2014–15 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round
The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round were played from 1 July to 27 August 2014. A total of 55 teams competed in the qualifying phase and play-off round to decide 10 of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League.[1]
Round and draw dates
All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[2]
| Round | Draw date and time | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 23 June 2014, 12:00[3] | 1–2 July 2014 | 8–9 July 2014 |
| Second qualifying round | 15–16 July 2014 | 22–23 July 2014 | |
| Third qualifying round | 18 July 2014, 12:00[4] | 29–30 July 2014 | 5–6 August 2014 |
| Play-off round | 8 August 2014, 12:00[5] | 19–20 August 2014 | 26–27 August 2014 |
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. 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 randomly. 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 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]
Teams
There were two routes which the teams were separated into during qualifying:
- Champions Route, which included all domestic champions which did not automatically qualify 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 automatically qualify for the group stage.
A total of 55 teams (40 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 automatic qualifiers. 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 were the participating teams (with their 2014 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 |
First qualifying round
Seeding
A total of six teams played in the first qualifying round.[8] The draw was held on 23 June 2014.[9]
| Seeded | Unseeded |
|---|---|
Summary
The first legs were played on 1 and 2 July, and the second legs were played on 8 July 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FC Santa Coloma  |
3–3 (a) |  Banants |
1–0 | 2–3 |
Lincoln Red Imps  |
3–6 |  HB |
1–1 | 2–5 |
La Fiorita  |
0–8 |  Levadia Tallinn |
0–1 | 0–7 |
Matches
8 July 2014 16:00 |
| Banants |
3–2 | FC Santa Coloma |
|---|---|---|
R. Hovsepyan  29', 56' (pen.)Mashumyan 47' |
Report | Ildefons Lima 20' Casals 90+4' |
3–3 on aggregate. FC Santa Coloma won on away goals.
8 July 2014 20:00 |
| HB |
5–2 | Lincoln Red Imps |
|---|---|---|
| Hanssen 11', 81' Jensen 25'Edmundsson 34'Benjaminsen 88' |
Report | Cabrera 50' J. Duarte 77' |
HB won 6–3 on aggregate.
8 July 2014 18:00 |
| Levadia Tallinn |
7–0 | La Fiorita |
|---|---|---|
| Kulinitš 7' Subbotin 30', 72'El-Hussieny 48'Artjunin 75', 90+2'Tipurić 85' |
Report |
Levadia Tallinn won 8–0 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round
Seeding
A total of 34 teams played in the second qualifying round:[8] 31 teams which entered in this round, and the three winners of the first qualifying round. The draw was held on 23 June 2014.[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.
Summary
The first legs were played on 15 and 16 July, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 July 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BATE Borisov  |
1–1 (a) |  Skënderbeu Korçë |
0–0 | 1–1 |
| FC Santa Coloma |
0–3[A] |  Maccabi Tel Aviv |
0–1 | 0–2 |
Dinamo Tbilisi  |
0–4 |  Aktobe |
0–1 | 0–3 |
Zrinjski Mostar  |
0–2 |  Maribor |
0–0 | 0–2 |
Sheriff Tiraspol  |
5–0 |  Sutjeska Nikšić |
2–0 | 3–0 |
Sparta Prague  |
8–1 | Levadia Tallinn |
7–0 | 1–1 |
Malmö FF  |
1–0 |  Ventspils |
0–0 | 1–0 |
Slovan Bratislava  |
3–0 |  The New Saints |
1–0 | 2–0 |
KR  |
0–5[B] |  Celtic |
0–1 | 0–4 |
Cliftonville  |
0–2 |  Debrecen |
0–0 | 0–2 |
Partizan  |
6–1 | HB |
3–0 | 3–1 |
Legia Warsaw  |
6–1 |  St Patrick's Athletic |
1–1 | 5–0 |
Rabotnički  |
1–2 |  HJK |
0–0 | 1–2 |
Dinamo Zagreb  |
4–0 |  Žalgiris Vilnius |
2–0 | 2–0 |
Ludogorets Razgrad  |
5–1 |  F91 Dudelange |
4–0 | 1–1 |
Valletta  |
0–5 |  Qarabağ |
0–1 | 0–4 |
Strømsgodset  |
0–3 |  Steaua București |
0–1 | 0–2 |
- Notes
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw, due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[10]
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Matches
1–1 on aggregate. BATE Borisov won on away goals.
