Euro Coefficient
Back to BlogPublished 2026-08-25

Seven Tickets, Two Nights: the Champions League Play-off Round

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The Champions League play-off round is seven ties across two nights: three on 25 August, four on 26 August. The seven winners join the 29 clubs already in the league phase. The seven losers do not go home - they drop straight into the Europa League league phase.

Cover card: seven tickets, two nights - the seven Champions League play-off ties, three settled on 25 August and four on 26 August 2026.
7ties in the round
3settled 25 August
4still to play, 26 August
7losers drop to the Europa League
throughSabah FKBeat Hapoel Beer-Sheva 6-4 on aggregate after extra time - the first ticket of the round, and a first league phase in the club’s history.
1-1, awayFenerbahçeThe heavyweight tie of the round on coefficient: Fenerbahce are 23rd in Europe, Lyon 60th - but the second leg is in Lyon.
0-0AEK AthensThe only tie still level with nothing between them: ninety minutes in Athens decides it.
Card listing the four Wednesday second legs with crests and first-leg scores: AEK Athens 0-0 Levski Sofia, Celje 1-1 Slovan Bratislava, Lyon 1-1 Fenerbahce, Viking 2-2 Dinamo Zagreb.
CelticCeltic
entered at this round
3-0first leg25.08League phase
LASKLASK
entered at this round
Hapoel Beer-ShevaHapoel Beer-Sheva
Q2Víkingur Reykjavíkbeat Víkingur Reykjavík3-2Q3Red Star Belgradebeat Red Star Belgrade3-0
2-1first leg25.08League phase
Sabah FKSabah FK
Q1beat The New Saints4-1Q2KuPS Kuopiobeat KuPS Kuopio3-0Q3AGF Aarhusbeat AGF Aarhus5-2
NEC NijmegenNEC Nijmegen
Q3Olympiakos Piraeusbeat Olympiakos Piraeus2-1
1-3first leg25.08League phase
Bodø/GlimtBodø/Glimt
Q3Union Saint-Gilloisebeat Union Saint-Gilloise6-5
Dinamo ZagrebDinamo Zagreb
Q2FC Thunbeat FC Thun4-3Q3Kauno Žalgirisbeat Kauno Žalgiris7-1
2-2first leg26.08League phase
Viking StavangerViking Stavanger
entered at this round
FenerbahçeFenerbahçe
Q2Górnik Zabrzebeat Górnik Zabrze2-1Q3Sturm Grazbeat Sturm Graz3-0
1-1first leg26.08League phase
Olympique LyonOlympique Lyon
Q3Sparta Prahabeat Sparta Praha4-2
Levski SofiaLevski Sofia
Q1Borac Banja Lukabeat Borac Banja Luka5-1Q2Universitatea Craiovabeat Universitatea Craiova3-2Q3Kairat Almatybeat Kairat Almaty2-0
0-0first leg26.08League phase
AEK AthensAEK Athens
entered at this round
Slovan BratislavaSlovan Bratislava
Q2Iberia 1999 Tbilisibeat Iberia 1999 Tbilisi3-1Q3Mjällby AIFbeat Mjällby AIF4-1
1-1first leg26.08League phase
NK CeljeNK Celje
Q2Egnatia Rrogozhinëbeat Egnatia Rrogozhinë5-5 (1-4 p)Q3Ararat-Armeniabeat Ararat-Armenia3-2

All seven ties. Scores are first legs; above and below each tie is every qualifying round that side has already come through.

The field, by coefficient

Card ranking the play-off clubs by club coefficient with national flags, from Bodo/Glimt on 76.5 down to LASK on 7.
Club coefficient
Norway76.5 · #22
Türkiye75.75 · #23
Croatia55.5 · #44
Slovakia51.5 · #49
France46.25 · #60
Scotland43 · #65
Slovenia43 · #66
Greece30 · #89
Israel20.5 · #116
Bulgaria15.5 · #140
Azerbaijan12.5 · #148
Austria7 · #199

Five-year club coefficient with European ranking. The round spans 22nd to 334th - NEC Nijmegen, the lowest ranked of the fourteen, are not shown here.

Snapshot as of 25 August 2026. Ties, first-leg scores and Sabah’s aggregate verified against UEFA match reports; coefficients from the eurocoefficient.com database and still moving as results come in. The other two second legs of 25 August had not yet been entered in the match reports when this went up.

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