Europe starts early as the domestic tables stay frozen
Champions League qualifying delivered 14 first legs, but the Premier League and LaLiga are still in pre-season; Hearts' collapse, Fenerbahce's narrow edge and Arsenal's Saliba injury set the week's early club-season storylines.
The qualifying round has started
The 2026/27 club season has begun at the edges of Europe. Fourteen Champions League second qualifying-round first legs were played on July 21 and 22, while the Premier League and LaLiga remained in pre-season with no competitive league matchday to move their tables. The sharpest result was Sturm Graz's 4-0 win over Hearts, but Fenerbahce's narrow lead, Egnatia's 3-3 draw with Celje, and Arsenal's Saliba injury gave the week a wider shape. 1
The Champions League qualifying scorecard
UEFA's format leaves 29 clubs already in the league phase and seven places to be decided through qualifying. The 14 ties below are the complete second-round first-leg schedule from July 21-22. Every tie remained open at the July 27 cut-off, with second legs on July 28 or 29. 1
| First leg | Path | Result | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mjallby vs Lincoln Red Imps, July 21 | Champions | Mjallby 3-0 Lincoln Red Imps | July 28 |
| Sabah vs KuPS, July 21 | Champions | Sabah 1-0 KuPS | July 28 |
| Ararat-Armenia vs Shamrock Rovers, July 21 | Champions | Ararat-Armenia 2-0 Shamrock Rovers | July 28 |
| Iberia Tbilisi vs Slovan Bratislava, July 21 | Champions | Iberia Tbilisi 0-2 Slovan Bratislava | July 29 |
| Aarhus vs Lech Poznan, July 21 | Champions | Aarhus 1-4 Lech Poznan | July 29 |
| Thun vs Dinamo Zagreb, July 21 | Champions | Thun 1-1 Dinamo Zagreb | July 28 |
| Klaksvik vs Kauno Zalgiris, July 21 | Champions | Klaksvik 0-0 Kauno Zalgiris | July 29 |
| Larne vs Crvena Zvezda, July 21 | Champions | Larne 0-4 Crvena Zvezda | July 29 |
| Vikingur Reykjavik vs Hapoel Be'er Sheva, July 21 | Champions | Vikingur Reykjavik 2-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva | July 29 |
| Fenerbahce vs Gornik Zabrze, July 21 | League | Fenerbahce 1-0 Gornik Zabrze | July 29 |
| Sturm Graz vs Hearts, July 21 | League | Sturm Graz 4-0 Hearts | July 28 |
| Omonia vs Kairat Almaty, July 22 | Champions | Omonia 1-0 Kairat Almaty | July 29 |
| Levski Sofia vs Universitatea Craiova, July 22 | Champions | Levski Sofia 1-0 Universitatea Craiova | July 29 |
| Egnatia vs Celje, July 22 | Champions | Egnatia 3-3 Celje | July 29 |
The strongest first-leg advantages belong to Lech Poznan, Crvena Zvezda and Sturm Graz, each four-goal winners. The two 1-0 league-path ties are more fragile: Fenerbahce and Gornik are separated by a single goal, while Hearts need a very different performance in Edinburgh to recover a four-goal deficit.