Maccabi Tel Aviv won 3–0 on aggregate.
Aktobe won 4–0 on aggregate.
Maribor won 2–0 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 5–0 on aggregate.
15 July 2014 20:45 |
| Sparta Prague |
7–0 | Levadia Tallinn |
|---|---|---|
| Lafata 22', 44', 45+4' (pen.), 57', 60' Tipurić 55' (o.g.)Přikyl 84' |
Report |
Sparta Prague won 8–1 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 1–0 on aggregate.
Slovan Bratislava won 3–0 on aggregate.
Celtic won 5–0 on aggregate.
Debrecen won 2–0 on aggregate.
Partizan won 6–1 on aggregate.
23 July 2014 20:45 |
| St Patrick's Athletic |
0–5 | Legia Warsaw |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Radović 25', 82' Żyro 69'Saganowski 87'Byrne 90+2' (o.g.) |
Legia Warsaw won 6–1 on aggregate.
HJK won 2–1 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 4–0 on aggregate.
16 July 2014 19:00 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad |
4–0 | F91 Dudelange |
|---|---|---|
| Dani Abalo 35' Bezjak 43'Anicet 65'Espinho 68' |
Report |
Ludogorets Razgrad won 5–1 on aggregate.
Qarabağ won 5–0 on aggregate.
Steaua București won 3–0 on aggregate.
- Notes
- ^ On 17 July 2014, the UEFA Emergency Panel decided that Israeli clubs must play their home legs outside of the country "until further notice" due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[11]
- ^ The match was played at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh as Celtic's home stadium, Celtic Park, Glasgow, was used for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Third qualifying round
Seeding
A total of 30 teams played in the third qualifying round:[12]
- 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 18 July 2014.[13]
| 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.
- ‡ 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.[11] Therefore, Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg and Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk could not be drawn into the same tie.
Summary
The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 August 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Route | |||||
| Qarabağ |
2–3 |  Red Bull Salzburg |
2–1 | 0–2 | |
| Debrecen |
2–3 | BATE Borisov |
1–0 | 1–3 | |
| Slovan Bratislava |
2–1 | Sheriff Tiraspol |
2–1 | 0–0 | |
AaB  |
2–1 | Dinamo Zagreb |
0–1 | 2–0 | |
| Legia Warsaw |
4–4 (a) | Celtic |
4–1 | 0–3[E] | |
| Aktobe |
3–4 | Steaua București |
2–2 | 1–2 | |
| Maribor |
3–2 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
1–0 | 2–2 | |
| HJK |
2–4 |  APOEL |
2–2 | 0–2 | |
| Sparta Prague |
4–4 (a) | Malmö FF |
4–2 | 0–2 | |
| Ludogorets Razgrad |
2–2 (a) | Partizan |
0–0 | 2–2 | |
| League Route | |||||
| AEL Limassol |
1–3 |  Zenit Saint Petersburg |
1–0 | 0–3 | |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk  |
0–2 | Copenhagen |
0–0 | 0–2 | |
Feyenoord  |
2–5 |  Beşiktaş |
1–2 | 1–3 | |
Grasshoppers  |
1–3 |  Lille |
0–2 | 1–1 | |
Standard Liège .svg.png){kind=small} |
2–1 |  Panathinaikos |
0–0 | 2–1 | |
- Notes
- ^ UEFA awarded Celtic a 3–0 win due to Legia Warsaw fielding suspended player Bartosz Bereszyński in the second leg. The original match had ended in a 2–0 win for Legia Warsaw.[14]
Matches
Red Bull Salzburg won 3–2 on aggregate.
5 August 2014 19:30 |
| BATE Borisov |
3–1 | Debrecen |
|---|---|---|
| A. Valadzko 39' Rodionov 66'Krivets 90+4' |
Report | Sidibe 20' (pen.) |
BATE Borisov won 3–2 on aggregate.
29 July 2014 20:15 |
| Slovan Bratislava |
2–1 | Sheriff Tiraspol |
|---|---|---|
| Žofčák 42' (pen.) Mészáros 85' |
Report | Ricardinho 74' |
Slovan Bratislava won 2–1 on aggregate.
