2015–16 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification consisted of the qualifying phase (first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It began on 30 June and ended on 26 August 2015. A total of 56 teams competed to decide 10 of the 32 places in the group stage.
All times were CEST (UTC+2).
Round and draw dates All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
RoundDraw date and timeFirst legSecond legFirst qualifying round22 June 2015, 12:0030 June – 1 July 20157–8 July 2015Second qualifying round14–15 July 201521–22 July 2015Third qualifying round17 July 2015, 12:0028–29 July 20154–5 August 2015Play-off round7 August 2015, 12:0018–19 August 201525–26 August 2015
Format In the qualifying phase and play-off round, each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then 30 minutes of extra time was played, divided into two 15-minute halves. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.
In the draws for each round, teams were seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots. A seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. Due to the limited time between matches, the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds took place before the results of the previous round were known. For these draws (or in any cases where the result of a tie in the previous round was not known at the time of the draw), the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its defeated opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA formed "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
Teams There were two routes which the teams were separated into during qualifying: Champions Route, which included all domestic champions which had not qualified for the group stage. League Route (also called the Non-champions Path or the Best-placed Path), which included all domestic non-champions which had not qualified for the group stage.
A total of 56 teams (41 in Champions Route, 15 in League Route) were involved in the qualifying phase and play-off round. The 10 winners of the play-off round (5 in Champions Route, 5 in League Route) advanced to the group stage to join the 22 teams which entered in the group stage. The 15 losers of the third qualifying round entered the Europa League play-off round, and the 10 losers of the play-off round entered the Europa League group stage.
Below are the participating teams (with their 2015 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to coloursWinners of the play-off round advanced to the group stageLosers of the play-off round entered the Europa League group stageLosers of the third qualifying round entered the Europa League play-off round
Champions Route +Third qualifying roundTeam Basel84.875 Red Bull Salzburg43.135 Viktoria Plzeň41.825+Second qualifying roundTeam Steaua București40.259 Celtic39.080 APOEL35.460 BATE Borisov35.150 Ludogorets Razgrad25.350 Dinamo Zagreb24.700 Maribor22.225 Maccabi Tel Aviv18.200 Lech Poznań17.300 Partizan14.775 Malmö FF12.545 Qarabağ11.500 HJK11.140 Molde10.375 Midtjylland7.960 Videoton7.950 Skënderbeu5.575 Sarajevo5.500 Ventspils5.350 Dila Gori4.875 Trenčín4.250 Žalgiris3.900 Astana3.825 Milsami Orhei3.750 Rudar Pljevlja3.375 Vardar3.175 Stjarnan3.100 Fola Esch2.525 Dundalk2.150 Hibernians1.591+First qualifying roundTeam The New Saints5.575 Levadia Tallinn4.200 Pyunik3.550 FC Santa Coloma2.666 Crusaders2.475 B361.450 Lincoln Red Imps0.550 Folgore0.349
League Route +Play-off roundTeam Manchester United103.078 Valencia99.999 Bayer Leverkusen87.883 Sporting CP56.276 Lazio49.102+Third qualifying roundTeam Shakhtar Donetsk86.033 Ajax66.195 CSKA Moscow55.599 Club Brugge41.440 Monaco31.483 Young Boys31.375 Sparta Prague30.825 Fenerbahçe30.020 Panathinaikos19.880 Rapid Wien15.635
First qualifying round
Seeding A total of eight teams played in the first qualifying round. The draw was held on 22 June 2015.
SeededUnseeded The New Saints Levadia Tallinn Pyunik FC Santa Coloma Crusaders B36 Lincoln Red Imps Folgore
Summary The first legs were played on 30 June and 1 July, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2015.
Matches
Lincoln Red Imps won 2–1 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; Crusaders won on away goals.
Pyunik won 4–2 on aggregate.
The New Saints won 6–2 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round
Seeding A total of 34 teams played in the second qualifying round: 30 teams which entered in this round, and the four winners of the first qualifying round. The draw was held on 22 June 2015.
Group 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded APOEL Maribor Maccabi Tel Aviv Lech Poznań Qarabağ Sarajevo Astana Rudar Pljevlja Vardar Hibernians Celtic BATE Borisov Malmö FF HJK Molde Midtjylland Ventspils Žalgiris Pyunik Stjarnan Lincoln Red Imps Dundalk Steaua București Ludogorets Razgrad Dinamo Zagreb Partizan Videoton Skënderbeu The New Saints Dila Gori Trenčín Crusaders Milsami Orhei Fola Esch
Notes
Summary The first legs were played on 14 and 15 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 July 2015.
