No anthems or special balls - but Champions League starts now
Could someone go all the way?
Only 10 teams managed to go all the way through from the first round of Champions League qualifying to the group or league phase - including Slovan Bratislava last year.Slovan got past Struga, Celje, Apoel and Midtjylland... before losing all eight league games. But just getting there meant they earned more than £15m. And their 16 matches played were only one fewer than champions PSG.If a team went all the way through to the final they could end up playing 25 Champions League games (a path that requires them featuring in the the knockout phase play-offs).Only one team have reached the knockout stages after starting in the very first round - Liverpool in 2005-06.The Reds were Champions League winners in 2005, but finished fifth in the Premier League - and back then the holders did not automatically qualify. Uefa gave them special dispensation, but they had to start in the first round of qualifying.They got through three rounds of qualifying (as it was back then) - beating TNS, FBK Kaunas and CSKA Sofia - and won their group before a last-16 exit.
The 552nd best team
Virtus, champions of San Marino, are the lowest-ranked team in the draw by some distance. All of their players and staff have other jobs.Uefa's 10-year club coefficients ranks them 552nd (out of 554 teams), a list that only includes teams who have played in Europe over that period of time.Last season was their debut in Europe, as they lost 11-1 to Romanian side FCSB in this round.A second consecutive league title has them competing again - this time against Bosnian champions Zrinjski Mostar.But the club accept they have very little chance of advancing and see it as a privilege to be involved. For one thing no Sammarinese team have ever won a Champions League tie.Instead they are confident of competing well in the Conference League third qualifying round, which the losers of this game will drop into.Club president Pier Domenico Giulianelli said: "This is our second time in the Champions League, and we're sure that the experience last year will be useful. "We know these will be two very tough matches, but I'm confident the boys will give their all on the pitch."The club are expecting about 1,000 fans at the San Marino Stadium in Serravalle, with about three-quarters of them coming from Bosnia. They usually get 50-100 people at their home games.Their only San Marino international is Alessandro Golinucci, who captained the country to their famous win over Liechtenstein last September which ended a 20-year run without a victory.
The new boys
The only Champions League debutants in the first round of qualifying are Armenian side FC Noah.Last season they went through every round of Conference League qualifying before reaching the league phase, where they lost one game 8-0 at Chelsea.The Yerevan side, who were only formed eight years ago and named after the religious figure Noah, are a team trying to get places quickly under owner Vardges Vardanyan.They signed 16 players last summer and a new manager in Rui Mota. They went on to win the league and cup double.Portuguese Mota left for Ludogorets (more on them in a bit) this summer, with 41-year-old Croatian Sandro Perkovic taking his place. Club development director Anna Ohanyan told BBC Sport: "Taking part in the Champions League qualifiers is a historic moment for FC Noah. "Just two seasons after the new management stepped in, we managed to qualify for the league phase of a European competition, became champions of Armenia, won the Armenian Cup - and now here we are in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. This is only the beginning."We fought hard to win the Armenian championship because we have bigger ambitions for ourselves and for Armenian football. This qualification gives us a chance to show that ambition to the whole of Europe."They play Montenegrin side Buducnost Podgorica.Cypriot side Pafos FC, who enter at the second-round stage - where they play Maccabi Tel Aviv - are also in the competition for the first time.
The regulars
Bulgarian champions Ludogorets are in the first round of qualifying for the eighth consecutive year.For six years before that they entered in the second qualifying round - under an old system where the first round only involved a handful of teams.So their 14 consecutive league titles have meant 14 years of Champions League qualifying. Twice they reached the groups: in 2014-15, where they earned a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, and 2016-17.In 2009 they were an amateur third-tier team, who had never been in the top flight.The following year pharmaceutical multi-millionaire Kiril Domuschiev took them over, they won immediate promotion and have won the title in each and every top-flight season they have ever played in.This year they take on Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk.
