UEFA Separates Unisport and Araz-Nakhchivan Into Different Champions League Groups

UEFA has changed the composition of the UEFA Futsal Champions League main round groups to prevent Armenian champions Unisport from facing Azerbaijan’s Araz-Nakhchivan.

Following the preliminary round, Unisport were due to be placed in Path B Group 5, which already included Araz-Nakhchivan. However, under a decision by the UEFA Executive Committee, teams from Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be drawn against each other.

As a result, Unisport and Hungary’s Ujpest, who occupied equivalent positions in the allocation of the preliminary-round winners, switched groups.

The Armenian champions will now play in Group 6:

Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania)
Differdange 03 (Luxembourg)
Doukas (Greece)
Unisport (Armenia)

The mini-tournament will be held in Luxembourg from October 27 to November 1. UEFA will announce the exact match dates at a later stage.

Following the change, Group 5 now looks as follows:

Piast Gliwice (Poland)
Araz-Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan)
Buba Mara (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ujpest (Hungary)

Thus, Unisport and Ujpest switched groups in accordance with the regulations and the principles established by UEFA at the time of the draw, when the preliminary-round winners were not yet known.

What You Need to Know About Path B

Sixteen teams will compete in the main round’s Path B, divided into four groups. Each mini-tournament will be hosted by one of the teams in the respective group.

Unlike Path A, where the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, only the group winner progresses from Path B.

Therefore, to reach the round of 32, Unisport must finish first in a group featuring Kauno Zalgiris, Differdange and Doukas.

A total of 16 teams will qualify for the Champions League knockout stage following the main round.

Path B Groups

Group 5
Piast Gliwice (Poland, hosts)
Araz-Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan)
Buba Mara (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ujpest (Hungary)

Group 6
Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania)
Differdange 03 (Luxembourg, hosts)
Doukas (Greece)
Unisport (Armenia)

Group 7
Luxol St Andrews (Malta)
L84 Torino (Italy, hosts)
Futsal Mad Max (Finland)
Hjorring (Denmark)

Group 8
Loznica-Grad 2018 (Serbia, hosts)
Athletic Futsal (Ukraine)
Athletic Club Graz (Austria)
Chrudim (Czech Republic)

Champions League Schedule

The main round will take place from October 27 to November 1.

The draw for the round of 32 and the quarter-finals will be held on November 4.

The round of 32 matches will be played on November 23 and December 4, while the quarter-finals are scheduled for February 8 and 19.

The final stage featuring the tournament’s four best teams will take place in May 2027.