Back to BlogPublished 2026-08-27

Seven In, Seven Down: the Champions League Play-off Round Is Over

The Champions League play-off round is over. Seven clubs are in the league phase, seven have dropped into the Europa League, and one of them arrived there after leading a tie 3-0.

Cover card: seven in, seven down - the Champions League play-off round is complete, with seven clubs into the league phase and seven dropping to the Europa League.

7into the league phase

7dropped to the Europa League

3ties needed extra time

+2.4Norway, the biggest coefficient gain

from 3-0 downLASKLost the first leg 3-0 at Celtic Park, won the second 5-1 after extra time and went through 5-4. The comeback of the round.

+1.2 for TürkiyeFenerbahçeWon 2-1 in Lyon, through 3-2, and back in the Champions League league phase after two seasons in the Europa League.

two Norwegian clubsBodø/GlimtThrough 6-1, and Viking joined them 5-3 the same night: Norway put two clubs into the league phase and gained the most of any country.

Card listing the seven qualifiers with national flags and aggregate scores: Bodo/Glimt 6-1, AEK Athens 4-0, Sabah 6-4, Viking 5-3, LASK 5-4, Fenerbahce 3-2, Slovan Bratislava 3-2.

Celtic

entered at this round

4-5aggregate25.08League phase

LASK

entered at this round

Hapoel Beer-Sheva

beat Víkingur Reykjavík3-2Q3

beat Red Star Belgrade3-0

4-6aggregate25.08League phase

Sabah FK

Q1beat The New Saints4-1Q2

beat KuPS Kuopio3-0Q3

beat AGF Aarhus5-2

NEC Nijmegen

beat Olympiakos Piraeus2-1

1-6aggregate25.08League phase

Bodø/Glimt

beat Union Saint-Gilloise6-5

Dinamo Zagreb

beat FC Thun4-3Q3

beat Kauno Žalgiris7-1

3-5aggregate26.08League phase

Viking Stavanger

entered at this round

Fenerbahçe

beat Górnik Zabrze2-1Q3

beat Sturm Graz3-0

3-2aggregate26.08League phase

Olympique Lyon

beat Sparta Praha4-2

Levski Sofia

beat Borac Banja Luka5-1Q2

beat Universitatea Craiova3-2Q3

beat Kairat Almaty2-0

0-4aggregate26.08League phase

AEK Athens

entered at this round

Slovan Bratislava

beat Iberia 1999 Tbilisi3-1Q3

beat Mjällby AIF4-1

3-2aggregate26.08League phase

NK Celje

beat Egnatia Rrogozhinë5-5 (1-4 p)Q3

beat Ararat-Armenia3-2

All seven ties with the final aggregate. Above and below each one: every qualifying round that side came through to get there.

Same ticket, different value

Reaching the Champions League league phase is worth a flat 6-point bonus. A country coefficient is that total divided by the number of clubs the country entered - so the same ticket is worth more to a country that sent fewer clubs. There is also a rule most people miss: qualifying round wins only count towards the coefficient if the club is eliminated. For these seven, the league phase bonus replaces the road that got them there.

Card showing the country coefficient gained from the round: Norway +2.4 with two clubs through, Slovakia and Azerbaijan +1.5, Greece, Austria and Turkiye +1.2.

Snapshot as of 27 August 2026. All seven aggregates verified against UEFA match reports via the Wikipedia qualifying-phase pages; coefficient rules from UEFA’s published points table, club counts from the eurocoefficient.com database. The Europa League and Conference League play-off second legs are played on 27 August.