When the defending champion started in the first CL qualifying round

Celebrities in the first round of Champions League qualifying in 2005: Standing (from left): Pepe Reina, Fernando Morientes, Anthony Le Tallec, Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Sami Hyypiä; crouching (from left): Stephen Warnock, Steven Gerrard, John Arne Riise, Darren Potter, Steve Finnan. picture-alliance/ dpa/dpaweb

While the defending champions are playing for another trophy a few thousand kilometers away and then taking a vacation, the new Champions League season begins in Keskuskenttä. Finnish champions Kuopion PS host Milsami Orhei of Moldova this Tuesday (5 p.m.) in the first round of qualifying.

Twenty-eight champions from smaller European leagues may not want to follow in the footsteps of Paris Saint-Germain, but they would like to achieve what Slovan Bratislava recently achieved: The top Slovakian club fought its way through the first, second, and third rounds last season, eliminating FC Midtjylland in the playoffs, and was one of the 36 teams allowed to start in the new league phase – where it then suffered eight defeats in eight matches. Bratislava still collected €18.62 million in entry fees.

Apart from Russia, every UEFA league receives at least one Champions League ticket, including bottom-placed San Marino, which is once again represented in the first qualifying round by champions Virtus Acquaviva. Last year, the amateur team suffered 7-1 and 4-0 defeats against FCSB Bucharest, after which they advanced to the second round of the Conference League. There, too, they were eliminated immediately, albeit only after a turbulent second leg against Flora Tallinn of Estonia ( 2-5 after extra time ).

Incidentally, only once has a team made it from the first qualifying round to the knockout phase of the Champions League, but that was a special case in every respect: Liverpool FC managed to win the Champions League in the 2004/05 season, but failed to finish in the top four of the Premier League. Because the defending Champions League champions weren't automatically qualified for the new season at the time, UEFA simply granted the Reds an extra spot—albeit in the first qualifying round.

And so Liverpool's 2005/06 season began on July 13th with a home match against Welsh side TNS Llansantffraid, who, 20 years later, would be competing in the first qualifying round again under the name The New Saints. The team led by Xabi Alonso and Diego Morientes won both 3-0 matches, with Steven Gerrard scoring three times in the first leg and Didi Hamann missing a penalty in the return leg , unlike in the Champions League final two months earlier .

Because there was no play-off round yet, the Reds reached the group stage via FBK Kaunas (Lithuania, 3:1/2:0) and CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria, 3:1/0:1), and coach Rafa Benitez asked: "Why shouldn't we win the title again?" Just three days after advancing against Sofia, Liverpool had already lifted the UEFA Super Cup , but that was their only European appearance: Despite a dominant group stage finish with only one goal conceded and first place, Liverpool were eliminated in the Champions League round of 16 by Benfica ( 0:1/0:2 ).