The derbies
There are two derbies between teams from neighbouring countries in the first qualifying round.Dublin side Shelbourne and Belfast club Linfield meet in a rematch of the 2005 Setanta Sports Cup, the old competition between the champions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.That was also the last year Shels were in the Champions League until now - with a young Wes Hoolahan in the team.They go into the game with a new manager in former West Ham defender Joey O'Brien after the surprise resignation of Damien Duff.Linfield, as 57-time champions of Northern Ireland, are regulars at this stage. They are also managed by an ex-Premier League player, with former Leeds, Preston and Sunderland striker David Healy at the helm.Their respective grounds are less than a two-hour drive apart - which for Shelbourne is a shorter journey than some league games. However, they have to stay in Belfast the night before the game because of pre-match media obligations.Both legs of that tie will be live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.The other derby is between Levadia Tallinn of Estonia and Latvian side RFS (which once stood for Riga Football School but is now their name).They could meet again later this year if the irregularly held Livonian Cup - between the champions of Estonia and Latvia is played again. Paulius Jakelis, head of marketing and communications at RFS, told BBC Sport: "From a travel perspective, it's ideal - just a four-hour bus ride and we're there. "It means minimal travel costs, simpler planning and logistics, and much easier access for our fans."
How about the British teams?
Perennial Welsh champions TNS, who play their home games in England, play Shkendija of North Macedonia. Neutrals will hope it is half as dramatic as when they met at this stage in 2018 with Shkendija winning 5-4 on aggregate. The Macedonians won 5-0 at home, with TNS falling just short in the second leg in Oswestry's Park Hall with a 4-0 win.Lincoln Red Imps, champions of British Overseas Territory Gibraltar - the second lowest-ranked league - face Faroese side Vikingur.Among their squad is 43-year-old Lee Casciaro, who has been with the club since 1998, and scored against Celtic in a shock first-leg win in 2016.Speaking of Glasgow teams, Rangers enter the Champions League at the second qualifying round against Panathinaikos. Celtic start off at the play-off round.England's six representatives - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham - go straight into the league phase.
What next for the losers?
The teams who lose this round are not out of Europe entirely - dropping into the Conference League qualifiers.Most would go into the second round of the Conference League but a random draw picked two ties whose losers would go into the third round. San Marino club Virtus and Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps are involved in those two games - meaning they would be only two rounds away from the Conference League group stage.Teams who lose in the second round of Champions League qualifying would go into the third qualifying round of the Europa League by the way, and not the Conference League.
Starting in the league phase, watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 BST on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday nights.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Luis Enrique shrugs off praise for PSG's season with Club World Cup final to come
There is just one game left in the season in which Paris Saint-Germain finally won the first Champions League in their history to complete a historic treble and that game is the Club World Cup final, but Luis Enrique says it has not been his best. He was better, he claims, when he lost. Besides, the PSG coach said, Manchester City remain the best team around and his side must face a Chelsea team he likened to his own which can still deny them the perfect campaign and have a manager he 'loves'. 'The Champions League was our first and it was very important: that was our main objective when we came to Paris last year,' Enrique said. 'And on Sunday we have the chance, with the last game of the season, to win another one, with the Club World Cup. But it is important that we are conscious of the difficulty of the game. [Enzo] Maresca is a coach I love. I love the way he has of playing with the ball. They have a lot of good individual platers but they also have a real sense of duty. They are a bit like our team. They are physically strong too. It will be a very even game and a very difficult one. 'Chelsea won the Conference League, they finished fourth in the league, they are growing a lot. They have great players, technical players, and a great coach who I like a lot because of how they try to play from deep, always press, always want to attack. They are a very complete team that has produced a sensational season. This is no easy team and it is not a formality or anything like it. We will approach it 100% focused to try to round off a historic season. 'Was it our best season? Maybe, but we have to win to complete it. Anyway, you go a final and there is a loser and there is a winner too, but that doesn't mean the loser has done badly. We will give 100% and see which prize we get. 'A team is 11 stars, that's football,' the PSG coach continued. 