The Champions League intermediate round is over. After some great matches and the draw for the 1/8th finals, we took a look at the playing schedule. Proudly, out of the 16 remainers, we see seven participants from the 12 KDB Cup attendees still on the table. In addition, Chelsea FC are also still active in the Conference League.
Mixed success in the play-offs
The KDB Cup only takes place at the end of May/beginning, but leading up to our tournament, we naturally like to follow football on the biggest European stage. Last week, for instance, there were the return matches of the Play-Offs. In these, some of our participants were active, notably: PSV Eindhoven, Paris St.-Germain FC, Manchester City FC and Club Brugge. With varying degrees of success.
Manchester City does not survive
PSV, PSG and Club Brugge managed to outsmart their opponents over two matches. They join FC Barcelona, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FC Bayern Munich and Lille OSC in the next round. Manchester City, on the other hand, had to give up against Real Madrid. We will not see them again in the Champions League, but we will of course be happy to welcome their U15 team to Drongen at the end of May.
With seven CL teams still active on our competition roster, we cannot wait to see what their youth teams will put on the mat during our eighth KDB Cup. We keep our fingers crossed that one of the ex-Cup players makes it to the final.
Chelsea in Conference League
Besides the Champions League, there are of course two more European competitions with the Europa League and the Conference League. In these, we sadly said goodbye to Belgian teams RSC Anderlecht and KAA Gent during their respective Play-Offs. Chelsea are still active though, they were immediately in the next round after their first place in the pool phase.
Would you like to see the promising youth of one of these top European teams at work during the KDB Cup on 31 May or 1 June? Tickets are available via https://tickets.kdbcup.be/.