UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Season

[swogerino]

The day has come for the second-leg matches in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. Today, some of the teams that will advance to the next round will be determined. Azerbaijani representative Sabah will try to avoid defeat against KuPS Kuopio. Since they secured a 1-0 victory in the first leg, they hold the advantage, but we must note that their opponent is a team capable of putting them in trouble if they sit back too much. While Sabah’s 1-0 lead from the first match is significant, everyone knows it’s a precarious scoreline.

In this qualifying round, the only more or less familiar team to me is Dinamo Zagreb, and they are the favorites against Thun from Switzerland. The first match between them ended in a 1-1 draw. However, Dinamo Zagreb is Croatia's most experienced side, so it is quite likely they will win, especially with the match being played on Dinamo's home turf.

The Champions League has once again proven its unpredictability and that there are no favorites, that everyone knows how to play.
Yes, I also expected a safe and easy victory for Dinamo, but in fact Thun, a debutant in this competition, showed much more and deserved the victory.
Thun was leading 2:0 and had a secure place in the next round of Champions League qualifiers, but then they made a mistake and were left with less than 1 player due to a red card.
An experienced team, like Dinamo, knew how to use it, they threw everything into the attack and managed to turn the result in their favor and win.
Of the other results, I am most surprised that Celje only won after penalties and eliminated the Albanian representative.
Celje has been very successful in European competitions in recent seasons, as a participant in the group stage of the competition in the conference league.

They, Celje were very lucky to receive a penalty in the additional time early minutes otherwise they would be eliminated, the second half the Albanian team completely dominated the game as I watched that game live, anyway congrats to Celje for moving forward while the Albania team will play in Europa League agsinst Shamrock from Ireland. Today games though look a bit better than yesterday ones as stronger teams are playing.

[paco92x]

They, Celje were very lucky to receive a penalty in the additional time early minutes otherwise they would be eliminated, the second half the Albanian team completely dominated the game as I watched that game live, anyway congrats to Celje for moving forward while the Albania team will play in Europa League agsinst Shamrock from Ireland. Today games though look a bit better than yesterday ones as stronger teams are playing.

Honestly, two superb legs to watch with many goals. Both teams tried to play football the best they could, and in the end, the Slovenian team managed to pass through. It was the luckiest who managed to go through because in both games they were two equal teams. Egnatia will definitely be dissatisfied, but they still have a chance to reach the group stage if they beat their next opponent.

[fluffaloo]

I think Olise is a RW but he was heavily deployed at an attacking midfielder for France during the world cup. While he performed well in that role, I don't think he was very comfortable playing it because he was always drifting to the RW and overlapping the RW with Dembele when Koude was already the assigned support for Dembele on that wing.

He did well in the world cup despite not scoring any goal. We'd see how he performs in the new season. FingersC crossed.

He will certainly offer a brilliant high season full of 90 shots, he is a formidable player of those who have the ball attached to his foot, similar to Musiala, he is a young and fit player and you can always see him playing, it remains to be seen what his decision will be on the future, whether in Germany or Spain

[abhiseshakana]

Olise is a good player, Real Madrid was interested interested in getting olise but doesn't work out. I believe the kind performance  and skills Olise is delivering every team will want to sign him.

Although,  Bayern Munich won't let Olise go anywhere because they are enjoying the way his playing, and I belive he will keep playing for Bayern Munich, moreover the player is not even interesting in leaving the team.

Yes, Olise will definitely stay in Munich for at least this season, because he seems comfortable there, and with Munich, Olise clearly has clear prospects at this time. So I don't think there's a good reason for Olise to move to any team. Because basically, even though he is currently wanted by big teams in Europe, it still won't guarantee Olise that he will continue to be prioritized in those teams. But now he is a priority in Munich, and I think it is indeed better for him to stay there.

And Real Madrid also actually doesn't need to recruit a player like Olise, because they also have great players in their team. It's just that they haven't been able to manage those players optimally. The point is, the egos of Real Madrid players are currently uncontrollable, and they still want to be number one among the other players. That's what has made Real Madrid's performance messy lately. So, yes, actually, Real Madrid only need to improve that to improve their performance.

Bayern Munich have explicitly rejected  any attempts whatsoever to sign Olise, as they regard Michael Olise as a key player, and the Frenchman is also enjoying his time in Munich . Real Madrid also knows that big money won’t shake Munich, so they graciously decided not to pursue the matter further , as it might have damaged their good relations with Munich.

