August 29 – Historic rivals Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade won their Champions League qualifying playoffs on Wednesday and can now potentially be drawn to meet for the first time in 33 years.
Dinamo and Red Star last played each other in May 1991 in the Yugoslavian league that started to break up after that season as ethnic tensions moved toward war in the Balkans. One year earlier, their match in Zagreb saw violent clashes in the stadium.
On Wednesday, Dinamo beat Qarabag 2-0 in Azerbaijan to win 5-0 on aggregate score, and Red Star overturned a 2-1 deficit from the first leg against Bodo/Glimt with a 2-0 win in Belgrade.
Dinamo and Red Star were joined by Lille and Slovan Bratislava completing the 36-team Champions League lineup in the draw for the new-look format.
Lille won 3-2 on aggregate against Slavia Prague, despite losing 2-1 in the Czech capital, and Slovan won 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate score against Midtjylland.
Each of the 36 teams will play eight games against eight different opponents, with four at home and four away.
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