NYON. The maps are out. A day after the draw in Monaco, UEFA published the full league phase schedule on Saturday evening, and Lugano and Thun now know not just their opponents but the exact shape of their European autumn.
Thun, Swiss champions and debutants at this level since 2014, open on 15 October away to Twente in Enschede. Home nights against Hajduk Split on 22 October and Hearts on 5 November follow, before the tie that will sell the season: Ajax Amsterdam away on 26 November, against the club that put nine goals past Sion in the play-offs. Gent visit the Stockhorn on 10 December, and the campaign closes in Sofia against CSKA on 17 December.
Lugano, playing their fifth European league or group phase since 2017, begin at home to Red Star Belgrade on 15 October, the marquee night of the Ticino autumn. A demanding trip to Getafe follows on 22 October, then Kauno Zalgiris at home on 5 November, Jablonec away on 26 November, Copenhagen away on 10 December and St Truiden at home on 17 December to finish.
The arithmetic of the new format is unforgiving. The top eight of the 36-team league go directly to the round of 16; places nine to 24 earn a play-off; everyone else goes home. Six matches, all on Thursday nights, decide which column a club lands in, and goal difference has a way of mattering in December.
Both Swiss clubs will privately target the play-off band. Lugano’s squad has the deeper European experience, and a home opener against Red Star offers points before the travel begins. Thun’s route is steeper, but three home ties, Split, Hearts and Gent, give the champions a path if the Stockhorn becomes the fortress it was in the spring.
The wider stake remains the national coefficient. With no Swiss club in the Champions League, every win by Lugano or Thun feeds the ranking that determines how many Swiss clubs get here at all. The country’s slide cost it a seat at the top table; the repair work is six Thursday nights long.
Tickets for the home fixtures go on sale through the clubs this week. The final is in Istanbul on 2 June 2027, a sentence both dressing rooms will allow themselves to read once, before turning back to the small print of October.