NEC Nijmegen's third-place finish in the 2025/26 Eredivisie was the best in club history and earned them their first-ever spot in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
The success is all self-made, engineered by manager Dick Schreuder, who rocked the Eredivisie with his aggressive attacking brand of football.
Without star winger Basar Onal but with former wunderkind Emre Mor and former Ajax star Dusan Tadic, as well as defenders Perr Schuurs and Tobias Storm and midfielders Jamiro Monteiro and Clement Bischoff, NEC enter their first Champions League campaign with a fresh look.
Flashscore maps out the exact route NEC will have to take to enter the main draw of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
NEC's road to the UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
NEC will open their qualifying campaign against Greek giants Olympiacos.
The 2023/24 UEFA Conference League winners finished second in the 2025/26 Greek Super League, six points behind champions AEK Athens. Olympiacos struggled in the Championship Group, only managing two wins in six games.
Olympiacos reached the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League last season after beating Ajax 2-1 on the final matchday of the League Phase, but were eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen after a 2-0 aggregate loss.
In NEC's first-ever UEFA Champions League match, the Nijmegen side fought valiantly and showed Europe what they're made of by taking home a strong 0-0 draw from Piraeus.
Tuesday, August 4th: Olympiacos (GRE) - NEC Nijmegen (0-0)
Tuesday, August 11th: NEC Nijmegen - Olympiacos (GRE) (19.00 CEST)
Play-offs
If NEC qualify for the play-offs of the UEFA Champoins League, they will face either Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt or Belgian Super Cup winners Union Saint-Gilloise.
Bodo/Glimt was the sensation of last season's UEFA Champions League, reaching the round-of-16 and beating Sporting Portugal 3-0 in the first leg. The Norwegian champions were eliminated after losing 5-0 to Sporting in the second leg.
Union Saint-Gilloise finished second in last season's Belgian Pro League, four points behind champions Club Brugge, but laid claim to the Belgian Super Cup on August 2nd. Union SG finished 27th in the League Phase of last year's UEFA Champions League and were thus eliminated.
If NEC lose to Olympiacos, they'll enter the play-offs of the UEFA Europa League and find out their opponents on Monday, August 3rd.
If NEC lose in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, they'll enter the UEFA Europa League. Similarly, if they lose in the UEFA Europa League play-offs, they'll enter the UEFA Conference League.