AaB won 2–1 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate. Celtic won on away goals. The second leg originally ended 2–0 to Legia Warsaw but they were later ruled to have forfeited the match after fielding suspended player Bartosz Bereszyński as a substitute; Celtic were therefore awarded the second leg 3–0.
30 July 2014 17:00 |
| Aktobe |
2–2 | Steaua București |
|---|---|---|
| Korobkin 58' Arzumanyan 87' |
Report | Keserü 44' Prepeliță 78' |
Steaua București won 4–3 on aggregate.
Maribor won 3–2 on aggregate.
APOEL won 4–2 on aggregate.
29 July 2014 19:30 |
| Sparta Prague |
4–2 | Malmö FF |
|---|---|---|
| Lafata 22', 51', 70' Kováč 52' |
Report | Forsberg 17' Kiese Thelin 27' |
4–4 on aggregate. Malmö FF won on away goals.
2–2 on aggregate. Ludogorets Razgrad won on away goals.
6 August 2014 18:00 |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg |
3–0 | AEL Limassol |
|---|---|---|
| Rondón 55' Danny 88'Kerzhakov 90' (pen.) |
Report |
Zenit Saint Petersburg won 3–1 on aggregate.
Copenhagen won 2–0 on aggregate.
Beşiktaş won 5–2 on aggregate.
Lille won 3–1 on aggregate.
5 August 2014 20:00 |
| Panathinaikos |
1–2 | Standard Liège |
|---|---|---|
| Arslanagic 17' (o.g.) |
Report | Mbombo 36' M'Poku 42' |
Standard Liège won 2–1 on aggregate.
- Notes
- ^ The match was delayed for 15 minutes before the start of the second half due to fan violence.[15]
- ^ The match was played at Olympic Stadium, Kiev instead of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk's home stadium, Dnipro-Arena, Dnipropetrovsk, due to the pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.[16]
- ^ On 17 July 2014, the UEFA Emergency Panel decided that Israeli clubs must play their home legs outside of the country "until further notice" due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[11]
- ^ The match was played at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh as Celtic's home stadium, Celtic Park, Glasgow, was used for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Play-off round
Seeding
A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round:[17]
- 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 8 August 2014.[18]
| Champions Route | League Route | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded |
|
|
|
|
|
- Notes
- † Winners of the third qualifying round.
Summary
The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Route | |||||
| Maribor |
2–1 | Celtic |
1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Red Bull Salzburg |
2–4 | Malmö FF |
2–1 | 0–3 | |
| AaB |
1–5 | APOEL |
1–1 | 0–4 | |
| Steaua București |
1–1 (5–6 p) | Ludogorets Razgrad |
1–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | |
| Slovan Bratislava |
1–4 | BATE Borisov |
1–1 | 0–3 | |
| League Route | |||||
| Beşiktaş |
0–1 |  Arsenal |
0–0 | 0–1 | |
| Standard Liège |
0–4 | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
0–1 | 0–3 | |
| Copenhagen |
2–7 |  Bayer Leverkusen |
2–3 | 0–4 | |
| Lille |
0–3 |  Porto |
0–1 | 0–2 | |
Napoli  |
2–4 |  Athletic Bilbao |
1–1 | 1–3 | |
Matches
Maribor won 2–1 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 4–2 on aggregate.
APOEL won 5–1 on aggregate.
27 August 2014 20:45 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad |
1–0 (a.e.t.) | Steaua București |
|---|---|---|
| Wanderson 90' |
Report | |
| Penalties | ||
Moți  Wanderson  Hamza Caiçara Marcelinho Dyakov Espinho |
6–5 | Keserü Pârvulescu Szukała Popa Varela Prepeliță Râpă |
1–1 on aggregate. Ludogorets Razgrad won 6–5 on penalties.
BATE Borisov won 4–1 on aggregate.
Arsenal won 1–0 on aggregate.
Zenit Saint Petersburg won 4–0 on aggregate.
19 August 2014 20:45 |
| Copenhagen |
2–3 | Bayer Leverkusen |
|---|---|---|
| M. Jørgensen 9' Amartey 13' |
Report | Kießling 5' Bellarabi 31'Son Heung-min 42' |
27 August 2014 20:45 |
| Bayer Leverkusen |
4–0 | Copenhagen |
|---|---|---|
| Son Heung-min 2' Çalhanoğlu 7'Kießling 31' (pen.), 65' |
Report |
Bayer Leverkusen won 7–2 on aggregate.
