2023-24 Champions League: Play-off round

[amenina]

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleagu ... 4/2001774/

UEFA Champions League play-off round draw

The 2023/24 UEFA Champions League play-off round draw will be held at 12:00 CET at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday 7 August.

Seedings, any groupings and the procedure will be available here from 09:00 CET on the day of the draw.

[amenina]

Champions Path

Seeded
AEK Athens (GRE) vs GNK Dinamo (CRO)*
Copenhagen (DEN)* vs Sparta Praha (CZE)
Young Boys (SUI)
Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) vs Galatasaray (TUR)*

Unseeded
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)* vs Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) vs Molde (NOR)*
Royal Antwerp (BEL)
Raków Czestochowa (POL)* vs Aris Limassol (CYP)

League Path

Seeded
Rangers (SCO)* vs Servette (SUI)
Braga (POR)* vs Bačka Topola (SRB)

Unseeded
PSV Eindhoven (NED)* vs Sturm Graz (AUT)
Panathinaikos (GRE) vs Marseille (FRA)*

[quelhar]

Definitely seems that Antwerp are the club to avoid among the unseeded. Raków and Maccabi are in my view at almost equal strength (Raków maybe a little bit ahead). I consider these clubs to be favourites in their Q3 ties but of course they may be eliminated. Molde/Klaksvik does seem to be the weakest among the unseeded.

[Stephenmoka4]

League path; vs PSV is a 50 or 45% chance yeah, avoid Marseille.

Main path, seeds are strong (favorite only) 55%. I will like the toughest draw for FC Copenhagen, I need that EL. Avoiding CL would only put them in UCL group... jinxed that.

[Firnen]

The unseeded (Marseille and PSV) are favourites over the seeded teams (Rangers and Braga) in the league path.

In the Champions path, Antwerp is the biggest threat to the seeded teams, 2nd strongest is Maccabi Haifa. Rakow/Aris and Molde/Klaksvik are probably the ones wanted by the seeded teams

[nogomet]

If Dinamo and FCK avoid Antwerp, they will have had a tougher draw in Q3 than in PO.

[bjkman1903]

If Dinamo and FCK avoid Antwerp, they will have had a tougher draw in Q3 than in PO.

And Galatasaray, one of the easiest route ever to CL (Zalgiris, Olimpija, possibly Molde, Rakow or Aris)

[nogomet]

If Dinamo and FCK avoid Antwerp, they will have had a tougher draw in Q3 than in PO.

And Galatasaray, one of the easiest route ever to CL (Zalgiris, Olimpija, possibly Molde, Rakow or Aris)

I agree that Galatasaray may have one of the easiest routes to CL ever, but Molde, Rakow or Aris would not be easier than Olimpija. Galatasaray would have a natural progression in the strength of opponents throughout qualifying rounds, whereas FCK and Dinamo in the case above would have a peak opponent in Q3, not in PO. This doesn't happen often if you're seeded in all rounds.

[jayjay]

And looking from Raków perspective, everyone seeded seems to be very strong but i would only like them to avoid Kopenhagen. Dinamo, Sparta, AEK, YB and Galatasaray are playable and on similar level to Qarabag but if i could choose i would say Galata as a first choice and Dinamo as second.

[Korgutt]

As unseeded in playoff is it better to hope on a match instead of Young Boys? Because if you will meet a match it is possible you will meet an unseeded club in playoff?

[keyNote]

And looking from Raków perspective, everyone seeded seems to be very strong but i would only like them to avoid Kopenhagen. Dinamo, Sparta, AEK, YB and Galatasaray are playable and on similar level to Qarabag but if i could choose i would say Galata as a first choice and Dinamo as second.

I strongly disagree with your opinion, I think Galatasaray is the strongest team. Then Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb and Young Boys.
As for the unseeded teams, I think only Maccabi Haifa can surprise, and that's very unlikely.

