2015%E2%80%9316_UEFA_Champions_League_qualifying_phase_and_play-off_round
2015–16 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round
Qualifying phase of UEFA Champions League
The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 30 June and ended on 26 August 2015. 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 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.[1]
All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[2]
| Round | Draw date and time | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 22 June 2015, 12:00[3] | 30 June – 1 July 2015 | 7–8 July 2015 |
| Second qualifying round | 14–15 July 2015 | 21–22 July 2015 | |
| Third qualifying round | 17 July 2015, 12:00[4] | 28–29 July 2015 | 4–5 August 2015 |
| Play-off round | 7 August 2015, 12:00[5] | 18–19 August 2015 | 25–26 August 2015 |
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.[1]
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.[1]
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.[1]
Below are the participating teams (with their 2015 UEFA club coefficients),[6] grouped by their starting rounds.[7]
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage |
| Losers of the play-off round entered the Europa League group stage |
| Losers of the third qualifying round entered the Europa League play-off round |
Champions Route
|
|
|
League Route
|
|
Seeding
A total of eight teams played in the first qualifying round.[3] The draw was held on 22 June 2015.[8][9]
| Seeded | Unseeded |
|---|---|
Summary
The first legs were played on 30 June and 1 July, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lincoln Red Imps  |
2–1 |  FC Santa Coloma |
0–0 | 2–1 |
Crusaders  |
1–1 (a) |  Levadia Tallinn |
0–0 | 1–1 |
Pyunik  |
4–2 |  Folgore |
2–1 | 2–1 |
B36 Tórshavn  |
2–6 |  The New Saints |
1–2 | 1–4 |
Matches
| FC Santa Coloma | 1–2 | Lincoln Red Imps |
|---|---|---|
Lima  44' |
Report | Bardon 48' L. Casciaro 64' |
Lincoln Red Imps won 2–1 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; Crusaders won on away goals.
| Folgore | 1–2 | Pyunik |
|---|---|---|
| Traini 65' |
Report | K. Hovhannisyan 6' Satumyan 41' |
Pyunik won 4–2 on aggregate.
| B36 Tórshavn | 1–2 | The New Saints |
|---|---|---|
| Samuelsen 7' |
Report | Quigley 9' Wilde 90' |
| The New Saints | 4–1 | B36 Tórshavn |
|---|---|---|
| Wilde 15', 27', 47' Williams 89' |
Report | Cieślewicz 90+1' |
The New Saints won 6–2 on aggregate.
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.[3] The draw was held on 22 June 2015.[8][9]
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded |
|
|
|
| |||
- Notes
- † 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.
Summary
The first legs were played on 14 and 15 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 July 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hibernians  |
3–6 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv |
2–1 | 1–5 |
APOEL  |
1–1 (a) |  Vardar |
0–0 | 1–1 |
Qarabağ  |
1–0 |  Rudar Pljevlja |
0–0 | 1–0 |
Sarajevo  |
0–3 |  Lech Poznań |
0–2 | 0–1 |
Maribor  |
2–3 |  Astana |
1–0 | 1–3 |
BATE Borisov  |
2–1 |  Dundalk |
2–1 | 0–0 |
Ventspils  |
1–4[A] |  HJK |
1–3 | 0–1 |
Midtjylland  |
3–0 | Lincoln Red Imps |
1–0 | 2–0 |
Molde  |
5–1 | Pyunik |
5–0 | 0–1 |
Malmö FF  |
1–0 |  Žalgiris Vilnius |
0–0 | 1–0 |
Celtic  |
6–1 |  Stjarnan |
2–0 | 4–1 |
Trenčín  |
3–4 |  Steaua București |
0–2 | 3–2 |
Partizan  |
3–0 |  Dila Gori |
1–0 | 2–0 |
Ludogorets Razgrad  |
1–3 |  Milsami Orhei |
0–1 | 1–2 |
Dinamo Zagreb  |
4–1[A] |  Fola Esch |
1–1 | 3–0 |
Skënderbeu  |
6–4 | Crusaders |
4–1 | 2–3 |
| The New Saints |
1–2 |  Videoton |
0–1 | 1–1 (a.e.t.) |
- Notes
Matches
| Hibernians | 2–1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
| Jorginho 74' Lima 85' |
Report | Igiebor 22' |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 5–1 | Hibernians |
|---|---|---|
| Jorginho 32' (o.g.) Zahavi 58' (pen.), 90'Ben Haim II 61'Igiebor 82' |
Report | Soares 52' |
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 | 3–1 | Maribor |
|---|---|---|
| Dzholchiyev 12' Cañas 43'Twumasi 58' |
Report | Rajčević 39' |
Astana won 3–2 on aggregate.
| BATE Borisov | 2–1 | Dundalk |
|---|---|---|
| Karnitsky 11' Yablonskiy 38' |
Report | McMillan 32' |
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.
| Žalgiris Vilnius | 0–1 | Malmö FF |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Tinnerholm 55' |
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 | 1–1 | Fola Esch |
|---|---|---|
| Henríquez 36' |
Report | Hadji 25' |
Dinamo Zagreb won 4–1 on aggregate.
