UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw: CR To Get Two Whacks At Leo The Lion

 The draw for the UEFA Champions League's group stage took place on Wednesday at Nyon, Switzerland.

GROUP A:

Bayern Munich (Germany; defending champions)

Atletico Madrid (Spain)

FC Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)

Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)

GROUP B:

Real Madrid (Spain)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

Inter Milan (Italy)

Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

GROUP C:

FC Porto (Portugal)

Manchester City (England)

Olympiacos (Greece)

Marseille (France)

GROUP D:

Liverpool (England)

Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Atalanta (Italy)

FC Midtjylland (Denmark)

GROUP E:

Sevilla (Spain)

Chelsea (England)

FC Krasnodar (Russia)

Rennes (France)

GROUP F:

Zenit Saint Petersburg

Borussia Dortmund

Lazio (Italy)

Club Brugge (Belgium)

GROUP G:

Juventus (Italy)

Barcelona (Spain)

Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

Ferencvaros (Hungary)

GROUP H:

Paris Saint-Germain (France)

Manchester United (England)

RB Leipzig (Germany)

Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey)

The action opens on October 20.

UEFA Champions League: Midtjylland, Salzburg, Krasnodar Advance To Group Stage

 The UEFA Champions League's playoff round concluded on Wednesday with three games.

CHAMPIONS PATH:

At Herning, Denmark:

Sory Kaba (65'), Alexander Scholz (PK-84'), Ogochukwu Onyeka (88'), and Anders Dreyer (90'+1) each scored once as FC Midtjylland scored four goals in the second half and overpowered visiting Slavia Prague 4-1 in game two and won their series with the Czech club by that same score on aggregate.

At Wals-Siezenheim, Austria:

Patson Daka scored twice (16', 68') as FC Red Bull Salzburg defeated visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 in game two and ousted the Israeli club 5-2 on aggregate.

LEAGUE PATH:

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Giannis Michailidis (OG-73') and Remy Cabella (78') each scored once as FC Krasnodar defeated PAOK FC 2-1 on the road in game two and won their series 4-2 on aggregate.

UEFA Champions League Playoff Round: Olympiacos, Ferencvaros, Dynamo Kiev Advance To Group Stage

 The playoff round of the UEFA Champions League is set to resume on Tuesday with three games, all kicking off at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time and set to be streamed live on CBS All Access.

CHAMPIONS PATH:

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

A game-two 0-0 road stalemate with Omonia was good enough for Olympiacos as the Greek club won their series 2-0 on aggregate.

At Budapest, Hungary:

Despite being held 0-0 at home in game two by Norway's Molde FK, Ferencvaros won their series on away goals with the aggregate score at 3-3 to advance to the Champions League's group stage since 1995.

LEAGUE PATH:

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Vitaliy Buyalskyi (9'), Carlos De Pena (PK-36'), and Gerson Rodrigues (PK-49') each scored once as Dynamo Kiev dominated visiting KAA Gent 3-0 in game two and ousted the Belgian club 5-1 on aggregate.

UEFA Champions League Playoff Round: Olympiacos, Dynamo Kiev Take Series Openers; Ferencvaros Draw On Road With Molde

 The UEFA Champions League's playoff round reached its' midway point on Wednesday with three games.

CHAMPIONS PATH:

At Piraeus, Greece:

Matthieu Valbuena (PK-69') and Youssef Al-Arabi (90'+2) each scored once as Olympiacos blanked visiting Omonia 2-0 in the opening game of their two-match series.

At Molde, Norway:

Franck Boli (7'), Myrto Uzuni (52'), and Ihor Kharatin (PK-87') each scored once as Ferencvaros gained a seriers-opening 3-3 road draw with Molde FK.

Leke James (55'), Magnus Eikrem (65'), and Martin Ellingsen (83') each scored once for the hosts.

LEAGUE PATH:

At Ghent, Belgium:

Carlos De Pena scored the winning goal in the 79th minute as Dynamo Kiev took the opening game of their series with KAA Gent 2-1 on the road.