Therefore, Real Madrid have now signed Yan Diomande as an alternative and in my view, this is pure speculation and perhaps a gamble , because Real Madrid would have to spend a staggering amount of money on a young talent whose abilities have yet to be proven . Yan Diomande certainly put in an impressive performance last season in the Bundesliga , but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to replicate that success in La Liga (and Champion League).

[LGD2Business]

In today's matches, it makes sense to me to bet on the favorite teams, the ones that didn't have a great first game but still need to win.

Fenerbahçe won their first match by just a single goal. If they concede a goal, they could face a major crisis. That's why I think they'll be cautious from the start and focus on scoring. I think Fenerbahçe will win and the odds are quite good.
Hapoel Beer Sheva lost their first match, they have to win at home. By the way, they're not playing in their homeground, they're playing in Hungary. But Israel teams are used to playing there now.
Kairat is a team I followed and liked last season. They can beat Omonia Nicosia, the odds are high. It's worth the risk.
Red Star Belgrade and Slovan Bratislava comfortably won their first matches on the road. They'll win at home as well, but the odds are set too low.

You can put together a nice parlay with the matches you like from this list.

[sergiorus]

For now in the history of football bayern Munich appears to be among the teams with the highest trophies,  quality players and all the qualities required for greatness in the world of football.
Apart from the presence of this great players in bayern Munich,  they have one approach that makes all attacking players appear very dangerous in games which is the same reason many sees olise as a front man most times when he is not naturally. This tactical technique gives them the opportunity to appear at the front just for the primary objective of scoring much goals in any game. Though olise is an attacking midfielder not a front liner but that unique style is the only difference he is very creative in games

I think Olise is a RW but he was heavily deployed at an attacking midfielder for France during the world cup. While he performed well in that role, I don't think he was very comfortable playing it because he was always drifting to the RW and overlapping the RW with Dembele when Koude was already the assigned support for Dembele on that wing.

He did well in the world cup despite not scoring any goal. We'd see how he performs in the new season. FingersC crossed.

When you are an attacking player coming to Real Madrid, you'll have to forget the word "uncomfortable". The competition in the attacking side is just so stiff and consists of absolute celebrities.

Gareth Bale started in Tottenham as a left-back, gradually moved forward on the same left side of the pitch later on, but in Real Madrid was forced to play everywhere: left, right and center (quite literally).

Of course Bale (the legend) was great wherever he was put on, that's why we remember him with warm words still. And if Olise is gonna join the Galacticos, he better be prepared to fight for his place in the starting eleven regardless of the exact position.

[Unsoldier]

In today's matches, it makes sense to me to bet on the favorite teams, the ones that didn't have a great first game but still need to win.

Fenerbahçe won their first match by just a single goal. If they concede a goal, they could face a major crisis. That's why I think they'll be cautious from the start and focus on scoring. I think Fenerbahçe will win and the odds are quite good.
Hapoel Beer Sheva lost their first match, they have to win at home. By the way, they're not playing in their homeground, they're playing in Hungary. But Israel teams are used to playing there now.
Kairat is a team I followed and liked last season. They can beat Omonia Nicosia, the odds are high. It's worth the risk.
Red Star Belgrade and Slovan Bratislava comfortably won their first matches on the road. They'll win at home as well, but the odds are set too low.

You can put together a nice parlay with the matches you like from this list.

In my opinion, the most interesting matches will feature Red Star Belgrade and Fenerbahce. These two teams are favorites in their respective ties, so it's worth betting on them to qualify for the Champions League group stage. Kairat also deserve attention, but they lost their first match against Omonia 1-0. Kairat need to fight back, and while it's still 0-0 in the second leg, I think they are fully capable of turning it around, especially since they're playing at home.

[execijutiere]

Dinamo Zagreb managed to win the match 3–2 in extra time after falling 2–0 behind. Having gone into the half-time break 2–0 down, I had started to wonder whether Dinamo Zagreb would be knocked out. Following a dominant display in the second half, they scored two goals four minutes apart and managed to take the match into extra time. In extra time, Zagreb scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time to win the match 3–2 and progress to the next round.