Skënderbeu won 6–4 on aggregate.
Videoton won 2–1 on aggregate.
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:[4]
- 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.[14][15]
| Champions Route | League Route | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||||
| Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded |
|
|
|
|
| ||
- Notes
- † 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.
Summary
The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lech Poznań |
1–4 |  Basel |
1–3 | 0–1 |
| Milsami Orhei |
0–4 | Skënderbeu |
0–2 | 0–2 |
| HJK |
3–4 | Astana |
0–0 | 3–4 |
| Celtic |
1–0 | Qarabağ |
1–0 | 0–0 |
| Steaua București |
3–5 | Partizan |
1–1 | 2–4 |
| Midtjylland |
2–2 (a) | APOEL |
1–2 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv |
3–2 |  Viktoria Plzeň |
1–2 | 2–0 |
| Dinamo Zagreb |
4–4 (a) | Molde |
1–1 | 3–3 |
| Videoton |
1–2 | BATE Borisov |
1–1 | 0–1 |
Red Bull Salzburg  |
2–3 | Malmö FF |
2–0 | 0–3 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Panathinaikos  |
2–4 |  Club Brugge |
2–1 | 0–3 |
| Young Boys |
1–7 |  Monaco |
1–3 | 0–4 |
CSKA Moscow  |
5–4 | Sparta Prague |
2–2 | 3–2 |
| Rapid Wien |
5–4 |  Ajax |
2–2 | 3–2 |
Fenerbahçe  |
0–3 |  Shakhtar Donetsk |
0–0 | 0–3 |
Matches
Basel won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Milsami Orhei | 0–2 | Skënderbeu |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Salihi 49', 73' (pen.) |
Skënderbeu won 4–0 on aggregate.
| Astana | 4–3 | HJK |
|---|---|---|
| Twumasi 44' Cañas 47' (pen.)Shomko 56'Postnikov 90+3' |
Report | Jallow 4' Baah 42'Zeneli 86' (pen.) |
Astana won 4–3 on aggregate.
Celtic won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Steaua București | 1–1 | Partizan |
|---|---|---|
| Varela 81' |
Report | Vulićević 62' |
| Partizan | 4–2 | Steaua București |
|---|---|---|
| Babović 8' Jevtović 60'A. Živković 70'Trujić 90+1' |
Report | Muniru 11' Hamroun 33' |
Partizan won 5–3 on aggregate.
| Midtjylland | 1–2 | APOEL |
|---|---|---|
| Poulsen 88' |
Report | Hansen 30' (o.g.) De Vincenti 33' |
2–2 on aggregate; APOEL won on away goals.
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–2 | Viktoria Plzeň |
|---|---|---|
| Yitzhaki 79' |
Report | Mahmutović 17' Petržela 21' |
Maccabi Tel Aviv won 3–2 on aggregate.
| Dinamo Zagreb | 1–1 | Molde |
|---|---|---|
| Henríquez 18' |
Report | Kamara 21' |
| Molde | 3–3 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
| Hussain 43' Elyounoussi 52' (pen.)Kamara 75' |
Report | Pjaca 17' Ademi 20'Rog 22' |
4–4 on aggregate; Dinamo Zagreb won on away goals.
| Videoton | 1–1 | BATE Borisov |
|---|---|---|
| Vinícius 89' |
Report | Karnitsky 56' |
BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2–0 | Malmö FF |
|---|---|---|
| Ulmer 51' Hinteregger 89' (pen.) |
Report |
Malmö won 3–2 on aggregate.
| Panathinaikos | 2–1 | Club Brugge |
|---|---|---|
| Berg 37' Karelis 65' (pen.) |
Report | Bolingoli-Mbombo 10' |
Club Brugge won 4–2 on aggregate.
| Monaco | 4–0 | Young Boys |
|---|---|---|
| Cavaleiro 54' Kurzawa 64'Martial 70'El Shaarawy 77' |
Report |
Monaco won 7–1 on aggregate.
| CSKA Moscow | 2–2 | Sparta Prague |
|---|---|---|
| Dzagoev 14' Tošić 53' |
Report | Fatai 15' Krejčí 57' |
CSKA Moscow won 5–4 on aggregate.
Rapid Wien won 5–4 on aggregate.
Shakhtar Donetsk won 3–0 on aggregate.
