Pafos FC of Cyprus and Norway’s Bodo/Glimt will make their Champions League debuts this season after progressing by the qualifying play-offs.
Solely based 11 years in the past, Pafos secured a late 1-1 draw on Tuesday with Purple Star Belgrade to seal a 3-2 combination victory.
Bodo/Glimt additionally superior to the league part with a 6-2 combination win over Austrian aspect Sturm Graz, regardless of a 2-1 defeat within the second leg.
The duo will be a part of Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan, who surprised Celtic on penalties, and Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise in making their first appearances in Europe’s top-tier competitors.
Pafos started their continental journey within the second qualifying spherical on 22 July, defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dynamo Kyiv en path to the play-offs.
Main 2-1 from the primary leg, Brazilian winger Jaja scored an 89th-minute equaliser within the Limassol return after Mirko Ivanic had put Purple Star 1-0 up on the night time.
The Cypriot champions, who lately signed 38-year-old former Chelsea and Arsenal defender David Luiz, will turn out to be solely the third membership from the nation to play within the Champions League, after Apoel and Anorthosis Famagusta.
4-time Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt are the primary membership from the nation to achieve the competitors correct since Rosenborg within the 2007–08 season.
The membership, situated 200km north of the Arctic Circle and performs on the 8,270-seater Aspmyra Stadion, made headlines final season by reaching the Europa League semi-finals, the place they had been knocked out by eventual champions Tottenham.
Kairat, who edged previous Scottish champions Celtic in a shootout after a goalless attract each ties, are the second Kazakh aspect to qualify for the competitors after Astana in 2015–16.
The journey to Almaty in central Asia might be some of the tough for Kairat’s European opponents and Chelsea made a 3,600-mile journey to the town final season to face Astana on their strategy to profitable the Uefa Convention League.
The draw for the league part of the Champions League will happen on Thursday in Monaco, with the primary matchday scheduled between 16 and 18 September.
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