Today sees the second qualifying round, there is a third (20 teams) and then playoff stage (14 teams) to result in seven teams who will then enter the eight game league stage of the competition. We already have some "name" teams playing in this round and others have byes to the 3rd and PO round, but regardless of how big they are, all teams have the same objective, which is reach the highly lucrative league stage and for some, just doing that will be their main target and would make their season a success (or failure), before it has barely started.

 

It is a weird situation where your own domestic season might not start for a month, but you could play five of your six biggest games of the campaign before then!

 

All is not totally lost for teams eliminated in this round as they would then enter the Europa League third qualifying round, but that is not what anyone is looking for and every team playing this week will be highly motivated.

 

Three teams featuring today or tomorrow made it to the league stage last season.... Crvena zvezda, RB Salzburg and Slovan Bratislava, the first two also made it to the group stage in 23/24 and are regular participants and probably budget for the income it brings. Slovan were making their debut, but the glory and money are addictive and once you have a taste, you are hooked! 

 

I doubt that Dynamo Kiev, Malmo and Qarabag will be any less motivated and possibly more so after bowing out at the Playoff (final) stage last season and Rangers, Ferencvaros, Ludogorets and FCSB all fell in the 3rd round.

 

In 2024/25, all CL league stage qualifiers received a fixed $21m, with circa $2.3m for a win, $800k for a draw and $310k per league position up for grabs. Crvena zvezda picked up a cool £29m for finishing 29 of 36 teams (about $10m more than their total income for the previous season) also raising their profile on the world stage given the new format. Hence why this is such a big deal!

 

Good luck!