MONACO (AP) — Jose Mourinho and Fenelvers were unable to return to the Champions League on Wednesday, losing 1-0 to Benfica in the qualifying playoffs on Wednesday.
Benfica (coached by first club Mourinho) rejected two goals in the first half in a video review before Turkish forward Kelem Akturkolu scored on an ascent shot with only two legs in the 35th minute.
Azerbaijani clubs Bruges, Copenhagen and Karabag also advanced to complete the lineup of 36 teams in the league phase, with a draw being held on Thursday.
Mourinho is a two-time Champions League winner, but has not coached the main stage of six seasons of marquee competition. Fenerbafe’s absence is currently spanning 17 seasons.
Bruges routed the Rangers with a 6-0, 9-1 collective score. The Belgians already had an early lead before Rangers defender Max Aaron was sent off in the eighth minute.
Qarabag returned to the Champions League eight years after his debut campaign, winning 5-4 with the Ferencvaros despite a 3-2 defeat at Baku on Wednesday.
Copenhagen scored Bezel 2-0 at home, moving on to 3-1 overall.
The draw ceremony will begin on Thursday at 6pm (1600 GMT) at Monaco’s beachside concert hall and conference venue.
Who is in the Champions League draw?
This year, a record six teams from England are taking part in the competition. Over half – 19 years old – there are four people The highest country: England, Italy, Spain, Germany.
Newcomers in the main phase are Bodo/Grimt from Norway, Kairato Almati from Kazakhstan, Paphos from Cyprus and Union Sangi Rose from Belgium.
The Champions League will go northerly than ever before, with Bodo inside the Arctic Circle, and further east towards Almaty, near Kazakhstan’s China border. Paphos, a Russian-owned champion in Cyprus, was created just 11 years ago with the merger of two clubs.
Athletic Bilbao leads a team that has returned after a long absence. The iconic team from the Basque region of Spain last played on the 2014-15 group stage.
The Olympiakos missed four editions after losing in the semi-finals to Liverpool in 2022, and Villarreal Returns.
There are no teams from Ukraine for the first time in 20 years. During that period, Shakhtar Donetsk featured the Dynamo Kyiv 10 on 17 occasions. The Russian team It is prohibited from all European conventions For the fourth consecutive season since Ukraine’s complete military invasion.
Former winner
The 71st edition of the European Cup or Champions League includes 14 different former champions, including 50 titles, including holder Paris Saint-Germain.
Now, five-time winner, Carlo Ancelotti Real Madrid left Brazil coachPep Guardiola is the leading coach of this edition. Guardiola has won three Champions League titles, winning Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 and his current team Manchester City in 2023.
The other previous titles won are Luis Enrique alongside Barcelona in 2015 and Barcelona’s Hansiflic, who won in 2020 with Bayern Munich.
Schedule and Format
This is the second season League Phase Format Thirty-six teams played eight different opponents and were ranked in the single stand table.
A weighted schedule will be given to each team on Thursday to two opponents drawn from each of Monaco’s four seed pots. Teams are seeded based on Their ranking Results of over 5 seasons in UEFA competitions.
The game begins on September 16th, with the final match being January 28th. Bodeau/Grimt will need to play one home game on artificial turf in January during the Norwegian offseason.
The top eight teams in the final rankings will advance to round 16 in March. The team ranked 9th to 24th, and was in the two-legged knockout playoff round in February.
The final at Budapest’s Puskas Arena will be on May 30th. Just 12 days later, the World Cup will begin in Mexico City.
Prize
UEFA has allocated a prize of 2.47 billion euros ($2.88 billion) from total commercial revenue of 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion) across all European club competitions this season.
The lowest ranked team, Kairat is guaranteed at least 20 million euros ($23 million) by UEFA. High-ranked teams Real Madrid and PSG will win at least 60 million euros ($69 million). Teams earn more money with each win and also to advance to the knockout round.
The winner of the title must receive approximately 150 million euros ($175 million) in prize money.
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