Champions League fairytale team Bodø/Glimt close to return as 7 playoffs decide full 36-team lineup

GENEVA (AP) — The Champions League's Cinderella club Bodø/Glimt is one game away from returning to the 36-team main draw being made Thursday alongside the wealthy giants of European soccer like title holder Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

With the final seven Champions League entries to be decided in playoffs this week, the Norwegian fishing town team holds a 3-1 lead hosting Dutch debutant NEC Nijmegen at its Arctic Circle home on Tuesday.

Norway could have two teams advance as domestic champion Viking hosts Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday with the teams tied at 2-2. The Croatian champion wasted an early two-goal lead in the first leg last Tuesday.

The Champions League draw ceremony starts at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Thursday in Monaco, when the local team will be preparing to kick off about 10 minutes’ drive away in the Conference League playoffs.

Monaco defending a 3-2 first-leg lead over Gornik Zabrze is among 36 playoff second legs this week in the second-tier Europa League and third-tier Conference League to finalize lineups for those draws being made Friday.

Bodø/Glimt

After winning games against Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League, Bodø/Glimt started this time in qualifying needing to advance through two rounds in August.

Glimt has scored three goals in each of its three games so far, first eliminating Union Saint-Gilloise 6-5 on aggregate score. Almost its entire squad was retained with just one big-money exit, selling Denmark forward Kasper Høgh to Celtic for a reported 11 million pounds ($15 million).

Høgh and Celtic also are in action Tuesday, taking a 3-0 first-leg lead to Austria against LASK.

Israel’s champion Hapoel Beer-Sheva has a 2-1 lead going to Azerbaijan to face Sabah, a club which was created just nine years ago.

Lyon, now owned by U.S. investor Michele Kang, hosts Fenerbahce on Wednesday tied at 1-1.

Champions League draw seedings

Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Bayern Munich (Germany), Real Madrid (Spain), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Manchester City (England), Arsenal (England), Barcelona (Spain), Atletico Madrid (Spain).

Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Roma (Italy), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Aston Villa (England), Porto (Portugal), Manchester United (England), Club Brugge (Belgium), Real Betis (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands).

Pot 3: Feyenoord (Netherlands), Lille (France), Napoli (Italy), Leipzig (Germany), Villarreal (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Galatasaray (Turkey) — possibly Slavia Prague (Czech Republic).

Pot 4: Stuttgart (Germany), Como (Italy), Lens (France). Seven playoff winners are yet to be decided.

The draw sees UEFA's software program allocate eight opponents to each team, with two coming from each seeding pot.

When does the Champions League start?

The first round of games is played over three evenings from Sept. 8-10 — the only games before the new and expanded four-game international break for national teams that starts Sept. 24.

The Champions League resumes Oct. 13 with the second round. The sixth round is played Dec. 8-9 before a break until January. The eighth and final round with all 36 teams playing simultaneously is Jan. 27.

Europa League has stronger lineup

The Europa League has a stronger look than last season with AC Milan, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen waiting in the draw Friday for the eight-round league phase.

So too are a curious group from England — Conference League title holder Crystal Palace, European debutant Bournemouth and Sunderland, which last played in a UEFA competition 53 years ago.

The prize for lifting the trophy next May in Frankfurt, Germany, is a ticket to the Champions League.

Second legs in the qualifying playoffs are on Thursday with some played during the Champions League draw.

Those games include Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor trailing 1-0 before going to Hungary to face Ferencvaros, plus former European Cup winners Benfica and Red Star Belgrade.

It has been a tough season for some of the feelgood story domestic title holders who were already eliminated in Champions League qualifying rounds.

Swiss champion Thun — edged out of Champions League qualifying by Dinamo Zagreb — lost 7-0 at Lech Poznan in the first leg of its Europa League playoff. Sweden’s Mjällby goes to Salzburg on Thursday after a 1-0 loss at home.

All losers in Europa League playoffs get places in the Conference League main phase played over just six rounds until December.

Champions League regulars now Conference League contenders

The Conference League also has teams that identify as Champions League regulars: Ajax, Atalanta, Monaco.

Freiburg drops down a level after being the Europa League beaten finalist in May while Brighton aims to make it three straight English winners after Chelsea and its main rival Palace.

No one gets a free pass into the six-round league stage and all must navigate the playoffs round this week.

Atalanta, the 2024 Europa League winner, looks most at risk after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. The return is in neutral Hungary.

Andorra shapes to have a first-ever team in a main phase, with Inter Escaldes hosting Drita of Kosovo tied at 2-2. Larne of Northern Ireland takes a 2-0 lead into its home leg against Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.

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