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Why you mustn't miss the Champions League play-off second legs 🔎
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- Why you mustn't miss the Champions League play-off second legs 🔎
Why you mustn't miss the Champions League play-off second legs 🔎
High stakes!
This Tuesday and Wednesday, the second-leg Champions League playoffs will take place. 14 teams, 7 matches, with the winners joining the UCL league phase while the losers drop into the Europa League league phase.
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The stakes are huge for these clubs, whose seasons are already on the line now, which promises some top-level matches! Here's a quick overview of what to watch.
The must-watch match: OL ⚔️ Fenerbahçe 💥
It's the most exciting matchup on paper, Fonseca's OL and its stars up against Fenerbahçe's armada featuring Lukaku, Greenwood, Ederson, N'Golo Kanté, Guendouzi... A real blockbuster that already feels like the Champions League, and the first leg ended in a hard-fought draw (1-1).
Led by Openda and backed by their home crowd this time, Lyon have a lot on the line, both sporting and financial (with huge stakes that could change the end of their transfer window ). The match has also been classified as high risk, so it promises to be fiery both on the pitch and in the stands.
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Lyon have won by two goals every time they've hosted Fenerbahçe in the Champions League (3-1 in 2001 and 4-2 in 2004). Will it be third time lucky?
The club to watch 👀
Slovan Bratislava are already one of the attractions of the season. Coached by legend Yaya Touré, the Slovak club are unbeaten this season (7 wins, 2 draws) and thriving again.
Dominant but caught out at home in the first leg by a superb goal from Avdyli for Slovenia's Celje, Slovan showed they have plenty of quality and could bring their coach back to the big European stage. And become one of the real curiosities of this Champions League season.
The potential fairytale 🤩
On paper, the clash between Bodö/Glimt, Champions League round-of-16 participants last season after knocking out Inter, and NEC Nijmegen, an Eredivisie side that has never played in the Champions League, looks unbalanced. The first leg also went the Norwegians' way (3-1), and they will try to seal qualification at home this Tuesday.
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But the Dutch club is no stranger to pulling off a shock. A brilliant 3rd in the Eredivisie last season (the best finish in their history), ahead of Ajax and AZ Alkmaar among others, they knocked out Olympiacos in the previous round and come into this with real weapons. Attacking football and silky players, embodied by their two marquee signings: the ageless Dusan Tadic and former Turkish wonderkid Emre Mor. The kind of team that makes you want to dream!
The hipster match 🥸
With gems like Tobias Moi on the pitch, committed attacking football, two stylish clubs, and beautiful kits, this game has everything to entertain. Norwegian champions and still battling with Bodö/Glimt (2nd, 1 point behind) in the league this season, Viking FK Stavanger are establishing themselves as a dangerous side and can start dreaming of a European run.
The task will be tough against Ismaël Bennacer's Dinamo Zagreb, always up for this kind of occasion. The 2-2 in the first leg showed both teams are attack-minded and in form... another goal fest could be on the cards in the return leg!
The full schedule:
Sabah FK (AZE) - Hapoel Beer Sheva (ISR) (Tuesday 6:45pm, 1-2 in the first leg)
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Bodö/Glimt (NOR) - NEC Nijmegen (NED) (Tuesday 9pm, 3-1 in the first leg)
LASK Linz (AUT) - Celtic Glasgow (SCO) (Tuesday 9pm, 0-3 in the first leg)
Lyon (FRA)- Fenerbahçe (TUR) (Wednesday 9pm, Canal+, 1-1 in the first leg)
Viking Stavanger (NOR) - Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) (Wednesday 9pm, Canal+ Sport, 2-2 in the first leg)
AEK Athens (GRE) - Levski Sofia (BUL) (Wednesday 9pm, Cana+ Foot, 0-0 in the first leg)
NK Celje (SLO) - Slovan Bratislava (SVK) (Wednesday 9pm, Canal+ Sport 360, 1-1 in the first leg)
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.
