2020–21 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification consisted of the qualifying phase (preliminary and first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It began on 8 August and ended on 30 September 2020.
A total of 53 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, with 43 teams in Champions Path and 10 teams in League Path. The six winners in the play-off round (four from Champions Path, two from League Path) advanced to the group stage, to join the 26 teams that enter in the group stage.
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Teams Champions Path The Champions Path included all league champions which did not qualify directly for the group stage, and consisted of the following rounds: Preliminary round (4 teams playing one-legged semi-finals and final): 4 teams which entered in this round. First qualifying round (34 teams): 33 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round. Second qualifying round (20 teams): 3 teams which entered in this round, and 17 winners of the first qualifying round. Third qualifying round (10 teams): 10 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (8 teams): 3 teams which entered in this round, and 5 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the Champions Path entered the Europa League: The 3 losers of the preliminary round and 17 losers of the first qualifying round entered the Champions Path second qualifying round. Among the 10 losers of the second qualifying round: 8 losers entered the Champions Path third qualifying round 2 losers, determined by a draw held on 31 August 2020 after the Europa League second qualifying round draw, enteree the Champions Path play-off round. The 5 losers of the third qualifying round entered the Champions Path play-off round. The 4 losers of the play-off round entered the group stage.
Below were the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2020 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advanced to group stageLosers of play-off round entered Europa League group stageLosers of third qualifying round, and two losers of second qualifying round (Tirana and Ludogorets Razgrad), entered Europa League play-off roundLosers of second qualifying round entered Europa League third qualifying roundLosers of preliminary round and first qualifying round entered Europa League second qualifying round
+Play-off roundTeam Red Bull Salzburg53.500 Olympiacos43.000 Slavia Prague27.500 +Second qualifying roundTeam Dinamo Zagreb33.500 Young Boys25.500 Midtjylland14.500+First qualifying roundTeam Celtic34.000 Astana29.000 Ludogorets Razgrad26.000 Red Star Belgrade22.750 Qarabağ21.000 Legia Warsaw17.000 Maccabi Tel Aviv16.500 Molde15.000 Sheriff Tiraspol12.750 CFR Cluj12.500 Ferencváros9.000 Dundalk8.500 Slovan Bratislava7.000 Sūduva6.750 Omonia5.350 Sarajevo4.750 Dinamo Tbilisi4.750 Fola Esch4.750 Djurgårdens IF4.550 Budućnost Podgorica4.250 Flora4.000 Dynamo Brest3.775 Riga3.500 Connah's Quay Nomads3.250 KÍ2.750 Europa2.750 Celje2.600 Ararat-Armenia2.500 KuPS2.500 KR2.500 Tirana1.475 Sileks1.475 Floriana1.150+Preliminary roundTeam Linfield4.250 Tre Fiori1.500 Drita1.500 Inter Club d'Escaldes0.566
League Path The League Path included all league non-champions which did not qualify directly for the group stage, and consisted of the following rounds: Second qualifying round (6 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round. Third qualifying round (6 teams): 3 teams which entered in this round, and 3 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (4 teams): 1 team which entered in this round, and 3 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the League Path entered the Europa League: The 3 losers of the second qualifying round entered the Main Path third qualifying round. The 3 losers of the third qualifying round and the 2 losers of the play-off round entered the group stage.
Below were the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2020 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advanced to group stageLosers of play-off round and third qualifying round entered Europa League group stageLosers of second qualifying round entered Europa League third qualifying round
+Play-off roundTeam Krasnodar35.500+Third qualifying roundTeam Benfica70.000 Dynamo Kyiv55.000 Gent39.500+Second qualifying roundTeam Beşiktaş54.000 Viktoria Plzeň34.000 Rapid Wien22.000 PAOK21.000 AZ18.500 Lokomotiva Zagreb4.975
Format In a change to the format as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, each tie prior to the play-off round was played as a single-legged match hosted by one of the teams decided by draw, except for the preliminary round which was played at neutral venue. If scores were level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the scores remained tied.