'We don't want one, we want 11, or 13, 14, 15 … that is what we want. We are looking for the real star to be the entire team. It's like the fans: there is not one star, it is the whole of the Parc des Princes. I think the path is clear for everyone. We want stars, but at the service of the team.' It was then put to him that the star was him, and that he was the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or coach's award. 'I don't believe in individual awards in general and still less for a coach,' he replied. 'The team is always above the individual and that is something we try to transmit at PSG. Ousmane [Dembélé] is the best for what he has done individually, for the goals and assists, but above the goals and the assists it is because his work has meant that PSG won all the trophies. And that should be the only criteria by which a player is rewarded individually. That's my opinion, and I am sure there are others. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion 'There is nothing star about me. There wasn't as a player and there isn't as a coach. I like the work I do. I enjoyed my career as a player and I am enjoying it as a coach – especially the hard moments. That's when I feel most happy. It is nice when things go well because in our job you can make a lot of people happy, and I have learned to appreciate that as the years passed. 'But I know how this 'show' works: I know that people think you are good or bad based on your results. The praise comes because you win. The best team over the last decade was Manchester City. They lose 10 games and everyone kills them. They still have the best coach, they're still the best team. It's incredible. 'I accept that. But I have been better when I lost. I don't mind; I like being criticised more than being praised. I think I have got it right much more when I didn't win and everyone killed me with criticism. You all think that because we're winning, I am getting everything right now. No. I got it right much more, I did much better, when I lost. But in terms of efficiency it has been an extraordinary year and now we have to finish it off.'
Powys County Times
4 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Marquinhos calls on PSG to seize ‘golden opportunity' in Club World Cup final
Paris St Germain captain Marquinhos has urged his team-mates to seize their 'golden opportunity' to make history. The Champions League winners have a chance to complete a quintuple when they face Chelsea in the Club World Cup final in New York on Sunday. As well as their European triumph – secured with a stunning 5-0 defeat of Inter Milan in May – the crack French outfit won three domestic trophies in 2024-25, including a league and cup double. The Brazil defender said: 'We are very much aware of the importance of this match. It is a golden opportunity for us. 'This is a tournament that will be held every four years and we don't know if we will have another chance. We don't know what things will look like in four years. 'We want to grab this title to make it a perfect season which would be hard to replicate. We really want this title. We want to make history and are really hungry for a win.' PSG will be strong favourites at the MetLife Stadium after powering into the final with a thumping 4-0 win over Real Madrid. Chelsea have defied pre-tournament expectations to reach the final and earn a shot at the title and a jackpot in excess of £90million. 🗓️ Chelsea on the final! 🔜 See you on Sunday #CHEPSG I #FIFACWC — Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) July 9, 2025 Marquinhos said: 'We have played good games but we should not fall into trap of talking about previous games. 'This final against Chelsea will have its own story. A lot will depend on what we do on the pitch. 'We have to see what Chelsea do and go about it the best way we can. As a final, regardless of previous results, it is 50-50 but we will play with aggression and an attacking mindset.'
The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Marquinhos calls on PSG to seize ‘golden opportunity' in Club World Cup final
As well as their European triumph – secured with a stunning 5-0 defeat of Inter Milan in May – the crack French outfit won three domestic trophies in 2024-25, including a league and cup double. Marquinhos has won four trophies this season, including the Champions League (Mike Egerton/PA) The Brazil defender said: 'We are very much aware of the importance of this match. It is a golden opportunity for us. 'This is a tournament that will be held every four years and we don't know if we will have another chance. We don't know what things will look like in four years. 'We want to grab this title to make it a perfect season which would be hard to replicate. We really want this title. We want to make history and are really hungry for a win.' PSG will be strong favourites at the MetLife Stadium after powering into the final with a thumping 4-0 win over Real Madrid. Chelsea have defied pre-tournament expectations to reach the final and earn a shot at the title and a jackpot in excess of £90million. Marquinhos said: 'We have played good games but we should not fall into trap of talking about previous games. 'This final against Chelsea will have its own story. A lot will depend on what we do on the pitch. 'We have to see what Chelsea do and go about it the best way we can. As a final, regardless of previous results, it is 50-50 but we will play with aggression and an attacking mindset.'