UEFA Champions League Playoff Round: Red Bulls, Krasnodar Grab Series Openers; Midtjylland And Slavia Prague Produce Goose Eggs In Prague

The playoff round for UEFA Champions League group-stage berths commenced with three games on Tuesday.  All series are two-game affairs.

CHAMPIONS PATH:

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Slavia Prague and visiting Midtjylland battled to a series-opening 0-0 stalemate.

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Masaya Okugawa scored the winning goal in the 57th minute as FC Red Bull Salzburg grabbed the opening match of their two-game series with Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-1 on the road.

LEAGUE PATH:

At Krasnodar, Russia:

Remy Cabella scored the game winner at 70 minutes as Krasnodar took game one from PAOK FC 2-1 on the road.

UEFA Champions League: Ferencvaros, Molde, Omonia, Midtjylland, Maccabi Tel-Aviv Advance To Playoff Round

Five games, all in the Champions Path, were contested on Wednesday as the third round of UEFA Champions League qualifying concluded. 

At Budapest, Hungary:

Mytro Uzuni scored the winning goal in the 65th minute as Ferencvaros knocked off visiting Dinamo Zagreb 2-1.

At Larnaca, Cyprus (due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions):

After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer, Ohi Omoijuanfo, Fredrik Aursnes, Eirik Hestad, Tobias Christensen, Martin Ellingsen, and Kristoffer Haugen converted their spot kicks as Molde defeated Qarabag 6-5 in the penalty-kick shootout. 

At Nicosia, Cyprus:

After a 1-1 regulation draw, followed by 30 minutes of scoreless overtime, Jordi Gomez, Vitor Gomes, Ernest Asante, and Jan Lecjaks converted their spot kicks as Omonia defeated visiting Red Star Belgrade 4-2 in the penalty-kick shootout. 

At Herning, Denmark: 

Jordan Lefort (OG-51'), Anders Dreyer (62'), and Awer Mabil (84') each scored once as FC Midtjylland dominated visiting BSC Young Boys 3-0.  

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Dan Biton's successfully-converted penalty kick in the 50th minute for the only goal of the match as Maccabi Tel-Aviv defeated visiting Dynamo Brest 1-0.

UEFA Champions League Qualifying: Dynamo Kiev, PAOK, Gent Advance To Playoff Round

 The third round of UEFA Champions League qualifying opened on Tuesday with three games, all in the League Path.

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Andrija Zivkovic scored the winning goal in the 75th minute as PAOK FC defeated visiting SL Benfica 2-1.

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Gerson Rodrigues (49') and Mykola Shaparenko (86') each scored once as Dynamo Kiev blanked visiting AZ Alkmaar 2-0.

At Ghent, Belgium:

Roman Yaremchuk converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute as KAA Gent held off visiting Rapid Vienna 2-1.

UEFA Champions League Qualifying: Dinamo Zagreb, Young Boys, Ferencvaros (Who Knock Off Bhoys), AZ, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Rapid Vienna Advance

The second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying concluded on Wednesday with 11 games.

Champions Path:

At Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

After a 2-2 deadlock through regulation (and thirty minutes of scoreless overtime), Bruno Petkovic, Marin Leovac, Arijan Ademi, Petar Stojanovic, Emir Dilaver, and Josko Gvardiol all converted their spot kicks as Dinamo Zagreb won the penalty-kick shootout, 6-5, over hosts CFR Cluj.

At Bern, Switzerland:

Miralem Sulejmani scored the winning goal in the 57th minute as BSC Young Boys held off visiting KI 3-1.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Tokmac Nguen scored the winning goal in the 75th minute as Ferencvaros knocked off Celtic 2-1 on the road.

At Marijampole, Lithuania:

Avi Rikan (30'), Nicholas Alexander (74'), and Ofir Davidzada (90'+2) each scored once as Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated FK Suduva Marijampole 3-0 on the road.

