Which is the best-performing team from Champions League qualifiers?

“Welsh champions The New Saints are playing in the Champions League first qualifying round,” notes Ryan Flitcroft. “But has any team from this early in the qualifying stages reached the group or even knockout stages? If so, what is the furthest a team has gone in the competition relative to where they entered it?”

Guto Ifan is quick to tackle this question with a popular answer. “In 2006, Liverpool were possibly the most illustrious name to ever appear in the first qualifying round, having won the previous year’s competition but finishing fifth in the Premier League. At that time the rule that you were automatically in if you were champions did not exist.”

Much to the dismay of many non-Liverpool fans, Uefa gave Rafa Benítez’s side special dispensation to enter the competition at the first qualifying stage. “Liverpool reached the round of 16, so possibly a beatable record. Funnily enough Liverpool played the team mentioned in Ryan’s question, although they were called Total Network Solutions at the time. The aggregate score was a very respectable 6-0, especially considering Benítez put out a strong side in both legs.”

Fred Sullivan has done some serious digging into this question but, first, he points out that Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League win came having entered the competition in the third qualifying round, which means they played a total of 15 matches. “Liverpool’s combination of emotion-driven, European nous and sub-standard league performance means they actually have a decent record of going far in the competition when starting in the early rounds:

2001-02 3rd QR to quarter-finals2004-05 3rd QR to winners2005-06 1st QR to last 162006-07 3rd QR to final2007-08 3rd QR to semi-finals2017-18 Playoff round