A total of 52 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2023β24 UEFA Champions League, which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 42 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 entered in the group stage.[2]
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 (30 teams): 29 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round.
Second qualifying round (20 teams): 5 teams which entered in this round, and 15 winners of the first qualifying round.
Third qualifying round (12 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 10 winners of the second qualifying round.
Play-off round (8 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round.
Each tie, apart from the preliminary round, 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 at the end of normal time of the second leg,
extra time was played, and if the same number of goals were scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by a
penalty shoot-out.[4]
In the preliminary round, the semi-finals and final were played as a single match hosted by one of the participating teams. If the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, and if the same number of goals were scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by a 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 containing the same number of teams. A seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs (or the administrative "home" team in the preliminary round matches) in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round were 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 the subsequent round, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it would simply take the seeding of its opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA could form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee purely for the convenience of the draw and not to resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA could not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie could be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying phase and play-off round of the competition was as follows.[6][7][8] All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final.
Schedule for 2023β24 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round
Round
Draw date
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary round
13 June 2023
27 June 2023 (semi-finals)
30 June 2023 (final)
First qualifying round
20 June 2023
11β12 July 2023
18β19 July 2023
Second qualifying round
21 June 2023
25β26 July 2023
1β2 August 2023
Third qualifying round
24 July 2023
8β9 August 2023
15 August 2023
Play-off round
7 August 2023
22β23 August 2023
29β30 August 2023
Preliminary round
The preliminary round consisted of two semi-finals on 27 June 2023 and a final on 30 June 2023. The draw for the preliminary round was held on 13 June 2023.
Seeding
A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2023
UEFA club coefficients,[3] with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-finals. The matches took place at
KΓ³pavogsvΓΆllur in
KΓ³pavogur, Iceland. For administrative purposes, the home team in each draw were the first team drawn in each tie in the semi-finals. The same applied for the final draw, between the two winners of the semi-finals, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 20 June 2023.
Seeding
A total of 30 teams played in the first qualifying round: 29 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their
2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winner of the preliminary round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed three groups of five seeded teams and five unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
β Winner of the preliminary round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
Summary
The first legs were played on 11 and 12 July, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 July 2023.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 21 June 2023.
Seeding
A total of 24 teams played in the second qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (20 teams): 5 teams which entered in this round, and 15 winners of first qualifying round.
League Path (4 teams): 4 teams which entered in this round.
Seeding of teams was based on their
2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed three groups for the champions path draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee: two groups that produce three ties each (Groups 1 and 2) and one with four ties (Group 3). The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
β Winners of first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
3β3 on aggregate. Servette won 4β1 on penalties.
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 24 July 2023.
Seeding
A total of 20 teams played in the third qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (12 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 10 winners of the second qualifying round (Champions Path).
League Path (8 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round, and 2 winners of the second qualifying round (League Path).
Seeding of teams was based on their
2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed groups of seeded and unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
β Winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
Summary
The first legs were played on 8, 9 and 15 August, and the second legs were played on 15 and 19 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the
Europa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the
Europa League group stage.
^The first leg of the AEK AthensβDinamo Zagreb tie, originally scheduled to be played on 8 August 2023, was postponed following supporter riots in which one person died.[125] The match was rescheduled for 19 August 2023 and became the second leg of the tie.[126]
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2023.
Seeding
A total of 12 teams played in the play-off round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (8 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
League Path (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round (League Path).
Seeding of teams was based on their
2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
β Winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
Summary
The first legs were played on 22 and 23 August, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 August 2023.
^Ballkani played their home match at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina, instead of their regular stadium, the
Theranda City Stadium, in
Suva Reka, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Struga played their home match at the SRC Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid, instead of their regular stadium, the
Gradska PlaΕΎa Stadium, in
Struga, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Larne played their home match at Solitude in Belfast, instead of their regular stadium,
Inver Park, in
Larne, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Swift Hesperange played their home match at the Stade de Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, instead of their regular stadium,
Stade Alphonse Theis, in
Hesperange, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Δ¦amrun Spartans played their home match at the Centenary Stadium in Ta' Qali, instead of their regular stadium,
Victor Tedesco Stadium, in
Hamrun, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Due to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[116]
^KΓ played their third qualifying home match at the TΓ³rsvΓΈllur in TΓ³rshavn, instead of their regular stadium,
ViΓ° DjΓΊpumΓ½rar, in
KlaksvΓk, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^RakΓ³w CzΔstochowa played their play-off home match at the ZagΕΔbiowski Park Sportowy in Sosnowiec, instead of their regular stadium, the
Miejski Stadion PiΕkarski "RakΓ³w", in
CzΔstochowa, which does not meet UEFA requirements.[175]
^Panathinaikos played their play-off home match at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, instead of their regular stadium, the
Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, in Athens.[190]
Note: In 1991β92, 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 1992β93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.