There will be some familiar faces involved in this week’s European qualifiers as a number of smaller clubs have a chance to make their mark
Champions League
Fenerbahce v Lyon, Tuesday 8pm Romelu Lukaku is the latest familiar face to rock up at Fenerbahce. The 33-year-old striker is, however, unlikely to be fit for Lyon’s visit to Istanbul on Tuesday – he sat out Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Genclerbirligi, the club his father played for in the 1990s. “This beautiful country is a second home to me,” Lukaku, who spent part of his childhood in Turkey, said last week. Fenerbahce have also added Mason Greenwood and Nathan Aké to a squad that includes Ederson, N’Golo Kanté and Marco Asensio. Failure to get past Lyon, who are aiming to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 2019-20, would not be the best start to Ismail Kartal’s fourth spell as head coach.
Celtic v LASK, Wednesday 8pmEven before seeing Rangers and Hearts suffer damaging qualifying defeats this summer, Celtic would have needed no reminding of how much jeopardy these ties contain. Kairat Almaty dumped Brendan Rodgers’ side out at this stage last season on penalties after two goalless draws. “They are big games in every aspect … prestige, finance,” said Martin O’Neill, who will have grim memories of his own defeat to Basel in the playoffs 24 years ago. In both legs against LASK, the Austrian champions, Celtic will have to do without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the midfielder serves a three-match ban for a red card he received playing for Besiktas in the Conference League in 2023.
Europa League
Trabzonspor v Ferencvaros, Thursday 6pmMohamed Salah could make his home debut for Trabzonspor when they take on Ferencvaros in Turkey. The former Liverpool forward came off the bench – along with Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral – in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Kasimpasa. Ferencvaros will not be overawed by the occasion, with a glamour friendly against Real Madrid in Budapest part of their pre-season preparations. Among the ranks of last season’s Hungarian Cup winners, who replaced Robbie Keane with Balazs Borbely in the dugout this summer, is Salah’s former Liverpool teammate Naby Keïta. They have been to Serbia, the Netherlands and Poland in three rounds of Europa League qualifying so far.
Egnatia v Lillestrøm, Thursday 6pmHans Erik Ødegaard, father of Arsenal’s Premier League-winning captain Martin, has been working miracles in his two years in charge of Lillestrøm. After being appointed head coach following the Norwegian side’s relegation in 2024, he oversaw their immediate return to the top flight unbeaten and won the Norwegian Cup in the process. Ødegaard, who coached in Real Madrid’s academy after his son’s move there in 2015, will lead Lillestrøm into their first European main draw since the Uefa Cup in 2000-01 as defeat would still guarantee them a Conference League place. Egnatia are the Albanian champions from the past three years and overturned a 3-1 deficit to Shamrock Rovers in the previous round.
Conference League
Tromsø v Brighton, Thursday 6pmSussex is officially in drought but Brighton supporters will have to dig out their coats if they are making the trip to Europe’s most northern football club. It is forecast to be 13C and raining by the time Fabian Hürzeler’s side kick off in Tromsø, situated over 200 miles into the Arctic Circle. Jørgen Vik’s team have dropped down from Europa League qualifying but are looking to make the most of home advantage against Premier League opposition. “Facing our style of play on artificial turf could potentially come as a shock to them,” said Vik. Tromsø and Lillestrøm are two of five Eliteserien teams involved in European playoffs this week. “There is a great deal of confidence in Norwegian football right now,” said Vik.
Drita v Inter Club d’Escaldes, Thursday 7pmSince winning their first Andorran league title in 2020, Inter Club d’Escaldes, who wear black and blue stripes like the Italian Inter, have fallen short in six European qualifying campaigns, but this is the first time they have been one round away. Inter are coached by Felip Ortiz, a former goalkeeper who shared a flat with Carles Puyol when they were teenagers at Barcelona, and they will be no pushovers having put six without reply past Flora Tallinn in the previous round. Drita, the reigning champions of Kosovo who reached the knockout stage of last season’s Conference League, stand in Inter’s way of making history.
