This is Lech Poznań's path to the cups. One thing is certain.

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A draw against Red Star Belgrade didn't do the Lech Poznań any favors. After the defeat in Poznań and the failure to secure an away result, Lech was left disillusioned. " We're not ready to play in the Champions League ," Mateusz Borek sadly assesses. That doesn't mean, however, that their chances for European success have been squandered.

The draw for the Champions League qualifiers seemed promising. If they had advanced to the playoffs, Kolejorz would have faced the better of the two teams, Dynamo Kyiv and Pafos FC. To the surprise of many, the Ukrainian team was eliminated from the qualifiers. It's hard to believe the Cypriots would have been stronger than Red Star. However, after their defeat to Serbia, they must be considering other scenarios.

Lech's European journey will certainly not be a disgrace for Polish football. They started the season with a victory over Iceland's Breidablik, thrashing their opponents 8-1. Losing 4-2 on aggregate to Serbia isn't a good result, but the Belgrade team was the heavy favorite.

It turns out that Kolejorz will once again be in a less favored position in the fourth round of the Europa League qualifying round. The Polish champions will face KRC Genk. The clash with the Belgians will determine which team will advance to the Europa League stage and which to the Conference League stage.

The Jupiler Pro League team is just entering European competition, but it's already clear they're struggling. They started their domestic campaign with a 2-1 loss to Club Brugge, and their only point came against Antwerp in a 1-1 draw. Last weekend, Genk fell short against Standard Liège (1-2).

If Lech manages to defeat this opponent, they will play at least eight matches in the Europa League. The league stage is scheduled from September 24 to January 29, 2026. Qualifying would give them two more European matches than a play-off defeat.

In the second scenario, Kolejorz is guaranteed a spot in the Conference League. The league phase of this competition will take place six rounds from October 2nd to December 18th. This is the deadline by which the Polish champions are already assured of European competition.

From the league stage, teams can advance directly to the knockout stage (places 1-8) or compete for promotion to the Round of 16 in the playoffs (9-24). The Europa League final will take place on May 20, 2026, in Istanbul, and the LK title match will take place on May 27, 2026, in Leipzig.