REAL MADRID HELPS BORAC: EXPRESS THANK YOU FROM BANJA LUKA

Real Madrid won their 15th European Championship title by defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final on Saturday.

The finale at Wembley was closely watched by fans of Borac Banja Luka, as the outcome in London determined whether the red-blues, who won the BiH championship, would be seeded in the first round of Champions League qualifiers.

Madrid made history and simultaneously helped Borac by ensuring that after Real's triumph, there would be a "reshuffle" that gives Banja Luka's team a seeded spot in the first-round draw.

Immediately after the final, Borac fans expressed their gratitude to Real Madrid.

A few minutes after the Champions League final, a graffiti reading "H(V)ALA MADRID" appeared on the pedestrian bridge on the western transit route in Banja Luka.

This was both a thank you and a clear reference to Real Madrid's fan slogan and anthem "Hala Madrid" ("Forward Madrid"). The date of the final was also inscribed to commemorate the day Real Madrid aided Borac.

The Mondo portal reminds us that the spot in the main phase of next season's Champions League, usually reserved for the previous season's winner, remained vacant. According to UEFA rules, this led to several shifts in the qualifying rounds to meet the necessary club quota in each of the four rounds.

As a result, Shakhtar, with the highest coefficient (63,000) among champions without a direct place in the elite, moved from the playoffs to the main part of the Champions League.

Additionally, the champion with the best coefficient in the second qualifying round, Dinamo Zagreb, took the Ukrainian team's playoff spot. At the same time, Ferencvaros and Qarabag, champions with the best coefficients in the first round, were automatically moved to the second round.

This situation benefits Borac, as now the first round has 14 seeded teams, including Borac, who would not have been seeded if Borussia had won the Champions League. Borussia, having secured a spot in the European elite for the next season, did not do so as the champion of their country but as the fifth-placed team in the Bundesliga.

This is a bonus spot that the German league, along with the Italian league, received as the national association with the highest European coefficient this season.

The draw for the first round of qualifiers will take place on June 18 in Nyon, and the next day, the pairings for the second round will be determined at the same location.