UEFA Champions League 2022/23 3rd qualifying round

[wannabeontop]

Btw, in the first round Ferencváros had to travel to Kazakhstan of all places to play the first game of the season. If they progress to the 3rd round there is a decent chance that they'll have to travel all the way to Azerbaijan. Thanks a lot UEFA.

[emortal]

@dnina10 do you happen to know where USG will play their European games?

I assume their home turf (as much as I love it) is out of the question?

They will play at the King Power at Den Dreef in Leuven for the qualifiers and the Roi Badouain Stadium in Brussels for the group stage

I won't be here during August, but if they make it to the group stage that probably means a lot of tickets available at the Roi Baudouin!

Let's hope they make it to the group.

[air]

Btw, in the first round Ferencváros had to travel to Kazakhstan of all places to play the first game of the season. If they progress to the 3rd round there is a decent chance that they'll have to travel all the way to Azerbaijan. Thanks a lot UEFA.

Sometimes an Azeri trip is better than a trip to Zagreb.

Btw I checked it with an Azeri friend, he is confident that they will go through the Swiss.

[Vee_1]

With the players Union SG have lost I can't see them beating Rangers.

Rangers also have lost some very important players

Rangers haven't lost a 20+ season goal scorer in there league and the teams arguably best midfielder and not really replaced them.

Rangers are still a lot stronger than Union SG. I can see Rangers competiting again in Europe I can't see Union SG competing for the title again in Belgium thats the difference to me their transfer business has made so far.

[EarlofBug]

Btw, in the first round Ferencváros had to travel to Kazakhstan of all places to play the first game of the season. If they progress to the 3rd round there is a decent chance that they'll have to travel all the way to Azerbaijan. Thanks a lot UEFA.

Sometimes an Azeri trip is better than a trip to Zagreb.

Btw I checked it with an Azeri friend, he is confident that they will go through the Swiss.

snd better than a trip to Iceland

[Firnen]

Btw, in the first round Ferencváros had to travel to Kazakhstan of all places to play the first game of the season. If they progress to the 3rd round there is a decent chance that they'll have to travel all the way to Azerbaijan. Thanks a lot UEFA.

Sometimes an Azeri trip is better than a trip to Zagreb.

Btw I checked it with an Azeri friend, he is confident that they will go through the Swiss.

snd better than a trip to Iceland

I think this whole "trip factor" is overrated. The teams go by plane, not by bus. Extra 1-2 hours on a plane isn't really that important...

[bugylibicska]

Champions path
The Champions path features to new entrants and ten second qualifying round winners (Champions path). Teams have been divided into two groups and seeded in accordance with the club coefficient ranking (the higher coefficient of the two clubs involved in an undecided pairing).

Group 1
Seeded:
Match 1 Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) / Shkupi (MKD)
Match 2 Maccabi Haifa (ISR) / Olympiacos (GRE)
Match 3 Qarabağ (AZE) / Zürich (SUI)

Unseeded:
Match 4 Ludogorets (BUL) / Shamrock Rovers (IRL)
Match 5 Ferencváros (HUN) / Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Apollon Limassol (CYP)

Group 2
Seeded:
Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Match 6 HJK Helsinki (FIN) / Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Match 7 Žalgiris (LTU) / Malmö (SWE)

Unseeded:
Match 8 Maribor (SVN) / Sheriff (MDA)
Match 9 Linfield (NIR) / Bodø/Glimt (NOR)
Match 10 Pyunik (ARM) / Diddeleng (LUX)

Groups are out

Fradi probably got the best possible draw - Qarabağ (AZE) / Zürich (SUI) -, they should be satisfied. Both Olympiakos (Apollon Limassol (CYP)) and Dinamo Zagreb (Ludogorets (BUL) / Shamrock Rovers (IRL)) are heavy favourites.
Crvena Zvezda won the lottery with Pyunik (ARM) / Diddeleng (LUX) while Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) should be also staisfied - Maribor (SVN) / Sheriff (MDA). And we have the northern derby between Malmö (SWE) and Bodø/Glimt (NOR).

[air]

Sometimes an Azeri trip is better than a trip to Zagreb.

Btw I checked it with an Azeri friend, he is confident that they will go through the Swiss.

snd better than a trip to Iceland

I think this whole "trip factor" is overrated. The teams go by plane, not by bus. Extra 1-2 hours on a plane isn't really that important...

I agree, but also I think that the time zone factor is important. On a trip to Kazakhstan, your day is "shorter" by 4 hours, your rhytm can be ruined. Good resting is important, even if +2 hrs on the plane is nothing.

[Greyn]

snd better than a trip to Iceland

I think this whole "trip factor" is overrated. The teams go by plane, not by bus. Extra 1-2 hours on a plane isn't really that important...

I agree, but also I think that the time zone factor is important. On a trip to Kazakhstan, your day is "shorter" by 4 hours, your rhytm can be ruined. Good resting is important, even if +2 hrs on the plane is nothing.

I agree with that. Basing on the results of Kazakh teams at home and away I think it has a confirmation in reality.

[Polak]

Slightly confused. Can someone explain to me why Union SG, who were 1st, are in the league path?

[seso]

Slightly confused. Can someone explain to me why Union SG, who were 1st, are in the league path?

There were play-offs. Club Brugge finished first and is in CL-GS.

[Polak]

Ah ok gotcha. What a stupid system. Poland had that recently (well a similar one). What's the point of even bothering trying to finish 1st in the league if you just have to go through play-offs anyway.

[Forza AZ]

Ah ok gotcha. What a stupid system. Poland had that recently (well a similar one). What's the point of even bothering trying to finish 1st in the league if you just have to go through play-offs anyway.

In Belgium getting 1st in the regular season ensures you play in Europe. And also points from the regular season are counted (for 50%) in the play-offs.

[dnina10]

Slightly confused. Can someone explain to me why Union SG, who were 1st, are in the league path?

Yeah as everyone else mentioned, the playoffs saw Union finish second. Belgium is reverting back to its old format after this coming season, so expect to see more of the same regarding that

[Ricardo]

Terrible draw for PSV. Last year we couldn't win against Monaco and Monaco seems even better than last year with Clement. Although they have lost Tchoumeni.

It in the middle of the summer, last season, mid season doesn’t count. Who prepares their team best for this vacation Spiel. Well after winning this round Benfica would wait, so it is a hard path to get into the CL if you are no championd and not in top 4. For PSV they need some luck to pass this any year Being in the best 2 teams of the league path.
PSV had some interesting signings, maybe they will manage this time, and otherwise EL groupstage is maybe more fitting on level. Of course the money is different and PSV could use some extra millions…. But points might be more important in this season before the new system kicks in?