Who awaits Craiova in the Champions League preliminaries, if they take the title + the Europa League is an accessible target

The Romanian champion will enter the Champions League preliminaries from round 1, alongside teams from countries such as Andorra, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Estonia, Lithuania or Luxembourg. At this moment, a good part of the champion teams are known, and the ballot boxes for the first round are almost finalized.

If they were champions, Olten would start the UCL preliminaries with a coefficient of 10,500, which would place them somewhere in the middle of the first value urn. And it would make the first round opponent a handy one for the blue and white.

The University of Craiova would be seeded in the 1st round of the UEFA Champions League

Among the most complicated opponents would be Levski Sofia (Bulgarian champion), Sabah FK (Azerbaijani champion) or Inter Club d'Escaldes, Ararat-Armenia and Differdange, if they emerge as champions in Andorra, Armenia and Luxembourg, respectively.

How the polls look now for round 1 of the UCL preliminaries

Urn 1:

• Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)

• KuPS Kuopio (Finland)

• FC Drita (Kosovo)*

• Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar)

• FK Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland)

• Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan)

• University of Craiova*

• Riga FC (Latvia)

• KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands)

• Flora Tallinn (Estonia)

• Larne FC (Northern Ireland)

• Petrocub Hîncești (Moldova)*

• The New Saints (Wales)

  *She is not a champion yet, but she is in first place in the championship

Urn 2:

• Inter Club d'Escaldes (Andorra)*

• Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)

• Ararat-Armenia (Armenia)*

• Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)*

• Sabah FK (Azerbaijan)

• Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania)

• Sutjeska Niksic (Montenegro)*

• ETO Gyor (Hungary)*

• Iberia 1999 (Georgia)

• Floriana (Malta)*

• Three Flowers (San Marino)

• Elbasani (Albania)*

• Vardar Skopje (North Macedonia)*

• ML Vitebsk (Belarus)

  *She is not a champion yet, but she is in first place in the championship

The draw for the 1st round takes place on 16 June 2026 and the matches are played on 7-8 July and 15-16 July respectively.

The route gets more complicated for Craiova in round 2

If he reaches the 2nd round of the UCL, the Oltenians would narrowly miss the presence in the ballot box of the series leaders. On a current simulation, if the top-ranked teams in their countries win the championship, Craiova would be second in the urn of teams that are not seeded.

And it needs some luck, because it can also run into lower ranked teams, such as FC Drita, Lincoln Red Imps, Borac Banja Luka or Vikingur, if they make it past the first round. But also over forces such as Red Star, Slovan Bratislava or Dinamo Zagreb.

What the polls would look like for round 2 if the favorites win in round 1

Urn 1:

• Red Star (Serbia)

• Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

• Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)

• Lech Poznan (Poland)

• NK Celje (Slovenia)

• Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus)

• Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)

• KuPS Kuopio (Finland)

• FC Drita (Kosovo)

• Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar)

• FK Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland)

Urn 2:

• Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan)

• University of Craiova

• Riga FC (Latvia)

• KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands)

• Flora Tallinn (Estonia)

• Larne FC (Northern Ireland)

• Petrocub Hincesti (Moldova)

• The New Saints (Wales)

• AGF Aarhus (Denmark)

• FC Thun (Switzerland)

• Mjallby (Sweden)

• Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)

The draw for round 2 takes place on June 17. The matches are played on July 21-22 and July 28-29 respectively.

Craiova University can be seeded in the 3rd round

If it reaches the third round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, The University of Craiova has a chance to win the favorite's ballot. But he has to mess up the paper calculations. They have to catch a team in the 2nd round that will be seeded in the 3rd round and eliminate it. Otherwise, grab the second urn.

If the Olten beat Red Star, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Lech Poznan, NK Celje or Omonia Nicosia in the 2nd round and qualify, then they would be seeded in the 3rd round. And the opponents would be, if the paper calculation is respected, Shamrock Rovers, KuPS Kuopio, FC Drita, Lincoln Red Imps, FK Borac Banja Luka or Vikingur Reykjavik.

If in the 3rd round they will be in the second urn, Craiova's opponent will be chosen from Steaua Rosie, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Lech Poznan, NK Celje or Omonia Nicosia.

The draw for round 3 takes place on July 20. The tour takes place on August 4 and 5, returning on August 11.

The play-off is complicated

In the UEFA Champions League play-off, the Romanian champion will be in the second ballot. The opponent would be, if the paper calculation is respected and the favorites move on, one of: Red Star, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Lech Poznan or AEK Atena.

The play-off matches are drawn on August 3. It will be played on August 18-19, and the second leg on August 25-26.

Craiova could target the Europa League. The Conference League is within reach

For Olteni, qualifying for the Europa League group would be an achievable goal. That's because the path to the play-offs is within reach. If they are eliminated in the 2nd round of the UCL preliminaries, the Craiova will reach the 3rd round of the Europa League preliminaries, where they would be seeded.

On a current simulation, the future opponent would be chosen from: Petrocub Hincesti, The New Saints, AGF Aarhus, FC Thun, Mjallby and Beitar Jerusalem.

Access to the Europa League play-off secures the place in the Conference League group, so the Oltenians have very high chances to catch the group of the third European competition again.

In the Europa League play-off, if more surprise results do not happen by which the favorites are eliminated, the University of Craiova would be in the second ballot. And the opponent will choose from:

• Olympiakos (Greece)
• Rangers (Scotland)
• Ajax (Netherlands)
• FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
• Ferencvaros (Hungary)
• Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
• FC Salzburg (Austria)
• Celtic (Scotland)
• Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)
• Besiktas (Turkey)
• KuPS Kuopio (Finland)
• FC Drita (Kosovo)

The draw for the play-offs takes place on 3 August and the matches are played on 20 and 27 August.