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, 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.
Tuesday, August 4th: Olympiacos (GRE) - NEC Nijmegen (19.00 CEST)
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 know who they'll face after the draw on Monday, August 3rd.
If NEC lose to Olympiacos, they'll enter the play-offs of the UEFA Europa League and find out their opponents from the same draw.
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.
Paul Winters is Flashscore's Netherlands country manager, having previously worked for Flashscore's Netherlands desk. Paul is an expert on the Eredivisie and also specialises in the NFL, as well as a plethora of other sports. Residing in 'sunny' Katwijk, you can follow all of the news from the Netherlands here.
You can find Paul on X and LinkedIn.