The play-off round ties were 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 extra time was played. 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 a penalty shoot-out.
In each draw, teams were seeded based on their 2020 UEFA club coefficients. For any team whose club coefficients were not final at the time of a draw, their club coefficients at that time, taking into account of all 2019–20 UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches played up to that point, were used (Regulations Article 13.03). Teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams, and a seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team. For each tie, a draw was made between the two teams, and the first team drawn was the home team in single-legged matches (or the administrative "home" team in preliminary round matches), or home team of the first leg in play-off round two-legged ties. If the identity of the winners of the previous round was not known at the time of the draws, 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 opponent. Teams from associations with political conflicts could not be drawn into the same tie. Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee and based on geographical, logistical and political reasons, and they were purely for convenience of the draw and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, all qualifying matches were played behind closed doors. The following special rules were applicable to the qualifying phase and play-offs: Prior to each draw, UEFA published the list of known travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. All teams had to inform UEFA if there were other existing restrictions other than those published. If a team failed to do so as a consequence of which the match could not take place, the team was considered responsible and to have forfeited the match. If travel restrictions imposed by the home team's country prevented the away team from entering, the home team had to propose an alternative venue that allowed the match to take place without any restrictions. Otherwise they would have been considered to have forfeited the match. If travel restrictions imposed by the away team's country prevented the away team from leaving or returning, the home team had to propose an alternative venue that allowed the match to take place without any restrictions. Otherwise UEFA decided on a venue. If after the draw, new restrictions imposed by either the home team's or away team's country prevented the match from taking place, the team of that country were considered to have forfeited the match. If either team refused to play the match, they were considered to have forfeited the match. If both teams refused to play or were responsible for a match not taking place, both teams would have been disqualified. If a team had players and/or officials tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus preventing them from playing the match before the deadline set by UEFA, they were considered to have forfeited the match. In all cases, the two teams could have agreed to play the match at the away team's country or at a neutral country, subject to UEFA's approval. UEFA had the final authority to decide on a venue for any match, or to reschedule any match if necessary. If, for any reason, the qualifying phase and play-offs could not be completed before the deadline set by UEFA, UEFA would have decided on the principles for determining the teams qualified for the group stage. Four countries (Poland, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus) had provided neutral venue hubs which allowed matches to be played at their stadiums without restrictions.
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland). The tournament would originally have started in June 2020, but had been delayed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The new schedule was announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 17 June 2020.
RoundDraw dateMatch datesPreliminary round17 July 20208 August 2020 (semi-final round)11 August 2020 (final round)First qualifying round9 August 2020 18–19 August 2020Second qualifying round10 August 202025–26 August 2020Third qualifying round31 August 202015–16 September 2020Play-off round1 September 202022–23 September 2020 (first leg)29–30 September 2020 (second leg)
The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows (all draws held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
+RoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legPreliminary round9 June 202023 June 2020 (semi-final round)26 June 2020 (final round)First qualifying round16 June 20207–8 July 202014–15 July 2020Second qualifying round17 June 202021–22 July 202028–29 July 2020Third qualifying round20 July 20204–5 August 202011 August 2020Play-off round3 August 202018–19 August 202025–26 August 2020
Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 17 July 2020, 12:00 CEST.
Seeding A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. As the draw was held before the UEFA entry deadline and the participating teams were not yet confirmed, only the associations of the teams were used, and seeding of teams was based on their association coefficients instead of their club coefficients. For the semi-final round, two teams (from associations 52 and 53, Northern Ireland and Kosovo) were seeded and two teams (from associations 54 and 55, Andorra and San Marino) were unseeded. The first team drawn in each tie in the semi-final round and the final round would be the administrative "home" team.
SeededUnseeded
Bracket
Summary
The semi-finals were played on 8 August at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland. The final was due to be played at the same venue on 11 August but the match was cancelled due to Drita players being put into quarantine after two players had tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus, and Linfield were awarded a technical 3–0 win.