36) Kairat Almaty
Making their debut in the Champions League proper after knocking out Celtic, Kairat will be a disciplined, hard-to-break-down side. Their best chances to pick up points will come at home against Pafos, Olympiacos and Club Brugge. While European experience is limited, their defensive organisation could frustrate higher-ranked opponents, and the long midweek away trek to Kazakhstan will provide its own challenges.
35) Qarabag
Qarabag barely scraped through the play-offs, edging Ferencváros 5-4 on aggregate. Last season’s Europa League campaign was dismal, finishing bottom with only one win from eight. With fixtures against Chelsea, Liverpool and Napoli ahead, the Azerbaijani champions look set for another difficult European campaign. Their chances of success will rest upon defensive resilience and tactical discipline.
34) Pafos
Founded in 2014, Pafos have climbed from the Cypriot Second Division to Europe’s premier club competition in just over a decade. Their unbeaten run in qualifying shows promise – Pafos are not here just to make up the numbers. The experience of Champions League winner David Luiz will be invaluable.
A tricky away day at Olympiacos awaits in the first Champions League matchday.
33) Slavia Prague
Czech champions Slavia Prague were dominant domestically but struggled in Europe last season. The summer sale of young star El Hadji Malick Diouf has left a gap in creativity that has yet to be filled. With expectations modest, any fight they show in Europe will be a bonus.
Drawing Bodø/Glimt at home in their first game is as appealing a start as the Czech giants could have hoped for.
32) Bodo/Glimt
The goals of Kasper Hogh will be key for Bodo/Glimt. The Danish striker ended as joint-Europa League top scorer last season as the Norwegian outfit reached the semi-finals.
Placed in pot three for the draw, Bodo/Glimt have a difficult set of fixtures ahead having drawn two of the strongest pot four teams in Monaco and Galatasaray.
31) Union Saint-Gilloise
A rise so quick that their home stadium isn’t yet up to UEFA standards.
Union Saint-Gilloise only secured promotion to the Belgian top division in 2021 and now find themselves up amongst Europe’s elite. They’ve started the domestic season strong and will be looking to carry this form into the Champions League.
Difficult away fixtures against Bayern and Atlético will be a true test of how far they’ve come.
30) Copenhagen
Copenhagen were one of the surprise packages of the 2023/24 Champions League, progressing out of Group A ahead of Galatasaray and Manchester United. Last season they were plying their European trade in the Conference League, knocked out by eventual winners Chelsea.
They’ll be eyeing up points against Kairat and Qarabag and will fancy themselves to cause an upset against some of the giants.
29) Olympiacos
Always an entertaining presence in Europe.
The Greek side are coming into this year’s Champions League off the back of a domestic double and a run to the last 16 of the Europa League.
Ayoub El Kaabi will be hoping to continue his fine run of form in front of goal, having scored 7 in 8 Europa League appearances last season.
28) Club Brugge
Club Brugge made the round of 16 in last season’s Champions League and will fancy another deep run. Their 6-0 demolition of Rangers in qualifying was a show of intent.
Tougher tests lay ahead, but Brugge have shown enough to suggest they could cause problems again. They’ll be looking to put a mediocre start to their domestic season behind them as they welcome Monaco up first.
27) Ajax
A much-changed Ajax look to have put last season’s late Eredivisie collapse behind them – five games into the league sees them remain unbeaten.
The experience of Davy Klaasen, Steven Berghuis and Wout Weghorst will be key as Jonny Heitinga hopes to steady the ship following the departures of defensive star Jarrel Hato, forward Brian Brobbey and club captain Jordan Henderson.
A tough first fixture against Inter Milan awaits.
26) Sporting CP
Sporting dominated the headlines over the summer following the high-profile departure of Viktor Gyokeres. His goals will undoubtedly be missed, but Sporting still have an embarrassment of riches in the attacking department.
Last season, under Ruben Amorim, Sporting picked up three early victories including an empathetic 4-1 win over Manchester City, but struggled in Europe after his departure to Manchester United.
25) PSV
Seven wins on the bounce at the tailend of last season helped PSV to clinch the Eredivisie on the final day. They’ve lost a few big names over the summer but have invested smartly. Paul Wanner joins from Bayern and will be tipped to fill the void left by Malik Tillman, who has joined Bayer Leverkusen.
In the 2024/25 campaign, PSV knocked out Juventus but came unstuck against a strong Arsenal team in the last 16.
