Manchester United will make their return to the Champions League next season after a one - year absence, however they could face a potentially tricky two - legged qualifier to
reach the group stages.
United will be busy in the month of August as they begin the new season with a home game against Tottenham on the 8th and will also face a two - legged qualifier in order to
reach the group stages of Europe's elite club competition.
The «champions route» boasts Rangers» conquerors Malmo, FC Viktoria Plzen and Wisla Krakow, all of whom are looking to
reach the group stage for the first time.
Each team that
reached the group stage was awarded just under # 11m for participation.
It appears likely Tottenham will be among the seeded teams in the qualifying stage, which will improve their chances of at least
reaching the group stage markedly.
That ensured the Slovenian champions
reached the group stage 2 - 2 on aggregate after their 2 - 1 win in Israel last week.
For all the build up to what is effectively United's last chance saloon in terms of achieving at least the bare minimum —
reaching the group stages of the Champions League for next season with the added bonus of silverware, the players somehow managed it — like they did in the last few minutes of the EFL cup final, when at one stage the odds were stacked against them.
Benfica have featured in qualifying on five occasions,
reaching the group stage three times: 1998/99 (Beitar Jerusalem FC, agg: 8 - 4), 2006/07 (FK Austria Wien, agg: 4 - 1) and 2007/08 (FC København, agg: 3 - 1).
Elsewhere, Azerbaijani champions Qarabag take a 1 - 0 lead to Copenhagen as they look to become the first team from their country to
reach the group stages.
Last season, United had to qualify for the UEFA Champions League from the play - off stage, beating Club Brugge 7 - 1 on aggregate to
reach the group stages of the Champions League, where they did not qualify for the knockout stages, falling into the Europa League from the round of 32.
Birmingham City beat Nacional 3 - 0 to
reach the group stage of the Europa League.
The third place side will now look to Champions League qualifying as it attempts to
reach the group stage.
Scottish side Celtic are in pole position to
reach the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since the 2013/14 season despite conceding two goals at home to Israeli side, Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Liverpool came back in the Champions League after missing it two seasons in a row by finishing at 4th in the League Table of Premier League previous season and had beaten Hoffenheim in the qualifier to
reach the group stage of UEFA Champions League this season.
All of the African sides must get through a two - legged tie before
reaching the group stage, and many of the major sides failed to gain an edge in their away legs on Friday.
Southampton will head to Denmark knowing only a victory in the second leg will allow them to
reach the group stage.
Not exact matches
The Tata
Group, along with the other partners, will support early -
stage Israeli ventures, enabling them to
reach advanced phase of development, and ultimately strengthen their presence in global markets.
Southeast Asian economies are
reaching a
stage similar to China's at the end of the last decade, when e-commerce began to take off, Alibaba
Group Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai told an industry conference in Singapore on Tuesday.
When
groups reach the growth - work
stage, members participate in all major leader - facilitator functions.
On the international
stage, he played a key role for Cesare Prandelli's men at Euro 2012 as they
reached the final only to lose to Spain, before suffering bitter disappointment at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as they failed to make it beyond the
group stage.
Malaga will hope to continue an impressive unbeaten Champions home record this season to
reach the quarters and repeat the victories over AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg in the
group stage.
The two - legged tie will determine whether they
reach the lucrative
group stage for the 14th year in a row.
The Gunners go into the match needing just one point from their remaining two matches to confirm top spot in
Group H to cement their place as one of the top seeds in the knock - out
stages of the competition, while a loss for our opponents could well see them closed out of the top two spots, but at least Cologne will have the wish to win the game to give them a chance of
reaching the next
stage of the competition, while Arsenal are already guaranteed progression.
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We have already easily qualified as
group winners but BATE still have an outside chance of
reaching the knockout
stages if they win this game.
We've
reached the knockout phases of Euro 2016 where 16 teams have now qualified from the 24 - team
group stage.
