Complete: 2024-25 UEFA Champions League (preliminary contest)

[happy5214]

The UEFA Champions League is the primary continental competition for European club association football (soccer). Contested annually by the best clubs from across Europe, as determined by their positions in their respective domestic leagues, our main contest begins with the group stage. The winner of the UEFA Champions League hoists the European Cup, and the winner of this contest earns 3 slot-equivalents, plus double points in the Legion Cup and Global and Football/Soccer mini-cups.

This is the preliminary contest. New to the 2024-25 Legion Cup, there will be mini-contests for the preliminary or qualifying rounds of several contests throughout the season. They will award bonus points to the main contest using a modified Borda count. As an example, if 4 people participate, the winner of the preliminary contest will receive 4 bonus points for the main contest, and 4th place would receive 1 point. Points earned from picks in this contest will not carry over; only the rankings matter. It is entirely optional to participate, but it is recommended to take a crack at these lesser-known teams.

This preliminary contest will be held over four rounds, with teams added before each round. You will pick the winners of each match-up for 1 point each. Picks will be due at the start of the first leg of that match, as listed on the Wikipedia article for the round.

The first qualifying round will start on July 9 at 10:30 AM. Here are the match-ups, comprising champions of the weaker top-level leagues in Europe:

• Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) vs. Struga (North Macedonia)
• The New Saints (Wales) vs. Dečić (Montenegro)
• Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs. Egnatia (Albania)
• Ħamrun Spartans (Malta) vs. Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar)
• UE Santa Coloma (Belgium Andorra) vs. Ballkani (Kosovo)
• Flora (Estonia) vs. Celje (Slovenia)
• KÍ (Faroe Islands) vs. Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)
• Panevėžys (Lithuania) vs. HJK (Finland)
• RFS (Latvia) vs. Larne (Northern Ireland)
• Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland) vs. Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)
• Virtus (San Marino) vs. FCSB (Romania)
• Ludogorets Razgrad (Hungary Bulgaria) vs. Dinamo Batumi (Georgia)
• Ordabasy (Kazakhstan) vs. Petrocub Hîncești (Moldova)
• Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) vs. Pyunik (Armenia)

Good luck!

[king qaz]

Slovan Bratislava
The New Saints
Borac Banja Luka
Ħamrun Spartans
UE Santa Coloma
Celje (Slovenia)
Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)
Panevėžys
RFS
Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)
FCSB (Romania)
Ludogorets Razgrad
Ordabasy
Dinamo Minsk

[jacka]

Slovan Bratislava
The New Saints
Borac Banja Luka
Ħamrun Spartans
UE Santa Coloma
Celje
Differdange 03
HJK
Larne
Shamrock Rovers
FCSB
Dinamo Batumi
Ordabasy
Dinamo Minsk

[Deadpocketss]

Slovan Bratislava
The New Saints
Egnatia
Ħamrun Spartans
UE Santa Coloma
Flora
Differdange 03
Panevėžys
RFS
Shamrock Rovers
FCSB
Ludogorets Razgrad
Ordabasy
Pyunik

[Firkinvald]

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
The New Saints (Wales)
Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ħamrun Spartans (Malta)
UE Santa Coloma (Belgium)
Flora (Estonia)
K� (Faroe Islands)
HJK (Finland)
RFS (Latvia)
Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland)
FCSB (Romania)
Ludogorets Razgrad (Hungary)
Ordabasy (Kazakhstan)
Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)

[juleandor]

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
Dečić (Montenegro)
Herzegovina) vs. Egnatia (Albania)
Ħamrun Spartans (Malta)
UE Santa Coloma (Belgium)
Celje (Slovenia)
Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)
HJK (Finland)
Larne (Northern Ireland)
Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)
Virtus (San Marino)
Dinamo Batumi (Georgia)
Petrocub Hîncești (Moldova)
Pyunik (Armenia)

[happy5214]

I made a rather embarrassing error in the OP. UE Santa Coloma is from Andorra, not Belgium. I'm sending out a mass PM for this, the other preliminary contests, and the national team contests, and I'll include that correction there.

