Linz or Brugge - Young Boys or Red Star?

20 August 2019

LASK Linz vs. FC Brugge

Having both beaten the thought-to-be favourites in the previous round, Linz and Brugge are now facing off for a spot in the group stage of the 2019-2020 Champions League. First up, Brugge are traveling to Upper Austria from Ostend, using a Brussels Airlines A319:

SN1061 OST xxxx-1240 LNZ A319 OO-SSC (19/08/19)

SN9934 LNZ 1320-xxxx BRU A319 OO-SSC (19/08/19, ferry flt)

SN9933 BRU xxxx-2340 LNZ A319 (20/08/19, ferry flt)

SN1062 LNZ 0100-xxxx BRU A319 (21/08/19)

APOEL Nicosia vs. Ajax Amsterdam

It may seem strange that last season's beaten semifinalists from Amsterdam have to play the qualifiers, but this is the nature of the Champions League these days for a club that does not come from the ultimate top leagues. Ajax is traveling down to Cyprus on an Air X Boeing 737-500:

AXY1918 AMS 1000-1500 LCA B735 9H-AHA (19/08/19)

21 August 2019

BSC Young Boys vs. Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)

The Swiss champions are hosting their Serbian counterparts in the first leg and once again, Berne's runway appears too short for the kind of transport of choice. So Red Star Belgrade will arrive with AirSerbia's charter arm Aviolet on Tuesday and will leave on the day after the match:

2L1672 ZRH 0820-xxxx BEG E190 (20/08/19, ferry flt)
2L8673 BEG 1100-xxxx BRN E190 (20/08/19)
2L1673 BRN xxxx-1420 ZRH E190 (20/08/19, ferry flt)

JU9060 BEG 1020-1230 BSL B733 (20/08/19)

JU9061 BSL 1315-xxxx BEG B733 (20/08/19, ferry flt)

JU9060 BEG xxxx-1150 BSL B733 (22/08/19, ferry flt)

JU9061 BSL 1235-xxxx BEG B733 (22/08/19)

There is a hint of information that these flights could be operated by AirSerbia's own Airbus A319 aircraft as well.

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Rosenborg Trondheim

Amongst the national champions who still battle it out for a spot in the 2019-2020 Champions League (or a Europa League spot for the losers of course), Dinamo Zagreb and Rosenborg have taken it to the play-off stage. Rosenborg will travel to Zagreb with Widerøe, most probably with one of the state-of-the-art Embraer E2s:

WF7603 TRD 1230-xxxx ZAG E190 (20/08/19)

WF7604 ZAG xxxx-1535 TRD E190 (22/08/19)

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. FK Krasnodar

FV4304 KRR xxxx-1430 ATH A319 (20/08/19)

The charter flight that never was

Champions League qualifiers are a hectic phase in the European club football calendar these days. Clubs play their first, second and third rounds on successive mid-week match days and there is hardly any time to recover, take a deep breath and prepare properly. Rolling planning is the call and every now and then, a nicely set-up plan just has to be ditched because while the backroom staff has probably done the right thing, the guys on the pitch just have not scored enough goals.

Going into this week's qualifiers, Dynamo Kyiv was facing the choice between FC Basel and LASK Linz for the opposition in the play-off for a Champions League group stage ticket. Plans were set up how to get to Basel next week, using a Windrose Airbus A320 or A321. Now, the way things panned out in Linz, the Austrian vice-champions won the tie against their Swiss counterparts. Surely, Dynamo Kyiv would have had a plan as to how to travel to Austria as well. But in the end, they will not have to. Kyiv lost their tie to FC Brugge as well, so they will have to make do with a spot in the Europa League.

7W7771 KBP xxxx-1230 BSL A320/A321 (19/08/19)
7W7772 BSL 0100-xxxx KBP A320/A321 (21/08/19)

Windrose Air A321s have made it to Basel in the past, operating for Dynamo Kyiv as well such as in 2017

These teams will make the Champions League play-off - or not

No acitivity on here does not mean that teams would not be flying around for their Champions League qualifiers at the moment. It rather means that your author is short on time to compile the information. After all, the occasional look onto the flight radar reveals all sorts of activity, particularly if like me, you live in the heart of Europe, where all the airways cross. So here we go with the return legs of the Third Round of this season's Champions League:

13 August 2019

LASK Linz vs. FC Basel 1893

Basel spent 90 minutes chasing the game against the Austrian vice-champions from Linz last week, with the end result being a 1-2 home loss. Two away goals are required now to still make it to the play-off, though the Europa League will wait as a parachute option for the losing team. Helvetic Airways appears to be the carrier of choice at the moment, with Basel having travelled to Eindhoven already with the same carrier a few weeks ago:

2L1336 ZRH 0830-0900 BSL E190 HB-JVT (12/08/19, ferry flt)

2L8336 BSL 1015-1115 LNZ E190 HB-JVT (12/08/19)

2L1337 LNZ 1200-1300 ZRH E190 HB-JVT (12/08/19, ferry flt)

2L1338 ZRH 1155-1300 LNZ E190 HB-JVT (14/08/19, ferry flt)

2L8339 LNZ 1400-1520 BSL E190 HB-JVT (14/08/19)

2L1339 BSL 1620-1700 ZRH E190 HB-JVT (14/08/19, ferry flt)

Dynamo Kyiv vs. FC Brugge

In another clash on the League Route, FC Brugge is taking a slender lead from a 1-0 home victory over Dynamo Kyiv over the Ukraine. The club opted for Brussels Airlines for this journey and ended up on board the Airbus A319 in Star Alliance colours:

SN9933 BRU 0800-0845 OST A319 OO-SSC (12/08/19, ferry flt)

SN1037 OST 1000-1330 KBP A319 OO-SSC (12/08/19)

SN9934 KBP 1445-1650 BRU A319 OO-SSC (12/08/19, ferry flt)

FC Porto vs. FK Krasnodar

The Russian outfit are the clear outsiders in the duel against the great FC Porto. Porto has won the first leg away from home 1-0 and will look to book a spot in the play-off tonight. Krasnodar on the other hand has booked flights with Rossiya, which seems to use Airbus A319 VQ-BCP for pretty much every sports task on hand:

FV4307 LED 0800-1030 KRR A319 VQ-BCP (12/08/19, ferry flt)

FV4308 KRR 1315-1700 OPO A319 VQ-BCP (12/08/19)

FC Kopenhagen vs. Red Star Belgrade

The winners of this clash will face the Swiss champions BSC Young Boys in the playoff round next week. The first match was played at Belgrade's fearsome Marakana ground and ended 1-1, leaving the champions of Denmark in a slightly better position.

KRP4041 ARW 0900-0845 BEG F100 YR-FKB (12/08/19, ferry flt)

KRP3041 BEG 1000-1215 CPH F100 YR-FKB (12/08/19)

JU9060 BEG 1315-1530 CPH B733 YU-AND (12/08/19)

JU9061 CPH 1630-xxxx KUN B733 YU-AND (12/08/19, ferry flt)