We are less than a week away from the anthem of the largest club competition in Europe playing again. The 2023/24 Champions League warms up and midweek football will return to our lives. 32 teams will fight to win ‘la orejona’, but not all of them start from the same point, since there are two clubs that have never played in the Champions League until now.
What are the debuting clubs?
Of the 32 teams, only 2 will enjoy their first matches in the Champions League. Both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play with a debutant in their group, and the rookies are Royal Antwerp and Unión Berlin.
How has Unión Berlin entered the 2023/24 Champions League?
The history of Unión Berlin in recent years is like something out of a story. In less than 20 years they have gone from almost bankruptcy, the fans themselves raised 1.5 million euros so that the club did not disappear, and in 2019 it was promoted to the Bundesliga, taking only 4 seasons to reach the Champions League. They have qualified for the competition as the fourth German team, now what they need is to reign in Germany or win what would be the least likely Champions League in history. As any team these goals are impossible, but seeing the growth of Unión Berlin anything is possible.
How has Royal Antwerp qualified for the 2023/24 Champions League?
Royal Antwerp has qualified for the Champions League by being champion of the Belgian league, but it is also an incredible story. The Belgians would win the league 50 years after their last league title, but they also did it with a goal in ’94. Genk and Union Sant-Gilloise were champions for a few minutes, until a goal from Toby Alderweireld unleashed madness in the Royal Antwerp.
Belgian teams do not have a fixed place in the Champions League, and had to go through a playoff round to be able to enter the draw. They dominated AEK Athens with two victories, 1-0 in the first leg and 1-2 in the second leg.
What groups do Union Berlin and Royal Antwerp have?
The group stage of the Champions League is never easy, but also the draw has not been kind to the ‘rookies’. Unión Berlin has fallen into Group C along with Real Madrid, Sporting de Braga and Napoli.
Royal Antwerp has also lost to a Spanish team. The Belgians have a somewhat more affordable group, but FC Barcelona, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk are three very experienced clubs in the Champions League.
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