[knowngunman]

In my opinion, the most interesting matches will feature Red Star Belgrade and Fenerbahce. These two teams are favorites in their respective ties, so it's worth betting on them to qualify for the Champions League group stage. Kairat also deserve attention, but they lost their first match against Omonia 1-0. Kairat need to fight back, and while it's still 0-0 in the second leg, I think they are fully capable of turning it around, especially since they're playing at home.

A few minutes away from the half time whistle, Kairat is ahead with one goal. Thanks to Filho goal in the 37th minute that put them ahead and also bring the aggregate to 1-1. Now with Omonia Nicosia red card, Kairat is one step ahead to win easily in the second half. On Fenerbahçe and Gornik Zabrze, isn't it clear already Fenerbahçe will win without stress? Fenerbahçe already secured a win at their home and I don't expect different result from their away visit today too. Looking at their previous matches, Gornik Zabrze is not doing extremely well to be able to hold Fenerbahçe.

[MK-74]

Fenerbahçe have an important match tonight against Górnik Zabrze.
Górnik Zabrze are a manageable opponent for Fenerbahçe, and just like in the first leg, I expect Fenerbahçe to win this match as well.
They won the first game 1–0, but they completely controlled the match from start to finish. Their only real problem was converting their chances into goals.
That said, Fenerbahçe should never underestimate their opponent, because a 1–0 first-leg lead is far from enough to guarantee qualification.

[meser#]

Fenerbahçe will take the field with the advantage of their 1-0 victory in the first leg. I expect another win from Fenerbahçe this time around. I don't anticipate many changes to the lineup.
Gornik is forced to play offensively in this match; Fenerbahçe could capitalize on this situation and secure a decisive victory.

[execijutiere]

Celje drew 2–2 with Egnatia. Having drawn away from home previously, Celje were the favourites for this match but were unable to secure a win. The match ended 1–1 after normal time, and with both sides scoring in extra time, the match finished 2–2 after extra time. The match went to penalties. Celje converted all their penalties and managed to progress to the next round. To be honest, I hadn’t expected Celje to struggle so much at home. They should have comfortably secured victory and progressed to the next round.

[Arenga pinnata]

In today's matches, it makes sense to me to bet on the favorite teams, the ones that didn't have a great first game but still need to win.

Fenerbahçe won their first match by just a single goal. If they concede a goal, they could face a major crisis. That's why I think they'll be cautious from the start and focus on scoring. I think Fenerbahçe will win and the odds are quite good.
Hapoel Beer Sheva lost their first match, they have to win at home. By the way, they're not playing in their homeground, they're playing in Hungary. But Israel teams are used to playing there now.
Kairat is a team I followed and liked last season. They can beat Omonia Nicosia, the odds are high. It's worth the risk.
Red Star Belgrade and Slovan Bratislava comfortably won their first matches on the road. They'll win at home as well, but the odds are set too low.

You can put together a nice parlay with the matches you like from this list.

The match between Kairat and Omonia has now gone to a penalty shootout. this is because Omonia won their first leg against Kairat. In the match currently underway Kairat leads 1-0 bringing the aggregate score to 1-1. As a result the outcome of this match must be decided by a penalty shootout, which is now taking place.

So, in regulation time, Kairat did manage to defeat Omonia in this match. However, what’s unique about these two teams’ matches is that there has always been a red card in their two meetings. In fact, Omonia has received two red cards in this match and one in their previous encounter. It looks like Kairat will indeed win the penalty shootout.

as for the match between Fenerbahçe and Górnik Zabrze, I think Fenerbahçe is undoubtedly the favorite.

[Joca97]

Dinamo Zagreb managed to win the match 3–2 in extra time after falling 2–0 behind. Having gone into the half-time break 2–0 down, I had started to wonder whether Dinamo Zagreb would be knocked out. Following a dominant display in the second half, they scored two goals four minutes apart and managed to take the match into extra time. In extra time, Zagreb scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time to win the match 3–2 and progress to the next round.

When i saw Dinamo Zagreb losing 0-2 in the first half i was thinking they were gonna be eliminated. They played so bad in the first half but that red card for Thun really turned the game around. After the red card for Thun,Dinamo Zagreb was the only team on the field they kept attack and attacking and were able to push into extra time. After that a huge solo run from one of the players from Dinamo Zagreb and a beautiful goal to push them into the next round. Dinamo Zagreb is always playing in big tournaments if its champions league or europe league and we will see them probobly again in one of these two tournaments.