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:[5]
- 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.[17][18]
| Champions Route | League Route | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded |
|
|
|||
- Notes
- ‡ Due to UEFA's decision in preventing Russian and Ukrainian teams playing each other, Shakhtar Donetsk could not be drawn against CSKA Moscow.
Summary
The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astana |
2–1 | APOEL |
1–0 | 1–1 |
| Skënderbeu |
2–6 | Dinamo Zagreb |
1–2 | 1–4 |
| Celtic |
3–4 | Malmö FF |
3–2 | 0–2 |
| Basel |
3–3 (a) | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
2–2 | 1–1 |
| BATE Borisov |
2–2 (a) | Partizan |
1–0 | 1–2 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lazio  |
1–3 |  Bayer Leverkusen |
1–0 | 0–3 |
Manchester United  |
7–1 | Club Brugge |
3–1 | 4–0 |
Sporting CP  |
3–4 | CSKA Moscow |
2–1 | 1–3 |
| Rapid Wien |
2–3 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
0–1 | 2–2 |
Valencia  |
4–3 | Monaco |
3–1 | 1–2 |
Matches
Astana won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Skënderbeu | 1–2 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
| Shkëmbi 37' |
Report | Soudani 66' Pivarić 90+3' |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 4–1 | Skënderbeu |
|---|---|---|
| Soudani 9', 80' Hodžić 15'Taravel 55' |
Report | Esquerdinha 10' |
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.
| Partizan | 2–1 | BATE Borisov |
|---|---|---|
| Zhavnerchik 74' (o.g.) Šaponjić 90+3' |
Report | Stasevich 25' |
2–2 on aggregate; BATE Borisov won on away goals.
| Bayer Leverkusen | 3–0 | Lazio |
|---|---|---|
| Çalhanoğlu 40' Mehmedi 48'Bellarabi 88' |
Report |
Bayer Leverkusen won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Manchester United | 3–1 | Club Brugge |
|---|---|---|
| Depay 13', 43' Fellaini 90+4' |
Report | Carrick 8' (o.g.) |
Manchester United won 7–1 on aggregate.
| Sporting CP | 2–1 | CSKA Moscow |
|---|---|---|
| Gutiérrez 12' Slimani 82' |
Report | Doumbia 40' |
CSKA Moscow won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2–2 | Rapid Wien |
|---|---|---|
| Marlos 10' Hladkyy 27' |
Report | Schaub 13' S. Hofmann 22' |
Shakhtar Donetsk won 3–2 on aggregate.
Valencia won 4–3 on aggregate.
There were 240 goals in 92 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of 2.61 goals per match.[24]
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eran Zahavi |
Maccabi Tel Aviv |
7 | 450 |
| 2 | Hamdi Salihi |
Skënderbeu |
5 | 438 |
| 3 | Ola Kamara |
Molde |
4 | 331 |
| Michael Wilde |
The New Saints |
368 | ||
| 5 | Wayne Rooney |
Manchester United |
3 | 174 |
 Seydou Doumbia |
CSKA Moscow |
178 | ||
| Leigh Griffiths |
Celtic |
268 | ||
| Louis Schaub |
Rapid Wien |
284 | ||
| Mohamed Elyounoussi |
Molde |
360 | ||
 Ahmed Musa |
CSKA Moscow |
360 | ||
 Hillal Soudani |
Dinamo Zagreb |
479 | ||
| Marko Pjaca |
Dinamo Zagreb |
527 |
Source: UEFA.com[25]
Top assists
| Rank | Player | Team | Assists | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan Johansen |
Celtic |
4 | 540 |
| 2 |  Jairo da Silva |
Trenčín |
3 | 177 |
| Roman Eremenko |
CSKA Moscow |
360 | ||
| Jakob Poulsen |
Midtjylland |
360 | ||
| Andrija Živković |
Partizan |
479 | ||
| 6 | 23 players | 2 | — | |
Source: UEFA.com[26]
- Levadia Tallinn played their home match at A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, instead of their regular stadium Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn.
- Pyunik played their home matches at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, instead of their regular stadium Football Academy Stadium, Yerevan.
- B36 Tórshavn played their home match at Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, instead of their regular stadium Gundadalur, Tórshavn.
- Rudar Pljevlja played their home match at Stadion pod Malim brdom, Petrovac, instead of their regular stadium Gradski stadion, Pljevlja.
- Trenčín played their home match at Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, instead of their regular stadium Štadión na Sihoti, Trenčín.
- Fola Esch played their home match at Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, instead of their regular stadium Stade Émile Mayrisch, Esch-sur-Alzette.
- Skënderbeu played their third qualifying and play-off rounds home matches at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, instead of their regular stadium Skënderbeu Stadium, Korçë.
- Shakhtar Donetsk played their home matches at Arena Lviv, Lviv, instead of their regular stadium Donbass Arena, Donetsk, due to the war conditions in Eastern Ukraine.
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