugal would rather see the later.

And if you prefer the steaua vs partizan than the Europa league is a match made in heaven for you!

I do not get your point