[Shineup]

Dinamo Zagreb managed to win the match 3–2 in extra time after falling 2–0 behind. Having gone into the half-time break 2–0 down, I had started to wonder whether Dinamo Zagreb would be knocked out. Following a dominant display in the second half, they scored two goals four minutes apart and managed to take the match into extra time. In extra time, Zagreb scored the winning goal in the second half of extra time to win the match 3–2 and progress to the next round.

I had always knew Dinamo Zagreb will be the one to scale through, I don't know why they have to face such difficulty in winning the game but the real deal is they won it anyways, I have never for once imagined that team to qualify ahead of Dinamo Zagreb no I have not imagined that, just like that of Fenerbahce that is to be played tonight, I'm very much certain that Fenerbahce is winning that game tonight, we've already known the once capable of making it to the UEFA Champions League so this play off is just a formality for some certain teams to be there.

[shinratensei_]

Fenerbahçe will take the field with the advantage of their 1-0 victory in the first leg. I expect another win from Fenerbahçe this time around. I don't anticipate many changes to the lineup.
Gornik is forced to play offensively in this match; Fenerbahçe could capitalize on this situation and secure a decisive victory.

Yeah, some changes happened in the squad like Fred who is being included in the starting line up. However, i'd rather Ismail as a better choice instead of Fred. Beside that i don't see Greenwood in their line up. So it's disappointing me because Greenwood addiction obviously good to boost their attack.
Nevertheless their current composition is quite good, though i don't like Fred to be starting line up. They can win this comfortably. Hopefully, they meet my expectation because i bet on them on moneyline.

[Jewan420]

When i saw Dinamo Zagreb losing 0-2 in the first half i was thinking they were gonna be eliminated. They played so bad in the first half but that red card for Thun really turned the game around. After the red card for Thun,Dinamo Zagreb was the only team on the field they kept attack and attacking and were able to push into extra time. After that a huge solo run from one of the players from Dinamo Zagreb and a beautiful goal to push them into the next round. Dinamo Zagreb is always playing in big tournaments if its champions league or europe league and we will see them probobly again in one of these two tournaments.

The match was really great. The match became even more exciting when Thun's Marco Burki was sent off, which was actually the turning point of the match. After this red card, Thun started to lose control of the match and Dinamo Zagreb started to make a comeback. They eventually equalized after 90 minutes and won the match by 2-3 goals in extra time.
Thun could have won the match if their manager had a good strategy of playing with 10 men, unfortunately the players and manager were not prepared for this unexpected situation and they did not have a good strategy. However, Dinamo Zagreb was able to win the match and qualify for the next round through a great performance.

[meser#]

Fenerbahçe took a 1-0 lead thanks to a penalty goal scored by Talisca. Fenerbahçe dominated the game after this goal, but Górnik Zabrze found their courage and began to attack during the final three minutes of the first half. The turning point of the match came in the 45+9th minute; Kerem Aktürkoğlu was too slow in a one-on-one situation, allowing a defender to prevent the goal. Zabrze scored on the counter-attack, and the first half ended 1-1.
Kerem and İrfancan should not be playing for this team; neither of them is currently contributing to the squad. If Fenerbahçe signs Leao, they will sell Kerem.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Although,  Bayern Munich won't let Olise go anywhere because they are enjoying the way his playing, and I belive he will keep playing for Bayern Munich, moreover the player is not even interesting in leaving the team.

You're right, if the player isn't very interested in leaving, then the idea isn't to force him. At Real Madrid, nobody should be forced to be a player or want to leave; it has to be because the player wants to. That's what it's about. As long as he stays at Bayern, he's not the be-all and end-all. He's good, yes, but that doesn't mean he should be above the club's interests. He's just another player.

[LGD2Business]

Does anyone actually like this Fenerbahçe team? They advanced to the next round but they played terribly. If they'd conceded just one goal, they might have been eliminated. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is playing just as poorly as he did last year. They have no chance of success with İrfan, İsmail and Kerem. Greenwood just arrived, so there's no need to criticize him.

In their current state, Fenerbahçe will have a very tough time in the Champions League. The new signings need to arrive as soon as possible. They'll face Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round. This round will definitely be tougher than the one against Gornik Zabrze. After making such big investments, you can't be eliminated in the qualifying round. Fenerbahçe need to advance to the Champions League group stage.