2016-17 Champions League

[7express]

The final playoff of the 2019-20 Champions League is upon us, and these 6 winners in these matches will advance to the group stage while the losers drop down to the Europa League group stage.

Rosenborg (DEN) faces D. Zagreb (CRO). Zagreb and Ferencvaros (HUN) played to a 1-1 draw before Zagreb won 4-0 @ Ferencvaros to advance while Rosenborg won both legs over Maribor out of Slovenia by the same 3-1 score line. They will play 8/21 @ Zagreb and 8/27 @ Rosenborg.
Slavia Prague (CZE) faces CFR Cluj (ROU). Cluj and Celtic played out a 1-1 draw @ Cluj and then @ Celtic Cluj stormed back from a 2-1 deficit with 3 second half goals all in the 70th minute or later and put the match away with the final goal in the 7th minute of stoppage time. Slavia Prague, by virtue of winning the Czech league got a bye to the playoff round due to Liverpool's champions league win. They play @ Cluj on 8/20 and in Prague on 8/28.
Young boys (SUI) faces off against Crvena Zvezda (SRB). Crvena Zvezda advanced over FC Copenhagen on penalty kicks after both legs finished 1-1. Young boys, by virtue of winning the Swiss League got a bye to the playoff round. They play 8/21 in Switzerland and than 8/27 in Belgrade.
APOEL (CYP) faces Ajax (NED). APOEL won on aggregate over Qarabag 3-2 while Ajax Amsterdam beat PAOK by a 5-4 aggregate. They play 8/20 in Cyprus and than the return leg in Amsterdam is on 8/28.
LASK Linz (AUT) faces off against Club Brugge KV (BEL). Linz knocked off 2nd place Swiss league finisher FC Basel by an impressive 5-2 aggregate score line, while Club Brugge got 2 goals after the 85th minute to squeak by Dynamo Kiev out of Ukraine by a 4-3 aggregate. They play 8/20 in Linz, Austria, and than 8/27 in Brugge, Belgium
Last playoff match sees Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) take on Krasnodar (RUS). Olympiacos shut out Turkish side Basaksehir over both legs winning 3-0 while Krasnodar pulled off the 2nd shocker of the third qualifying round after losing at home to Porto 1-0, they scored 3 first half goals in the return leg at Porto, and was able to hold on as Porto could only put 2 in the back of the net the 2nd half, so Krasnodar advanced on away goals 3-1 after the aggregate finished tied at 3-3. They play 8/20 in Greece and than 8/27 in Russia.

[7express]

First legs of the playoff kick off tonight with half of the 6 kicking off play today:
Ajax-Amsterdam vs. APOEL Cyprus. This transfer window Ajax had a mass exodus, the biggest being Frenkie de Jong going to Barcelona, Lasse Schonne to Genoa and Mattijs de Ligt going to Juventus, but the Ajax youth academy is going to keep churning out players for the next wave and I think it's enough to survive APOEL. Whether it's enough to make it out of the group stage again is another story, but they should at least get there. Ajax last played in the champions League last year while APOEL last appeared in the 17-18 season. Ajax is currently in a 6 way tie atop the Dutch Eredivisie after 3 matches with 7 points, while APOEL has yet to play a domestic league match this year.
Slavia Prague (CZE) vs. Cluj Romania. Slavia Prague so far has been dominating the Czech League grabbing 16 of a possible 18 points through 6 matches, but this will be the first qualifying game as the Czech League winners from 18/19 they advanced all the way to the qualification playoff round and they last made the group stage in the 2007-08 season, but they did make a run in the Europa League all the way to the quarterfinals where they lost to eventual champions Chelsea. Cluj, which has been in play since the first qualifying round, is coming off a win in the last round over Scottish side Celtic and are currently tied atop the Romanian League with Poli Lasi with 14 points, but have scored the most goals in the league and have the best goal differential so far in the league. I think Cluj makes it all the way from the first qualifier to the group stage, which will be their first champions league group appearance since the 12-13 season.
LASK Linz (AUT) vs. Club Brugge KV (BEL). Linz, who just got promoted to the top tier of Austrian football 2 years ago, is looking for their first champions league group appearance in club history having pulled off an upset of FC Basel of Switzerland in the last round. Linz is currently in 2nd place in Tipico Bundesliga after 4 matches trailing on first place Salzburg with 10 points, but they lead the league in goals allowed with only 1. Club Brugge finished in 3rd place in their group last year with Atletico Madrid, Dortmund and Monaco, and coming off a goal fest in the prior round vs. Dynamo Kiev. They are tied atop the Belgian Jupiler League after 4 matches with newly promoted KV Mechelen, but lead the league in goals allowed (1), goal differential (+10), and are tied with St. Liege and Antwerp for most goals scored with 11. I say Club Brugge does more to advance to the group stage for the second year in a row.
These 3 matches start on Wednesday:
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) vs. Rosenborg (NOR). 2 surprise entrants this far in the tournament with Zagreb taking out Hungarian champ Ferencvaros last round and Rosenborg taking out Slovenian champ Maribor last round. Zagreb, last appeared in the group stage in 2016-17, failed to score a single goal over 6 matches against Lyon, Sevilla and Juventus. They are currently first in the Croatian League, grabbing 13 of a possible 15 points through 5 matches. Rosenborg last played in the Champions League group stage in 2007-08, and are currently sitting in 4th place in the Norwegian Elitserien, out of a Europe spot with a little more than half the season gone (18 of 30 games). I think Zagreb gets through.
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) vs. Krasnodar (RUS). Olympiacos joining qualifying round play in the 2nd qualifiers have picked up 10 of a possible 12 points with 4 clean sheets in 4 games dispatching Plzen of Czech Republic in the 2nd qualifying round, and Basaksehir of Turkey in the 3rd qualifying round. They have yet to play a domestic league game, and last made the group stages in the 2017-18 season, finishing 4th in a group consisting of Sporting club Portugal, Barcelona and Juventus. Krasnodar joined in the third qualifying round, and rebounded from a 0-1 home defeat to knock off 2nd place Portuguese finisher from 19 FC Porto. Founded just over 10 years ago, this is Krasnodar's first ever champions league appearance, so obviously will be looking for their first group stage appearance, but they have bene playing Europa League games the last 5 years, and have made the Europa League playoffs 3 of the last 5 years, so they are not short on European experience. They are currently tied for 2nd in the Russian Premier League with Lokomotiv Moscow with 13 points trailing Zenit Petersburg with 14 points. For Krasnodar, it's going to be tough for them to penetrate Olympiacos back line, so I look for Olympiacos to advance.
Young Boys (SUI) vs. Crvena Zvezda (SRB). Young Boys, just like Slavia Prague has gotten a bye to the playoff round after winning the Swiss League last year, and so far this year are sitting top of the table with 10 points, and they appeared in the group stage last year finishing 4th in a group consisting of Juventus, Manchester United, and Barcelona. Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) also appeared in the group stage last year finishing 4thin a group of eventual champion Liverpool, France domestic champion PSG and Italian club Napoli. They along with Rosenborg and Cluj joined the Champions League in qualifying round 1 knocking off Sudova of Lithuania round 1, HJK of Finland in round 2, and FC Copenhagen of Denmark round 3 in penalty kicks. I think Red Star Belgrade gets through to join Cluj of Romania from teams advancing from the first qualifying round to play in the group stage.
So, there you go: Ajax-Amsterdam, Cluj-Romania, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiacos, and Red Star Belgrade my 6 playoff winners to advance to the group stage.