UEFA Champions League qualifying stage battles have already begun, in which Marijampolė's "Sūduva" is trying their luck. Lithuanians are trying to create a miracle and reach the tournament group stage, where 26 teams have already secured their spots:
Chelsea Tottenham Bayer Galatasaray
Barcelona Juventus PSG Red Bull Salzburg
Atletico Madrid Napoli Lille Qualifying stage team
Real Madrid Atalanta Zenit Qualifying stage team
Valencia Inter Lokomotiv (Moscow) Qualifying stage team
Manchester City Bayern Benfica Qualifying stage team
Liverpool Borussia Shakhtar Qualifying stage team
Lyon RB Leipzig Genk Qualifying stage team
Among the most realistic candidates to take the last 6 spots are named Amsterdam's "Ajax", Glasgow's "Celtic", PSV, "Porto", "Basel", and Kiev's "Dynamo" clubs. The group stage draw will take place on August 29 in Switzerland. It is already clear that in the first basket are the teams of "Barcelona", "Manchester City", "Juventus", "Bayern", PSG, "Zenit", "Liverpool", and "Chelsea". The group stage will take place from September 17 to December 11, the draw for the knockout matches will take place on December 16, and the teams will return to the competition after the winter break on February 18. The Champions League final will be held on May 30 at the "Ataturk" Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. In the arena that can accommodate 76,000 spectators, crucial tournament matches were already held in 2005, when "Liverpool" played an incredible match and defeated "Milan" after an 11-meter penalty shootout.
