August 6 – Turkish champions Galatasaray have been drawn against Young Boys, currently last in the Swiss league, in a playoff round to advance to the new Champions League format.
Galatasaray lost 5-0 Saturday in the domestic Super Cup against city rival Besiktas and Young Boys are winless in four games in the opening of the defence of their Swiss league title.
Young Boys hosts the first leg of the playoff on August 20 or 21 in Bern and the return game is August 27 or 28 in Istanbul.
The winner advances to the new 36-team Champions League that no longer plays the first phase in traditional four-team groups.
Instead, all teams will play eight games against eight different teams rather than three teams twice, through January instead of December, and are ranked in a single league-style table. The fixtures will be drawn August 29 in Monaco and start on September 17.
The new format is designed to give fans more competitive and balanced matches on all levels throughout the league phase. Seven entries will be decided in the playoff round, with the line-up decided by the third qualifying round.
Elsewhere in the playoffs, Dinamo Zagreb will face Qarabag or Ludogorets, and Red Star Belgrade are away in the first leg against Bodo/Glimt or competition debutant Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland.
In a separate draw path for teams that did not win their domestic league, Fenerbahce, newly coached by Jose Mourinho, or Lille will play Slavia Prague or Union Saint-Gilloise.
Salzburg, which has qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup, must get past Twente in the third qualifying round to earn a playoff against Dynamo Kyiv or Rangers.
Teams that lose in the Champions League playoffs will enter the Europa League in September. The second-tier competition also is expanding to 36 teams in a single league standings.
Champions Path
BSC Young Boys (SUI) vs Galatasaray A.Ş. (TUR)
GNK Dinamo (CRO) vs Qarabağ FK (AZE) / PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL)
FC Midtjylland (DEN) / Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) vs ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) / APOEL FC (CYP)
Jagiellonia Białystok (POL) / FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) vs FK Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Malmö FF (SWE) / PAOK FC (GRE) vs AC Sparta Praha (CZE) / Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU)
League Path
LOSC Lille (FRA) / Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) vs SK Slavia Praha (CZE) / R. Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) / Rangers FC (SCO) vs FC Salzburg (AUT) / FC Twente (NED)
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