Matches
Maccabi Tel Aviv won 6–3 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; APOEL won on away goals.
Qarabağ won 1–0 on aggregate.
Lech Poznań won 3–0 on aggregate.
Astana won 3–2 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.
HJK won 4–1 on aggregate.
Midtjylland won 3–0 on aggregate.
Molde won 5–1 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 1–0 on aggregate.
Celtic won 6–1 on aggregate.
Steaua București won 4–3 on aggregate.
Partizan won 3–0 on aggregate.
Milsami Orhei won 3–1 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 4–1 on aggregate.
Skënderbeu won 6–4 on aggregate.
Videoton won 2–1 on aggregate.
Third qualifying round Seeding The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
A total of 30 teams played in the third qualifying round: Champions Route: three teams which entered in this round, and the 17 winners of the second qualifying round. League Route: ten teams which entered in this round.
The draw was held on 17 July 2015.
Champions RouteLeague RouteGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Basel Steaua București Celtic Milsami Orhei Astana Lech Poznań Partizan Qarabağ HJK Skënderbeu Red Bull Salzburg Viktoria Plzeň APOEL BATE Borisov Dinamo Zagreb Maccabi Tel Aviv Malmö FF Molde Midtjylland Videoton Shakhtar Donetsk Ajax CSKA Moscow Club Brugge Monaco Young Boys Sparta Prague Fenerbahçe Panathinaikos Rapid Wien
Notes
Summary The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2015.
Champions Route matches
Basel won 4–1 on aggregate.
Skënderbeu won 4–0 on aggregate.
Astana won 4–3 on aggregate.
Celtic won 1–0 on aggregate.
Partizan won 5–3 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate; APOEL won on away goals.
Maccabi Tel Aviv won 3–2 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate; Dinamo Zagreb won on away goals.
BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 3–2 on aggregate.
League Route matches
Club Brugge won 4–2 on aggregate.
Monaco won 7–1 on aggregate.
CSKA Moscow won 5–4 on aggregate.
Rapid Wien won 5–4 on aggregate.
Shakhtar Donetsk won 3–0 on aggregate.
Play-off round
Seeding The play-off round was split into two sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage.
A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round: Champions Route: the ten Champions Route winners of the third qualifying round. League Route: five teams which entered in this round, and the five League Route winners of the third qualifying round.
The draw was held on 7 August 2015.
Champions RouteLeague RouteSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Basel Celtic APOEL BATE Borisov Dinamo Zagreb Maccabi Tel Aviv Partizan Malmö FF Skënderbeu Astana Manchester United Valencia Bayer Leverkusen Shakhtar Donetsk Sporting CP CSKA Moscow Lazio Club Brugge Monaco Rapid Wien
Notes
Summary The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2015.
Champions Route matches
Astana won 2–1 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 6–2 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 4–3 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate; Maccabi Tel Aviv won on away goals.
2–2 on aggregate; BATE Borisov won on away goals.
League Route matches
Bayer Leverkusen won 3–1 on aggregate.
Manchester United won 7–1 on aggregate.
CSKA Moscow won 4–3 on aggregate.
Shakhtar Donetsk won 3–2 on aggregate.
Valencia won 4–3 on aggregate.
Statistics There were 240 goals in 92 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of 2.61 goals per match.
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played1 Eran Zahavi Maccabi Tel Aviv74502 Hamdi Salihi Skënderbeu54383 Ola Kamara Molde4331 Michael Wilde The New Saints3685 Wayne Rooney Manchester United3174 Seydou Doumbia CSKA Moscow178 Leigh Griffiths Celtic268 Louis Schaub Rapid Wien284 Mohamed Elyounoussi Molde360 Ahmed Musa CSKA Moscow360 Hillal Soudani Dinamo Zagreb479 Marko Pjaca Dinamo Zagreb527
Top assists RankPlayerTeamAssistsMinutes played1 Stefan Johansen Celtic45402 Jairo da Silva Trenčín3177 Roman Eremenko CSKA Moscow360 Jakob Poulsen Midtjylland360 Andrija Živković Partizan479623 players2
Notes
References
External links