[filgod]

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
The New Saints (Wales)
Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ħamrun Spartans (Malta)
UE Santa Coloma (Andorra)
Flora (Estonia)
KÍ (Faroe Islands)
Panevėžys (Lithuania)
RFS (Latvia)
Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland)
Virtus (San Marino)
Ludogorets Razgrad (Hungary)
Ordabasy (Kazakhstan)
Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)

[happy5214]

• Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
• The New Saints (Wales)
• Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Ħamrun Spartans (Malta)
• Ballkani (Kosovo)
• Celje (Slovenia)
• KÍ (Faroe Islands)
• HJK (Finland)
• RFS (Latvia)
• Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland)
• FCSB (Romania)
• Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)
• Ordabasy (Kazakhstan)
• Pyunik (Armenia)

Another error to correct: Ludogorets Razgrad is from Bulgaria, not Hungary. I really should have proofread better.

[happy5214]

Damn, those spreadsheet have been difficult to set up. Here are last week's results:

• Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 6 - 3 Struga (North Macedonia)
• The New Saints (Wales) 4 - 1 Dečić (Montenegro)
• Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 2 - 2 Egnatia (Albania) (Borac Banja Luka advances on penalties, 4-1)
• Ħamrun Spartans (Malta) 1 - 1 Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) (Lincoln Red Imps advance on penalties, 5-4)
• UE Santa Coloma (Andorra) 3 - 3 Ballkani (Kosovo) (UE Santa Coloma advances on penalties, 6-5)
• Flora (Estonia) 1 - 7 Celje (Slovenia)
• KÍ (Faroe Islands) 2 - 0 Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)
• Panevėžys (Lithuania) 4 - 1 HJK (Finland)
• RFS (Latvia) 7 - 0 Larne (Northern Ireland)
• Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland) 1 - 2 Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)
• Virtus (San Marino) 1 - 11 FCSB (Romania)
• Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) 3 - 2 Dinamo Batumi (Georgia)
• Ordabasy (Kazakhstan) 0 - 1 Petrocub Hîncești (Moldova)
• Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) 1 - 0 Pyunik (Armenia)

Here is how everyone did (please refer to Wikipedia's list of country codes for the code meaning, and remember that everyone in this round was a league champion):

Ruler \ Team

SVK 1

MKD 1

WAL 1

MNE 1

BIH 1

ALB 1

MLT 1

GIB 1

AND 1

KOS 1

EST 1

SVN 1

FRO 1

LUX 1

LTU 1

FIN 1

LAT 1

NIR 1

ISL 1

IRL 1

SMR 1

ROU 1

BUL 1

GEO 1

KAZ 1

MDA 1

BLR 1

ARM 1

king qaz

jacka

Deadpocketss

Firkinvald

juleandor

filgod

happy5214

king qaz had the best round, getting 11 out of 14 right, so congratulations to him. Everyone else has some work to do to catch up. Here are the point standings after the first qualifying round:

Ruler	First Qualifying Round
king qaz	11
Firkinvald	9
filgod	9
jacka	8
Deadpocketss	8
happy5214	8
juleandor	5

The second qualifying round starts Tuesday at 10 AM. Here are the match-ups:

• (BUL 1) Ludogorets Razgrad vs. (BLR 1) Dinamo Minsk
• (CYP 1) APOEL vs. (MDA 1) Petrocub Hîncești
• (HUN 1) Ferencváros vs. (WAL 1) The New Saints
• (GRE 1) PAOK vs. (BIH 1) Borac Banja Luka
• (NOR 1) Bodø/Glimt vs. (LAT 1) RFS
• (SWE 1) Malmö FF vs. (FRO 1) KÍ
• (IRL 1) Shamrock Rovers vs. (CZE 1) Sparta Prague
• (AND 1) UE Santa Coloma vs. (DEN 1) Midtjylland
• (SVN 1) Celje vs. (SVK 1) Slovan Bratislava
• (LTU 1) Panevėžys vs. (POL 1) Jagiellonia Białystok
• (GIB 1) Lincoln Red Imps vs. (AZE 1) Qarabağ
• (ROU 1) FCSB vs. (ISR 1) Maccabi Tel Aviv
• (SUI 2) Lugano vs. (TUR 2) Fenerbahçe
• (UKR 2) Dynamo Kyiv vs. (SRB 2) Partizan

I know I didn't give you a lot of time here, but please try to get picks in. Also, to help me, please include the code with the team. It saves me from having to look up these obscure teams. Also, let me know if there were any errors.

Good luck!