Six European qualifying ties to watch this week, from Fenerbahce v Lyon to Drita v Inter Club d’Escaldes

Fenerbahce host Lyon in Istanbul on Tuesday at 8pm as one of six European qualifying ties taking place from Tuesday through Thursday this week. The schedule also features Celtic v LASK (Wednesday 8pm) and four Thursday fixtures including Tromsø v Brighton (6pm) and Drita v Inter Club d’Escaldes (7pm).

Several high-profile signings and a clutch of smaller clubs feature across the fixtures, creating a mix of familiar names and potential upsets. Rangers and Hearts suffered damaging qualifying defeats this summer, and Celtic were eliminated at this stage last season by Kairat Almaty on penalties after two goalless draws, underscoring the risk these ties pose for established clubs.

Fenerbahce’s squad has been bolstered by the arrivals of Romelu Lukaku, Mason Greenwood and Nathan Aké alongside players such as Ederson, N’Golo Kanté and Marco Asensio. The 33-year-old Lukaku is unlikely to be fit for Lyon’s visit after sitting out Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Genclerbirligi, the club his father played for in the 1990s, and said last week: "This beautiful country is a second home to me." Ismail Kartal begins his fourth spell as Fenerbahce head coach and Lyon are aiming to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in 2019-20.

Celtic face Austrian champions LASK over two legs in a tie that carries financial and reputational stakes, with the club without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the midfielder serves a three-match ban for a red card he received playing for Besiktas in the Conference League in 2023. Martin O’Neill said: "They are big games in every aspect … prestige, finance." Celtic enter the clash mindful of recent qualifying failures within Scottish football.

Trabzonspor could hand Mohamed Salah a home debut against Ferencvaros after he came off the bench, alongside Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral, in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Kasimpasa. Ferencvaros included Naby Keïta in their squad this season, replaced Robbie Keane with Balazs Borbely in the dugout over the summer and featured in a glamour friendly against Real Madrid in Budapest as part of pre-season; they have already played in Serbia, the Netherlands and Poland across three rounds of Europa League qualifying.

Lillestrøm are led by Hans Erik Ødegaard, the father of Arsenal captain Martin, who was appointed head coach after the club’s relegation in 2024 and oversaw an immediate return to the top flight unbeaten while also winning the Norwegian Cup. Ødegaard coached in Real Madrid’s academy after his son’s move there in 2015 and will take Lillestrøm into their first European main draw since the Uefa Cup in 2000-01; defeat would still guarantee them a place in the Conference League. Their opponents, Egnatia, are the Albanian champions for the past three years and overturned a 3-1 deficit to Shamrock Rovers in the previous round.

Brighton travel to Tromsø for a match played at Europe’s most northerly senior club, with Tromsø situated over 200 miles into the Arctic Circle and conditions forecast at 13C and raining for kickoff. "Facing our style of play on artificial turf could potentially come as a shock to them," said Jørgen Vik, whose side dropped down from Europa League qualifying and are seeking to maximise home advantage; "There is a great deal of confidence in Norwegian football right now," he added.

Inter Club d’Escaldes are aiming to reach this stage for the first time in their European history after winning their first Andorran league title in 2020 and coming through six unsuccessful qualifying campaigns to date. Coached by Felip Ortiz, a former goalkeeper who shared a flat with Carles Puyol when they were teenagers at Barcelona, Inter put six without reply past Flora Tallinn in the previous round and now meet Drita, the reigning champions of Kosovo who reached the knockout stage of last season’s Conference League.

The outcomes of these fixtures will determine which clubs progress from this round of European qualifying this week and into the next stage of their respective continental campaigns.