Hearts lose control in nine minutes
Sturm Graz 4-0 Hearts was the week's clearest warning about how quickly a qualifying tie can turn. Jon Gorenc Stankovic headed the home side in after four minutes. Hearts then missed good chances through Pierre Landry Kaboré and Alexandros Kyziridis, and the visitors were still within reach at half-time. 2
The second half broke the tie open. Jeyland Mitchell scored from a corner in the 51st minute, 17-year-old Luca Weinhandl added a deflected finish two minutes later, and Jurgen Heil made it 4-0 in the 59th. Three goals in nine minutes changed a contest that Hearts had started with some attacking promise. 2
The match numbers make the result more instructive, not less. BBC's report gave Hearts roughly two-thirds of possession, the same number of shots on target as Sturm, and nine more touches in the opposition box. The failure was in both boxes: chances were not finished, then two set pieces and a loose defensive sequence turned pressure into damage. 2
The return leg is at Tynecastle on July 28. The winner faces Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze in the third qualifying round. Hearts' likely route after elimination leads into Europa League qualifying against the winner of Benfica and St Gallen, so the tie still has a European consequence even if the Champions League route is close to gone. 2
Narrow leads and one wild draw
Fenerbahce's 1-0 win over Gornik Zabrze was decided by Talisca in the 37th minute. The Turkish side brought Marco Asensio and Mason Greenwood on in the second half, but could not add a second goal, leaving the tie exposed in Poland. 3
The most entertaining scoreline came in Albania, where Egnatia and Celje drew 3-3 on July 22. Neither side takes an aggregate lead to the second leg in Slovenia. The winner of that tie moves into the third qualifying round; the loser drops into the Europa League third qualifying round. 1
The rest of the bracket is more straightforward. Mjallby's 3-0 home win, Lech Poznan's 4-1 away win, and Crvena Zvezda's 4-0 win at Larne mean the second legs are about managing a lead rather than finding one. Slovan Bratislava and Vikingur Reykjavik also return home with advantages, while Dinamo Zagreb-Thun and Klaksvik-Kauno remain level.
No domestic table movement yet
The Premier League's official calendar lists August 21 as the start of the 2026/27 season. Clubs were already playing friendlies from July 18, but those matches do not create league points or standings changes. The current domestic table therefore has no new movement to report this week. 4
LaLiga is even more spread out at the front of the calendar. Its first round begins on August 15 with Alaves against Getafe and does not finish until Barcelona play Athletic Club on August 27. There was no LaLiga matchday in the July 20-27 window, so last season's final positions remain the reference point until the new campaign begins. 5
The Champions League has already supplied the first qualification pressure, but it has not produced a league-phase table yet. The next useful state change comes on July 28-29, when these ties either advance, switch to the Europa League, or set the third-round bracket. UEFA's third qualifying-round first legs are scheduled for August 4-5. 1
Arsenal's first defensive problem
The Premier League has no points to count yet, but Arsenal already have a squad problem with competitive consequences. The club confirmed that William Saliba will miss an "extended period" after suffering a back injury while playing for France at the World Cup. 6
Saliba started 30 of Arsenal's 38 league matches last season and was present for 15 of their 19 clean sheets. The Premier League's comparison also gives Arsenal a 68.5% win rate when he starts, against 50% without him, with average goals against rising from 0.8 to 1.3. Those figures do not predict the title race, but they explain why the injury changes Arsenal's planning before the season starts. 6
Arsenal have confirmed Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge on a five-year deal. The winger scored 17 goals and supplied 23 assists in the Belgian Pro League last season, according to the Premier League's roundup, giving Mikel Arteta a new attacking option while the centre-back question remains unresolved. 6
Pre-season has also produced a few smaller signals. Mateus Fernandes scored three minutes into his Tottenham debut in a 1-0 behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons, and Sandro Tonali also made his first appearance for Spurs. The result has no table value, but Fernandes' volley is a useful early marker for a midfield that is being rebuilt before competitive football returns. 6
The next seven days
The immediate calendar is simple:
- July 28-29: Champions League second legs, including Hearts-Sturm Graz, Fenerbahce's trip to Gornik Zabrze, and the remaining 12 ties. 1
- August 4-5: third qualifying-round first legs, with the winners of this week's ties moving into the next stage. 1
- August 15-27: the LaLiga opening round. 5
- August 21: the Premier League season begins. 4
For now, the only standings that moved were the unofficial ones inside the qualifying bracket. The domestic races are still waiting for their first whistle.
References
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4Premier League: When do clubs return for 2026/27 pre-season?
premierleague.com
- 5LaLiga: 2026/27 first-round schedule
laliga.com
- 6Premier League: The Briefing, July 23
premierleague.com
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