The UEFA Champions League qualifying schedule is back in action and things now are into the third round and there are a number of teams live on the schedule and games include Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and FC Copenhagen, Celtic and Legia Warsaw, as well as Red Bull Salzburg and Zenit Saint Petersburg as other teams also playing on August 6 for the second legs of their matchups.
This year the matchups are very good in the qualifying rounds and as things get closer, teams that have qualified already will start scouting their opponents and this also comes before the playoff round. This year Real Madrid comes in as the champions after winning over Atletico Madrid and they will be looking to defend their title with Cristiano Ronaldo and they have also added star James Rodriquez to the mix along with Gareth Bale and Ronaldo.
The playoff round this year should be some good fun, as there are some top teams coming in looking to get into the main tournament and one of the main ones to watch is Arsenal from the English Premier League. Arsenal was the fourth place team on the EPL table behind Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool and they made some great moves in the summer and could be a winner this year in the Premier League.
The Champions League has four strong teams from the Premier League this season and the other seeded teams in the playoffs include Bayer Leverkusen, Porto and Napoli among others. The group stage will begin later in the season and there will be 32 overall in the group stage and that should be very exciting. Some teams include Real Madrid, Barcelona, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund as well as Basel and Juventus among many more.
The Champions League has the best teams from around the world competing and this year the final was massive with two Spanish teams facing off. In fact, the rivals were from the same city and that made the match in Lisbon even more historic and it was won by Real Madrid. Ronaldo is looking to get back to the final and it comes as Bayern Munich should make a strong push after winning the year before. Bayern has a number of players that just won the World Cup and they will be motivated for more.
Check here for the UEFA Champions League live coverage for the third round.
