After the champions of Croatia, Denmark, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were determined today, clarity came to the expected seeding in the draws for the 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds of the Champions League. Let’s remind that Kyiv’s Dynamo will start its European campaign for the 2025/26 season from the second qualifying round of the Champions League in the champions path.
Preliminary composition of the baskets for the draw of the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League (champions path)
If we assume that the seeded teams will overcome the 1st qualifying round of the Champions League in the champions path, the composition of the baskets for the draw of the 2nd qualifying round in the champions path will be the following (* — presumed winners of the 1st qualifying round of the Champions League).
Seeded:
“Copenhagen” (Denmark) — 44.875 (UEFA club coefficient)
“Crvena Zvezda” (Serbia) — 44.000
“Ferencvaros” (Hungary) — 39.000
“Maccabi” T-A (Israel) — 37.500
“Slovan” (Slovakia) — 33.500
“Karabakh” (Azerbaijan) — 32.000
* “Ludogorets” (Bulgaria) — 24.000
“DYNAMO” (Kyiv, Ukraine) — 23.500
* “Steaua” (Romania) — 22.500
“Lech” (Poland) — 19.000
* “Olimpija” (Slovenia) — 17.375
* “Malmo” (Sweden) — 14.500.
Unseeded:
“Rijeka” (Croatia) — 12.000
* “Zalgiris” (Lithuania) — 12.000
“Paphos” (Cyprus) — 11.125
* RFS (Latvia) — 11.000
* “Zrinjski” (Bosnia and Herzegovina) — 10.000
* “Lincoln Red Imps” (Gibraltar) — 10.000
* “KuPS” (Finland) — 10.000
* “New Saints” (Wales) — 9.000
* “Drita” (Kosovo) — 9.000
* “Breidablik” (Iceland) — 9.000
* “Linfield” (Northern Ireland) — 8.500
* “Buducnost” (Montenegro) — 8.000.
Preliminary composition of the baskets for the draw of the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League (champions path)
At this stage of the tournament, the teams that overcame the second qualifying round of the Champions League in the champions path will play. The draw for the 3rd qualifying round will take place before the winners of the 2nd qualifying round are determined. In such cases, according to the regulations, the highest club coefficients from the pairs of the previous round are used when forming the baskets.
Therefore, if we assume that the seeded teams will overcome the 1st qualifying round of the Champions League in the champions path, then the club coefficients used for the seeding of the 3rd qualifying round draw in the champions path will be as follows (* — presumed winners of the 1st qualifying round of the Champions League).
Seeded:
“Copenhagen” (Denmark) — 44.875 (UEFA club coefficient)
“Crvena Zvezda” (Serbia) — 44.000
“Ferencvaros” (Hungary) — 39.000
“Maccabi” T-A (Israel) — 37.500
“Slovan” (Slovakia) — 33.500
“Karabakh” (Azerbaijan) — 32.000.
Unseeded:
* “Ludogorets” (Bulgaria) — 24.000
“DYNAMO” (Kyiv, Ukraine) — 23.500
* “Steaua” (Romania) — 22.500
“Lech” (Poland) — 19.000
* “Olimpija” (Slovenia) — 17.375
* “Malmo” (Sweden) — 14.500.
Playoff round of the Champions League qualifying (champions path)
In this round, six winners of the 3rd qualifying round in the champions path will be joined by Norwegian “Bodø/Glimt” (49.000), Scottish “Celtic” (38.000), Swiss “Basel” (33.000), and Austrian “Sturm” (23.000).
So if “Dynamo” reaches this stage, its possible opponents will likely be:
“Bodø/Glimt” (Norway)
“Copenhagen” (Denmark)
“Crvena Zvezda” (Serbia)
“Ferencvaros” (Hungary)
“Celtic” (Scotland).
The winners of this stage will receive spots in the group stage of the Champions League, while the losers will continue in the main stage of the Europa League.
Schedule of draws and matches of the Champions League qualifiers
June 17: draw for the 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds.
July 8/9: first matches of the 1st qualifying round.
July 15/16: return matches of the 1st qualifying round.
July 21: draw for the 3rd qualifying round.
July 22/23: first matches of the 2nd qualifying round.
July 29/30: return matches of the 2nd qualifying round.
August 4: draw for the playoff round.
August 5/6: first matches of the 3rd qualifying round.
August 12: return matches of the 3rd qualifying round.
August 19/20: first matches of the playoff round.
August 26/27: return matches of the playoff round.
