It’s a long way to the top if you want to be the best on the continent. In the UEFA Champions League, you have to qualify from your group from September to December before you get the chance in the knockout stages after the turn of the year. But some teams begin their road even earlier. To get a sight of the glamour and big-money prizes, you have to overcome the qualifications. There will be 32 clubs taking place in the Group stage, but only 26 of those are currently known. A preliminary round, three qualifying rounds plus the Play-off round have to be played before the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku or Toni Kroos hear the famous Champions League anthem prior to kick-off. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UEFA Champions League (@championsleague) No less than 54 clubs will battle to secure one of those six precious places in the Group stage. Some of the clubs from best-ranked European nations will only have the Play-off double-header to dispute to reach the dreamland – those are Red Bull Salzburg of Austria and Brondby of Denmark. Some, like Monaco, Rangers or Benfica will enter in the Third qualifying round. And there are some who have started at the very beginning, in the Preliminary round – those are the champions of Faroe Islands or San Marino. First qualifying round sees the likes of Ferencvaros, the champions of Hungary, Kairat of Kazakhstan and Flora of Estonia take part. The highest-profile club entering this stage is Dinamo Zagreb, the champions of Croatia who humiliated Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham in the Europa League last season. But even they won’t win the Champions League.🟢 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 🟢🆚 Slovan Bratislava🏆 UEFA Champions League📍 @tallaghtstadium ⌚️ 8pm📻 https://t.co/ymoDJ7j3TX💻 Stream live on https://t.co/gtnGwjKqMs#RoversInEurope pic.twitter.com/6azuO2ikfS— Shamrock Rovers FC ☘️ (@ShamrockRovers) July 13, 2021 The teams playing the qualifying rounds are under no illusions. Winning the competition, or even reaching the latter stages would be a worldwide sensation. We’re going to get out on the line and say right now that neither of the team participating in the qualifications will win the competition. To them, reaching the Group stage would be like hitting jackpot because it would bring them $18.6 million at the very least. That’s quite an amount for clubs who aren’t competing in the Big Five European leagues (Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1).Saying that only minnows are combating in the Champions League qualifications wouldn’t be fair. Former European champions Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic and Red Star Belgrade will all have to sweat heavily through European summer to get to the Group stage.🇪🇺 Smallest places by population represented in the UEFA Champions League 1st Qualifying Round:🇲🇹 Hibernians (8,706)🇸🇮 Mura (11,107)🏴 Connah’s Quay (16,774)🇬🇮 Lincoln Red Imps (34,003)🇧🇬 Ludogorets (35,049)🇱🇺 Fola Esch (36,218)🇳🇴 Bodø/Glimt (52,357)🇲🇰 Shkëndija (52,915) pic.twitter.com/DRTZfrKVLt— The Sweeper (@SweeperPod) July 12, 2021 The qualifications have already started and you’d be forgiven if you weren’t even aware of them. The first legs of the First qualifying round have been played while the eyes of the world have been focused on Euro 2020, but now it’s all about the Champions League. Malmo, the club Zlatan Ibrahimovic started his career (Malmo of Sweden), an Irish club named after a plant (Shamrock Rovers), a club called Sheriff (the champions of Moldova) and teams whose names translate to Future (Buducnost of Montenegro), Warrior (Borac of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Crazy Forest (Ludogorets of Bulgaria). Hey, what’s not to like?Mozzart Sport Kenya is there for you to talk you through the best and the not-so-good of European football as the new season gathers steam. The final is scheduled for Saturday, 28 May 2022. Be sure to follow all the action with us because everyone wants a little taste of the Champions League action – even if they know they are never going to win it.CHAMPIONS LEAGUEFirst qualifying round – second legTuesday19.00: Hibernians – Flora /first leg result 0-2/19.00: Riga – Malmo /0-1/19.00: Lincoln Red Imps – Fola /2-2/20.00: Sheriff – Teuta /0-3/21.00: Pristina – Ferencvaros /0-3/21.00: Mura – Shkendija /1-0/21.00: Borac – Cluj /1-3/21.30: Buducnost – Helsinki /1-3/21.45: Linfield – Zalgiris /1-3/22.00: Shamrock Rovers – Slovan Bratislava /0-2/22.30: Shakhtyor – Ludogorets /0-1/23.00: Valur – Dinamo Zagreb /2-3/Wednesday17.00: Kairat – Maccabi Haifa /1-1/18.00: Alashkert – Connah’s Quay /2-2/20.00: Neftci – Dinamo Tbilisi /2-1/21.00: Legia – Bodo/Glimt /3-2/
