Two Weeks, Two Ties, One Step From Potential Paradise – What to Expect From the Play-off Qualifying Rounds of UEFA's Three Club Competitions

August is here, beautifully prepared turf at stadia across countries, clear blue-sky mixes with sizzling hot temperatures and long summer evenings. It’s the time of year again when the European football season rolls into town after a summer’s break.

New signings, new managers, new targets & new expectations fill stadia everywhere amongst fanbases. Pre-season friendlies offer an early glimpse into what new things can be expected tactically, formation-wise and also a first look at young potential new world-class talent from a club’s academy.

However, nestled away under the radar of all the elite clubs’ pre-season schedule across the globe, another equally important part of the pre-season footballing calendar takes place. This is of course the early-round qualification matches for UEFA’s three European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.

For smaller ranked leagues in UEFA’s coefficient rankings qualification for the group stages of European club competition has to be earned, with none of the perks of automatic qualification enjoyed by English, French, German, Italian or Spanish clubs.