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A football league
The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 28 June and ended on 24 August 2016. A total of 56 teams competed in the qualifying phase and play-off round to decide 10 of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League.
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
Round
Draw date and time
First leg
Second leg
First qualifying round
20 June 2016, 12:00
28–29 June 2016
5–6 July 2016
Second qualifying round
12–13 July 2016
19–20 July 2016
Third qualifying round
15 July 2016, 12:00
26–27 July 2016
2–3 August 2016
Play-off round
5 August 2016, 12:00
16–17 August 2016
23–24 August 2016
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 would be applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals were also equal, then 30 minutes of extra time would be played, divided into two 15-minute halves. The away goals rule would be 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 would be 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 may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association are not drawn against each other, and do 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 do not qualify directly for the group stage.
League Route (also called the Non-champions Path or the Best-placed Path), which included all domestic non-champions which did not qualify directly 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 enter 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 enter the Europa League group stage.
Below are the participating teams (with their 2016 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to colours
Winners of the play-off round advance to the group stage
Skënderbeu (Coeff: 7.825) were excluded from participating in the 2016–17 European competitions by UEFA for match-fixing. They appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and UEFA agreed to suspend the exclusion and Skënderbeu Korçë were included in the second qualifying round draw. The final decision to exclude Skënderbeu was made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 6 July 2016, before the second qualifying round was played. As a result, the berth was given to the runners-up Partizani.
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 20 June 2016.
Winners of the first qualifying round whose identity was not known at the time of the draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the first qualifying round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their defeated opponent in the draw for the second qualifying round.
Skënderbeu would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round as the champions of the 2015–16 Albanian Superliga, but were excluded from participating in the 2016–17 European competitions by UEFA for match-fixing. They were included in the second qualifying round awaiting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and participated in the draw. On 6 July 2016, after their appeal was denied, they were replaced in the Second qualifying round by Partizani.
Summary
The first legs were played on 12 and 13 July, and the second legs were played on 19 and 20 July 2016.
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 2016–17 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
A total of 30 teams played in the third qualifying round:
Champions Route: three teams which enter in this round, and the 17 winners of the second qualifying round.
League Route: ten teams which enter in this round.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2016.
Winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the second qualifying round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their defeated opponent in the draw for the third qualifying round.
On 17 July 2014, the UEFA emergency panel ruled that Ukrainian and Russian clubs would not be drawn against each other "until further notice" due to the political unrest between the countries.
Summary
The first legs were played on 26 and 27 July, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 August 2016.
The play-off 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 2016–17 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 for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2016.
^ Valletta played their home matches at Hibernians Stadium, Paola, instead of their regular stadium National Stadium, Ta' Qali.
^ Alashkert played their home matches at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, instead of their regular stadium Alashkert Stadium, Yerevan.
^ Qarabağ played their home matches at Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, instead of their regular stadium Azersun Arena, Baku.
^ Trenčín played their home matches at Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, instead of their regular stadium Štadión na Sihoti, Trenčín.
Mladost Podgorica played their home match at City Stadium, Podgorica, instead of their regular stadium Stadion FK Mladost, Podgorica.
^ Partizani played their home matches at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, instead of their regular stadium Selman Stërmasi Stadium, Tirana.
^ Dundalk played their third qualifying round home match at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin, and play-off round home match at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, instead of their regular stadium Oriel Park, Dundalk.
Ludogorets Razgrad played their play-off round home match at Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, instead of their regular stadium Ludogorets Arena, Razgrad.
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
Lincoln Red Imps
Tre Penne
B36 Tórshavn
Alashkert
57'
F91 Dudelange
Sheriff Tiraspol
Trenčín
Liepāja
Dinamo Zagreb
APOEL
Legia Warsaw
Mladost Podgorica
Astana
Ferencváros
SJK
Red Star Belgrade
IFK Norrköping
FH
Celtic
Copenhagen
Young Boys
Anderlecht
Monaco
Manchester City
Roma
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Raffael