CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 23/24
Champions League play-off draw made with six group stage places on the line
Marseille, Rangers, AEK Athens, PSV and Galatasaray are just some of the big name sides involved in the final round of playoff games ahead of the 2023/24 group stage draw.
After a three year absence, the group stage draw for the 2023/24 Champions League will return to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco where the event will be staged on 31 August. At present we know the names of 26 of the sides who will play in group stage with the draw for the final round of playoff games conducted this morning in Nyon.
Some big name teams are still involved in the competition and will be desperate to secure a lucrative place in the group stage with the likes of PSV, Glasgow Rangers, AEK, Galatasaray, Braga and former winners Olympique Marseille all vying for a place in the Monaco draw with six places waiting to be filled.
The first legs of the last qualifying round will be played on 22-23 August and the second legs a week later on August 29 and 30, one day before the group stage draw in Monaco. There are still games in the third qualifying phase to be resolved with matches taking place this week and next.
One of the surprise names still in the competition is Faroe Islands side KI Klasivik with this season seeing the first time a side from the Atlantic archipelago has progressed this far. The island men face Norwegian champions Molde in the third qualifying phase.
Play-off round (first leg: August 22 and 23 and second leg: August 29 and 30)
Champions Path
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)/Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) - Young Boys (SUI)
Royal Antwerp - AEK Athens (GRE)/GNK Dinamo (CRO)
Raków Czestochowa (POL)/Aris Limassol (CYP) - Copenhagen (DIN)/Sparta Prague (CZE)
KÍ Klaksvík (FRO)/Molde FK (NOR) - Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO)/Galatasaray (TUR)
League Path
Rangers (SCO)/Servette FC (SUI) - PSV Eindhoven (NED)/Sturm Graz (AUT)
Braga (POR)/Bačka Topola (SRB) - Panathinaikos (GRE)/Olympique de Marseille (FRA)