Porto won 3–0 on aggregate.
Athletic Bilbao won 4–2 on aggregate.
Statistics
There were 212 goals in 90 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of 2.36 goals per match.[23]
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Lafata |
Sparta Prague |
8 | 262 |
| 2 | Miroslav Radović |
Legia Warsaw |
5 | 358 |
| 3 | Markus Rosenberg |
Malmö FF |
4 | 540 |
| 4 | Stefan Kießling |
Bayer Leverkusen |
3 | 163 |
| Levi Hanssen |
HB |
3 | 270 | |
 Demba Ba |
Beşiktaş |
3 | 298 | |
| Danko Lazović |
Partizan |
3 | 305 | |
| Cillian Sheridan |
APOEL |
3 | 329 | |
 Tomas De Vincenti |
APOEL |
3 | 330 | |
| Petar Škuletić |
Partizan |
3 | 343 | |
| Ibrahima Sidibe |
Debrecen |
3 | 353 | |
| Michał Żyro |
Legia Warsaw |
3 | 354 | |
| Agim Ibraimi |
Maribor |
3 | 519 | |
| Callum McGregor |
Celtic |
3 | 540 |
Source: UEFA.com[24]
Top assists
| Rank | Player | Team | Assists | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michał Kucharczyk |
Legia Warsaw |
3 | 234 |
| Josef Hušbauer |
Sparta Prague |
3 | 249 | |
| Marat Khairullin |
Aktobe |
3 | 296 | |
| Domagoj Antolić |
Dinamo Zagreb |
3 | 311 | |
| Tomas De Vincenti |
APOEL |
3 | 330 | |
| Darko Brašanac |
Partizan |
3 | 353 | |
| Michał Żyro |
Legia Warsaw |
3 | 354 | |
 Anderson Mineiro |
Aktobe |
3 | 360 | |
| Alexandru Chipciu |
Steaua București |
3 | 445 | |
| Adrian Popa |
Steaua București |
3 | 448 |
Source: UEFA.com[25]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2014/15 Season" (PDF). UEFA.com. 1 May 2014.
- ↑ "Competition format". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-23.
- ↑ "Draws for 2014/15 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League". UEFA.org. 16 June 2014.
- ↑ "Draws for the third qualifying round of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League". UEFA.org. 11 July 2014.
- ↑ "Champions League, Europa League play-off draws". UEFA.org. 31 July 2014.
- ↑ "Club coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com.
- ↑ "2014/15 UEFA Champions League participants". UEFA.com.
- 1 2 "Seedings confirmed for live qualifying draws". UEFA.com. 23 June 2014.
- 1 2 "Draws — First & second qualifying rounds". UEFA.com. 23 June 2014.
- ↑ "Maccabi Tel Aviv's Champions League qualifier changed due to rocket fire". The Jerusalem Post. 10 July 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Emergency Panel decisions". UEFA.org. 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Seeding pots for live draw". UEFA.com. 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Draws — Third qualifying round". UEFA.com. 18 July 2014.
- ↑ "Celtic reinstated to Champions League". BBC Sport. 8 August 2014.
- ↑ "Uefa investigates crowd trouble at Dnipro's draw with Copenhagen". The Associated Press. The Guardian. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ↑ "Dnipro says UEFA has moved its Champions League match against FC Copenhagen to Kiev". The Associated Press. Fox News. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- ↑ "Lineup confirmed for play-offs". UEFA.com. 7 August 2014.
- ↑ "Draws — Play-off round". UEFA.com. 8 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Full Time Summary Play-Offs 1st leg – Wednesday 20 August 2014" (PDF). UEFA.org. 20 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Full Time Summary Play-Offs 1st leg – Tuesday 26 August 2014" (PDF). UEFA.org. 26 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Full Time Summary Play-Offs 1st leg – Tuesday 19 August 2014" (PDF). UEFA.org. 19 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Full Time Summary Play-Offs 1st leg – Wednesday 27 August 2014" (PDF). UEFA.org. 27 August 2014.
- ↑ "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Team statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Player statistics — Assists". UEFA.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.