[amenina]

Draw procedure: https://editorial.uefa.com//resources/0 ... 102535.pdf

Play-offs – Champions path
Time: 12:00 CET

Number of teams involved: 8 (2 directly and 6 through the third qualifying round)

Number of seeded teams: 4

Number of matches: 2 x 4

Matchdays: 22/23 and 29/30 August 2023

Kick-off time: 21:00 CET

Groupings
Seeded
Winners of match 1: AEK Athens FC (GRE) vs GNK Dinamo (CRO)

Winners of match 2: FC Copenhagen (DEN) vs AC Sparta Praha (CZE)

BSC Young Boys (SUI)

Winners of match 3: NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) - Galatasaray A.Ş. (TUR)

Unseeded
Winners of match 4: ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) vs Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)

Winners of match 5: KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) vs Molde FK (NOR)

Royal Antwerp FC (BEL)

Winners of match 6: Raków Czestochowa (POL) vs Aris Limassol FC (CYP)

Conditions of the draw
In accordance with paragraphs 13.03 and 13.04 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2023/24, the UEFA administration seeds clubs for the play-offs draw based on the club rankings established at the start of the season and the principles set out by the Club Competitions Committee.

The 8 teams (2 that enter the competition at this stage and the 6 winners of the third qualifying round (champions path) ties, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Matches 1 to 6) are divided equally into 4 seeded teams and 4 unseeded teams.

The winners of a third qualifying round match are seeded for the play-offs draw if either of the clubs involved in the match has a coefficient that would entitle it to be seeded.

The full fixture list will be communicated in writing to your club and national association on 7 August 2023, by 15:30 CET at the latest.

Draw procedure
Three bowls are prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the seeded and unseeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls.

One ball is then taken from each of these bowls and placed in the third empty central bowl, where they are shuffled. The first team drawn from this bowl is then considered the home team for the first tie, and will play against the second team drawn.

The same procedure is carried out with the remaining balls to complete all the pairings for the play-offs (champions path).

Play-offs – League path
Time: 12:10 CET

Number of teams involved: 4

Number of seeded teams: 2

Number of matches: 2 x 2

Matchdays: 22/23 and 29/30 August 2023

Kick-off time: 21:00 CET

Groupings
Seeded
Winners of match 1: Rangers FC (SCO) vs Servette FC (SUI)

Winners of match 2: SC Braga (POR) vs FK TSC Bačka Topola (SRB)

Unseeded
Winners of match 3: PSV Eindhoven (NED) vs SK Sturm Graz (AUT)

Winners of match 4: Panathinaikos FC (GRE) vs Olympique de Marseille (FRA)

Conditions of the draw
In accordance with paragraphs 13.03 and 13.04 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2023/24, the UEFA administration seeds clubs for the play-offs draw based on the club rankings established at the beginning of the season and the principles set out by the Club Competitions Committee.

The 4 third qualifying round (league path) pairings are divided equally into 2 seeded teams and 2 unseeded teams, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Matches 1 to 4.

The winners of a third qualifying round match are seeded for the play-offs draw if either of the clubs involved in the match has a coefficient that would entitle it to be seeded.

The full fixture list will be communicated in writing to your club and national association on 7 August 2023, by 15:30 CET at the latest.

Draw procedure
Three bowls are prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the seeded and unseeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls.

One ball is then taken from each of these bowls and placed in the third empty central bowl, where they are shuffled. The first team drawn from this bowl is then considered the home team for the first tie, and will play against the second team drawn.

The procedure is then carried out with the remaining balls to complete the second pairing for the play-offs (league path).

[Polak]

Not that bothered as to who Rakow gets as they're not good enough to play CL football. They would just be whipping boys for everyone. I hope they can beat the Cypriots though and confirm a place in the EL group stage in Q3.

[quelhar]

All seeded clubs in the champions path playing the second leg at home... What a coincidence

[matt]

All seeded clubs playing the second leg at home... What a coincidence

In the league path it's the opposite, but PSV and Marseille can be considered a bit stronger than Braga and Rangers. Maybe they believed they were seeded and made a mistake