Some will point to that qualifying campaign and say we should go with confidence, but whilst I would love us to
reach the latter
stages of the World Cup at least surely this
group of players will not go to Russia with false praise and raised expectations.
As was the case in reality, Spurs crashed out of the Champions League at the
group stage finishing third in their
group, although they impressed in the Europa League
reaching the last four.
Qarabag beat the champions of Georgia, Moldova and Denmark to become the first Azerbaijan side to
reach the Champions League
group stages.
Six teams having
reached at least once the
group stage of the Champions League since the 2009/10 season are among those always present in the top division during the period analysed where footballers played at least one quarter of domestic league minutes: Ajax, Nordsjælland, Anderlecht, Malmö, Dinamo Zagreb and Schalke 04.
Fenerbahce qualified for the
group stages of the Europa League with a 5 - 0 aggregate victory over Grasshoppers, and with the
group they have been drawn in, it will only inspire them to
reach the knockout
stages of the competition.
Recently, FC Basel showed a better European campaign than CSKA when Bebbi
reached the Round of 16 in 2014/15 season after beating Liveroool in the
group stages — while CSKA finished last under Bayern Munich, Man City, and AS Roma.
Egypt
reached this
stage courtesy of topping
Group D.
Despite
reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2006 they failed to make it out of the
group stages in Brazil in 2014 so will be looking to imporve of their last World Cup display.
For the boys in green, who will make up the oldest squad in the tournament, escaping the «
group of death» to
reach the knockout
stages would be a real achievement.
But it should put them close to
reaching the knockout
stages for the first time after finishing bottom of their
group at tournaments in 1996, 2004 and 2008.
Germany have
reached the knockout
stage in every World Cup since 1982 whereas France, champions in 1998, went out in the
group stage at two of the past three tournaments.
The Blues have
reached the knockout
stages of the Champions League on 13 previous occasions and will be eager to get three points on the board in a tricky - looking
group containing Atletico Madrid and Roma.
Lyon
staged an astonishing fightback to earn a 7 - 1 win at Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League
Group D match and
reach the knockout
stage of the competition.
In his first five competitive appearances, four of which have been starts, the 25 - year - old has scored three times, helping the Reds
reach the Champions League
group stage and batter Arsenal in the space of four days.
Arsène Wenger's side are unbeaten in all competitions this season and
reached the Champions League
group stage with victory over Besiktas on Wednesday night.
Failure to win five of six
group phase matches last season gave Leverkusen little hope of
reaching the last 16
stage, the round they had dropped out in the previous two years.
Having qualified from the
group stage for the past four seasons and
reached the semifinals in three of the last four years, Atletico are on the verge of elimination from the Champions League.
Paris SG, who finished second in
Group A behind Real Madrid, have
reached the knockout
stages of the Champions League for the fourth consecutive season, their best ever run.
Manchester City's current rank, at 16th, means that unless they
reach say the semi-finals of the Champions League, they will remain in pot 2 and face the likes of Bayern in the
group stage.
Plateau United head coach Kennedy Boboye is optimistic that the reigning NPFL champions can
reach the CAF Champions League
group stage despite being defeated 4 - 2 in their First Round first leg match against Etoile du Sahel on Tuesday.
However, there is a great deal of pressure riding on this game for Spurs who know they must capatalise on all three of their home fixtures if they wish to
reach the latter
stages, while Capital rivals Arsenal and Chelsea set the bar last night, with the pair both winning their respective
group affairs.
In seven attempts so far they have
reached one semi-final, one quarter - final, three last - 16 rounds and gone out in the
group stages twice.
Jurgen Klopp's
Group E leaders came into the game knowing they needed to avoid defeat to be sure of
reaching the knockout
stage for the first time since 2008 - 09 - and Coutinho gave them the lead with a fourth - minute penalty after Mohamed Salah was fouled by Georgi Dzhikiya.
Manchester United have set out their stall to
reach the Champions League knockout
stage as
group winners.