The marathon of qualifying for the Europa League group stage has reached the final milestone, with three clubs previously lifting the precious trophy for the right to one of the six playoff qualifiers, and comes with huge financial rewards.

Portugal’s Benfica, having won the European Club Cup twice in 1961 and 1962 and one of the two teams in the final five times thereafter, most recently in 1990, will face Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine, who are defending more than one card to participate in a group. scene. The first leg will take place on Wednesday in Ode, where Dynamo are playing in exile due to Russia’s invasion of his country. Returning to the group stage this season comes with a huge financial reward, as each team guarantees €15.64 million, in addition to €2.8 million for each group stage win and €930,000 for each draw.

– Upcoming confrontation between two former colleagues –

And Eindhoven, the 1988 Dutch champion who needed an extra-time goal to eliminate Monaco (3-2 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg), will face Rangers on Tuesday against Ruud van Nistelrooy, scheduled for March as coach of the Netherlands national team with his former colleague Giovanni van Bronkhorst, who has been in charge of the opposing team since November 2021.

“We’re ready,” Van Bronkhorst said after beating St Johnstone 4-0 on Saturday. our minds and realized in the best possible way.

– “It’s not easy to participate in the Champions League” –

Red Star Star coach Dejan Stankovic, who won the Champions League with Inter in Italy in 2010, warned of Maccabi Haifa, who he considers “a team of quality in every respect. I can’t fault them.”

He believed that the confrontation, the first chapter of which will take place on Wednesday in Haifa, “will not be easy. It’s not easy to play in the Champions League.”

Playoff Round Program (GMT):

Tuesday, August 16

(19:00) Bodo Glimt (Norway) – Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

FC Copenhagen (Denmark) – Trabzonspor (Turkey)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) — Eindhoven (Netherlands)

Wednesday, August 17

(16:45) Karabakh (Azerbaijan) vs. Victoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

(19:00) Maccabi Haifa (Israel) – Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) – Benfica (Portugal)