At Warsaw, Poland:

Jordi Gomez (PK-92') and Thiago (107') each scored an overtime goal as Omonia upended Legia Warsaw 2-0 on the road.

At Celje, Slovenia:

Leke James scored the winning goal in the 74th minute as Molde FK knocked off Celje 2-1 on the road.

At Razgrad, Bulgaria:

Junior Brumado scored the only goal of the match in the 78th minute as Denmark's FC Midtjylland defeated Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0 on the road.

At Brest, Belarus:

Abdoulaye Diallo scored the game winner at 49 minutes as Dynamo Brest defeated visiting FK Sarajevo 2-1.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Mahir Emreli scored the game winner at 63 minutes as Qarabag defeated visiting FC Sheriff 2-1.



League Path:

At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

Albert Gudmundsson scored twice in overtime (98', 118') as AZ Alkmaar outlasted visiting Viktoria Plzen 3-1.

At Zagreb, Croatia:

Ercan Kara scored the game's lone goal in the 32nd minute as Rapid Vienna defeated Lokomotiva Zagreb 1-0 the road.

UEFA Champions League Qualifying: Red Star Belgrade, PAOK Advance To Third Qualifying Round

The second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying commenced on Tuesday with two games.

All series in this round are one-game affairs.

Champions Path:

At Tirane, Albania:

Antonio Manuel Fernandes Mendes (also known at Tomane) scored the only goal of the match in the 61st minute as Red Star Belgrade upended KF Tirana 1-0 on the road to advance.

League Path:

At Thessaloniki, Greece:

Christos Tzolis scored twice (7', 24') as PAOK held off visiting Besiktas 3-1.

2020-21 UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round: Bhoys, Legia, Qarabag, Red Star, Dynamo Brest, Advance

The opening round of 2020-21 UEFA Champions League qualifying is set to commence on Tuesday with five games.

All series are one-game knockout affairs.

At Baku, Azerbaijan:

Wilde-Donald Guerrier scored twice (40', 51') as Qarabag advanced to the second qualifying round following their 4-0 demolition of visiting Sileks of North Macedonia.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Mohamed Elyounoussi scored twice (6', 90'+1) as Celtic destroyed visiting KR Reykjavik 6-0.

At Warsaw, Poland:

Jose Kante scored the only goal of Legia Warsaw's 1-0 home victory over Linfield in the 82nd minute.

At Belgrade, Serbia:

El Fardou Mohamed Ben Nabouhame delivered a hat trick (35', 44', 52') while Mirko Ivanic added a double (78', 87') as Red Star Belgrade made mince meat of visiting Europa 5-0.

At Brest, Belarus:

Mikhail Gordeichuk (16', 22') and Abdoulaye Diallo (55', 90') each scored twice as Dynamo Brest dominated visiting Astana 6-3.

UEFA Champions League: Drita Out, Linfield To First Qualifying Round

Drita of Kosovo forfeited their scheduled game (set to be played at Nyon, France) for a berth in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League's opening qualifying round after two players from the Kosavar club tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire squad had been quarantined by Swiss authorites.

As a result, Drita's scheduled opponent, Northern Ireland's Linfield was awarded a 3-0 victory and a berth in the first qualifying round against Poland's Legia Warsaw.

Are You Kiddin'?: The Road To Istanbul Opens

At Nyon, France:

The preliminary round for the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League commenced on Saturday with two games, both contested at Colovray Stadium.

In the opener, Bastien Hery (71') and Christy Manzinga (83') each scored once as Linfield blanked Tre Fiori 2-0.

In the nightcap, Hamdi Namani scored the game winner (45'+3) as Drita of Kosovo defeated Andorra's Inter Club d'Escaldes 2-1.

Linfield and Drita will battle it out in the final game of the preliminary round on Tuesday at Nyon's Colovray Stadium with the winner advancing to the first qualifying round.