Yaya Touré, Fenerbahçe and Mjällby among subplots in Champions League qualifying | OneFootball

From Fenerbahçe’s long wait to Yaya Touré and Mjällby, the Champions League third qualifying round offers rich subplots beyond Lyon in Prague. L'Équipe highlights five reasons to watch.

Fenerbahçe have not reached the groups since autumn 2008. They play Sturm Graz after squeezing past Gornik Zabrze 1-0 and 1-1. Runners-up in Türkiye, they have added Vedat Muriqi, Mason Greenwood and Nathan Aké, with Talisca coming off 19 goals.

In Kaunas, Zalgiris’s football arm won a first Lithuanian title last year. Winger Fabien Ourega says Tuesday’s visit of Dinamo Zagreb is their biggest night. He gauges the team at high Ligue 2 level and notes only Zalgiris Vilnius reached this stage in 2022.

At Slovan Bratislava, Yaya Touré is in his first head-coach job. The spotlight followed as Slovan overcame Iberia 1999, 2-0 and 1-1, then began the league with two wins. Next up are Sweden’s Mjällby, title winners from a village of 800, 11th at mid-season and winless in seven, yet through against Lincoln of Gibraltar, 3-0 and 0-0, at 3,500-capacity Strandvallen.

Dusan Tadic has returned to the Netherlands with Nijmegen, aiming to steer last season’s surprise third place towards a first Champions League berth. He shone in Real Madrid 1-4 Ajax in 2019 and earned a 10 out of 10. His fitness is unclear, though he left Fenerbahçe with 13 goals and 18 assists in 2024-2025 and now meets Olympiakos on Tuesday.

Source: L'Équipe