Good news for Craiova! The supercomputer sees her as a favorite in the first phase of the Champions League
Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 6:50 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 6:51 p.m.
University of Craiovathe champion of Romania, is credited with the first chance in the first preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League, according to the calculations made by the Football Meets Data supercomputer.
Although the Super League season is not over yet, the title having already been won by the team from Bănie, the predictive analyzes place Craiova University among the favorites in the 1st preliminary round.
Craiova, the first chance in the 1st round of the Champions League
The supercomputer calculated the chances of the teams from the first preliminary round, and the University of Craiova occupies the first position in the ranking.
“Craiova University is the team with the best chances to win in the first preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League. The next two teams are ETO Gyor and Levski Sofia, but both are without seeded status in the draw.
The winners of the first preliminary round of the Champions League will have three chances to win one more duel to ensure their presence in the league phase of the European cups.
Instead, the teams eliminated in the first preliminary round of the Champions League go directly to the 2nd preliminary round of the UEFA Europa Conference League (or in the 3rd round, for the two “lucky losers”) and will need three consecutive victories to reach the league stage”, according to the data presented by the statisticians.
The percentages calculated by the supercomputer
The odds ranking for Round 1 looks like this:
And the list goes on with other formations from the same preliminary phase.
🇷🇴 University of Craiova is the team with the highest chance to win in 🔵 UCL Q1.
Next two are 🇭🇺 ETO Györ and 🇧🇬 Levski Sofia, both UNSEEDED in the draw!
📈 Winners of 🔵 UCL Q1 will have 3 chances to win one more tie to secure league stage football!
📉 Losers of 🔵 UCL Q1 go… pic.twitter.com/86mRDZydj4
— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) May 19, 2026
Craiova, seeded in the first preliminary round of the UCL
Filipe Coelho's squad will enter the UEFA Champions League preliminary round 1 with a coefficient of 10,500, which places them in the middle of the first value urn. Under these conditions, the team from Bănie should have, at least theoretically, an accessible first duel.
If it passes this phase, Craiova University reaches the 2nd preliminary round, where it will no longer be seeded, which means a more difficult opponent.
In the case of qualification in the 3rd preliminary round, Craiova could again enter the favorite's urn, but only in certain scenarios related to the results of the previous rounds. It would take a favorable course and combinations of the table so that the eliminated or qualified teams influence the status of the seeds.
Otherwise, the Oltenians remain in the second urn. In the Champions League play-off, the Romanian champion would normally be in the second ballot, and if the value hierarchy is respected, the possible opponents would be Red Star Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, or AEK Athens.
If they only pass the 1st round, the University of Craiova keeps its chances to continue the European course in the Europa League or the Conference League.
The ranking from the Superliga play-off
