With Europe's top leagues having recently kicked off, the Champions League was in the distance as a future challenge for the biggest clubs, but those further down the European football pyramid have been in action since June.
The first qualifying round of the 2017-18 Champions League began less than a month after Real Madrid beat Juventus in the previous campaign's final, and soon enough the big hitters will be back in the competition in the group stage.
The various rounds and routes to the tournament proper can be somewhat confusing and complex.
Fortunately, Goal has your complete guide to every round, featuring fully updated draws, scores and qualified teams and an explanation of how each stage works.
GROUP STAGE SEEDINGS
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | Barcelona | Napoli | Celtic |
| Bayern Munich | Atletico Madrid | Tottenham | Feyenoord |
| Chelsea | Paris Saint-Germain | Basel | Maribor |
| Juventus | Borussia Dortmund | Olympiacos | RB Leipzig |
| Benfica | Sevilla | Anderlecht | CSKA Moscow |
| Monaco | Manchester City | Roma | Sporting CP |
| Spartak Moscow | Porto | Besiktas | Qarabag |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Manchester United | Liverpool | APOEL |
The 32 teams that qualified for the Champions League group stage are split into four pots of eight teams each for the group-stage draw, with each group containing one team from each pot.
Pot 1 contains the holders of the Champions League and the champions of the top-seven leagues in Europe, as ranked by their coefficient. This year, Madrid are European and Spanish champions so the champion from the eighth-ranked league - Shakhtar Donetsk - also go into Pot 1.
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Once those eight teams were removed, the rest of the teams were ranked based on their club coefficient and sorted into the other three pots accordingly.
Some teams, such as Tottenham, then had to wait until all 32 sides reaching the competition proper had been confirmed before finding out which pot they would land in.
The group-stage draw will be held on August 24 in Monaco and matches will start on September 12. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage and the third-place teams will enter the Europa League knockout stage.
PLAY-OFF ROUND
League Route:
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napoli | 4-0 | Nice | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Hoffenheim | 3-6 | Liverpool | 1-2 | 4-2 |
| Sporting | 5-1 | Steaua Bucuresti | 0-0 | 1-5 |
| Istanbul Basaksehir | 3-4 | Sevilla | 1-2 | 2-2 |
| Young Boys | 0-3 | CSKA Moscow | 0-1 | 2-0 |
* Winners in bold.
The League Route section of the play-off round comprised five new teams and five teams who won their third-qualifying-round ties. The five teams with the best club coefficient were seeded for the draw and faced an unseeded team over two legs.
Champions Route:
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qarabag | 2-2 | Copenhagen | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| APOEL | 2-0 | Slavia Prague | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Olympiacos | 3-1 | Rijeka | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Celtic | 8-4 | Astana | 5-0 | 3-4 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2-2 (a) | Maribor | 2-1 | 0-1 |
* Winners in bold.
The Champions Route section of the play-off round comprised the 10 teams who won their Champions Route ties in the third qualifying round. The five teams with the best club coefficient were seeded and faced an unseeded team over two legs.
The losing teams in both sections entered the Europa League group stage.
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND
League Route:
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steaua Bucharest | 6-3 | Viktoria Plzen | 2-2 | 4-2 |
| Nice | (a) 3-3 | Ajax | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 3-3 (a) | Young Boys | 3-1 | 0-2 |
| AEK Athens | 0-3 | CSKA Moscow | 0-2 | 0-1 |
| Club Brugge | 3-5 | Istanbul Basaksehir | 3-3 | 0-2 |
The League Route section of the third qualifying round comprised 10 new teams. The five teams with the best club coefficient were seeded and drawn against an unseeded team over two legs.
Champions Route:
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slavia Prague | (a) 2-2 | BATE Borisov | 1-0 | 1-2 |
| Astana | 3-2 | Legia Warsaw | 3-1 | 0-1 |
| Maribor | 2-0 | FH | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Vardar | 2-4 | Copenhagen | 1-0 | 1-4 |
| Celtic | 1-0 | Rosenborg | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | (a) 3-3 | Ludogorets | 2-0 | 1-3 |
| Viitorul Constanta | 1-4 | APOEL | 1-0 | 0-4 (aet) |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 1-1 (a) | Rijeka | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Qarabag | 2-1 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Partizan | 3-5 | Olympiacos | 1-3 | 2-2 |
Seeded teams are shown in bold .
The Champions Route section of the third qualifying round comprised three new teams (Viitorul Constanta, Olympiacos and Slavia Prague) and the 17 winners of the ties in the second qualifying round .
The teams were split into two groups of five seeded and five unseeded teams each, with the seeded teams in each group drawn against an unseeded team from the same group over two legs.
The draw for both sections of the third qualifying round took place on July 14 in Nyon and matches started on July 25.
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APOEL | 2-0 | F91 Dudelange | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Zalgiris Vilnius | 3-5 | Ludogorets | 2-1 | 1-4 |
| Qarabag | 6-0 | Samtredia | 5-0 | 1-0 |
| Partizan | 2-0 | Buducnost Podgorica | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Hibernians | 0-6 | Red Bull Salzburg | 0-3 | 0-3 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol* | 2-2 | Kukesi | 1-0 | 1-2 |
| Spartaks Jurmala | 1-2 | Astana | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| BATE Borisov | 4-2 | Alashkert | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Zilina | 3-4 | Copenhagen | 1-3 | 2-1 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 5-3 | Honved | 2-1 | 3-2 |
| Rijeka | 7-1 | The New Saints | 2-0 | 5-1 |
| Malmo | 2-4 | Vardar | 1-1 | 1-3 |
| Zrinjski Mostar | 2-3 | Maribor | 1-2 | 1-1 |
| Dundalk | 2-3 | Rosenborg | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| FH | 3-1 | Vikingur Gota | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| Linfield | 0-6 | Celtic | 0-2 | 0-4 |
| IFK Mariehamn | 0-9 | Legia Warsaw | 0-3 | 0-6 |
*Sheriff Tiraspol advanced on away goals. Seeded teams are shown in bold .
The second qualifying round comprised 29 new teams and the five winners of the ties in the first qualifying round .
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The 34 teams were divided into three groups. Two groups contained six seeded teams and six unseeded teams and the other group contained five seeded teams and five unseeded teams. Each seeded team was drawn to face an unseeded team from within their group over two legs.
The draw for the second qualifying round took place on June 19 in Nyon and matches started on July 11.
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
| Team | Agg. | Team | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikingur Gota | 6-2 | Trepca'89 | 2-1 | 4-1 |
| Hibernians | 3-0 | FCI Tallinn | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| Alashkert | 2-1 | FC Santa Coloma | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| The New Saints | 4-3 | Europa FC | 1-2 | 3-1 |
| Linfield | 1-0 | La Fiorita | 1-0 | 0-0 |
Seeded teams are shown in bold .
The first qualifying round comprised of 10 teams entering at the very first stage of the competition . The five teams with the best club coefficient were seeded and faced an unseeded team over two legs.
The draw for the first qualifying round took place on June 19 in Nyon and matches started on June 27.
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