2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the 2021–22 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 22 June and ended on 25 August 2021.
A total of 54 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, with 43 teams in Champions Path and 11 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 includes all league champions which do not qualify directly for the group stage, and consists of the following rounds: Preliminary round (4 teams playing one-legged semi-finals and final): 4 teams which enter in this round. First qualifying round (32 teams): 31 teams which enter in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round. Second qualifying round (20 teams): 4 teams which enter in this round, and 16 winners of the first qualifying round. Third qualifying round (12 teams): 2 teams which enter in this round, and 10 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (8 teams): 2 teams which enter in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the Champions Path enter either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League: The 3 losers of the preliminary round and 15 losers of the first qualifying round enter the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round. The 1 drawn loser of the first qualifying round enters the Europa Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round. The 10 losers of the second qualifying round enter the Europa League Champions Path qualifying round The 6 losers of the third qualifying round enter the Europa League play-off round. The 4 losers of the play-off round enter the Europa League group stage.
Below are the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2021 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advance to group stageLosers of play-off round enter Europa League group stageLosers of third qualifying round enter Europa League play-off roundLosers of second qualifying round enter Europa League qualifying roundDrawn loser of the first qualifying round enters Europa Conference League third qualifying roundLosers of the preliminary round and first qualifying round enter Europa Conference League second qualifying round +Play-off roundTeam Red Bull Salzburg59.000 Brøndby7.000 +Third qualifying roundTeam Slavia Prague43.500 Rangers31.250 +Second qualifying roundTeam Olympiacos43.000 Young Boys35.000 Red Star Belgrade32.500 Omonia5.550+First qualifying roundTeam Dinamo Zagreb44.500 Ludogorets Razgrad28.000 Malmö FF18.500 CFR Cluj16.500 Legia Warsaw16.500 Sheriff Tiraspol14.500 Ferencváros13.500 Shkëndija9.000 Slovan Bratislava7.500 Dinamo Tbilisi6.500 Žalgiris6.500 Alashkert6.500 Flora6.250 Budućnost Podgorica6.000 Kairat6.000 Lincoln Red Imps5.750 Riga5.500 HJK5.500 Linfield5.250 Fola Esch5.250 Shakhtyor Soligorsk5.250 Neftçi5.000 Maccabi Haifa4.875 Shamrock Rovers4.750 Connah's Quay Nomads4.750 Valur4.250 Bodø/Glimt4.200 Hibernians3.750 Mura3.000 Teuta2.750 Borac Banja Luka1.600+Preliminary roundTeam HB2.250 Prishtina2.250 Inter Club d'Escaldes1.500 Folgore1.000
League Path The League Path includes all league non-champions which do not qualify directly for the group stage, and consists of the following rounds: Second qualifying round (6 teams): 6 teams which enter in this round. Third qualifying round (8 teams): 5 teams which enter in this round, and 3 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the League Path enter the Europa League: The 3 losers of the second qualifying round enter the Main Path qualifying round. The 4 losers of the third qualifying round and the 2 losers of the play-off round enter the group stage.
Below are the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2021 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advance to group stageLosers of play-off round and third qualifying round enter Europa League group stageLosers of second qualifying round enter Europa League qualifying round +Third qualifying roundTeam Shakhtar Donetsk79.000 Benfica58.000 Monaco36.000 Genk30.000 Spartak Moscow18.500+Second qualifying roundTeam Celtic34.000 PSV Eindhoven29.000 Sparta Prague17.500 Rapid Wien17.000 Galatasaray17.000 Midtjylland13.500
Format 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, the away goals rule was no longer applied starting from this season. To decide the winner of the tie, 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 preliminary round, where single-match semi-finals and final were 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 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 meant if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA could form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and do not 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 competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).
+Schedule for the qualifying phase of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions LeagueRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legPreliminary round8 June 202122 June 2021 (semi-finals)25 June 2021 (final)First qualifying round15 June 20216–7 July 202113–14 July 2021Second qualifying round16 June 202120–21 July 202127–28 July 2021Third qualifying round19 July 20213–4 August 202110 August 2021Play-offs2 August 202117–18 August 202124–25 August 2021
Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 8 June 2021, 12:00 CEST.
Seeding A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2021 UEFA club coefficients, with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-final round. The first team drawn in each tie in the semi-final round, and also the final round (between the two winners of the semi-finals, whose identity was not known at the time of draw), would be the "home" team for administrative purposes.
SeededUnseeded
Bracket
Summary
The preliminary round matches, which consisted of two semi-finals on 22 June 2021 and the final on 25 June 2021, were originally to be played at Gundadalur, Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, but were moved due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Faroe Islands. The matches were instead played in Albania, with the semi-finals at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan and Niko Dovana Stadium, Durrës, and the final at Elbasan Arena.
The winner of the preliminary round final advanced to the first qualifying round. The losers of the semi-finals and final were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round.
Semi-final round
Final round
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 15 June 2021, 12:00 CEST.
Seeding A total of 32 teams played in the first qualifying round: 31 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2021 UEFA club coefficients. 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 four groups of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie would be the home team of the first leg.
Group 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 3Group 4SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 6 and 7 July, and the second legs were played on 13 and 14 July 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round.
Matches
Lincoln Red Imps won 7–2 on aggregate.
Slovan Bratislava won 3–2 on aggregate.
Malmö FF won 2–1 on aggregate.
Legia Warsaw won 5–2 on aggregate.
Alashkert won 3–2 on aggregate.
HJK won 7–1 on aggregate.
CFR Cluj won 4–3 on aggregate.
Mura won 6–0 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 5–0 on aggregate.
Neftçi won 4–2 on aggregate.
Kairat won 3–1 on aggregate.
Ludogorets Razgrad won 2–0 on aggregate.
Ferencváros won 6–1 on aggregate.
Žalgiris won 5–2 on aggregate.
Flora won 5–0 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 5–2 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 16 June 2021, 12:00 CEST.
Seeding A total of 26 teams played in the second qualifying round. They were divided into two paths: Champions Path (20 teams): 4 teams which entered in this round, and 16 winners of the first qualifying round. League Path (6 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round.
Seeding of teams was based on their 2021 UEFA club coefficients. For the winners of the 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 in the Champions Path, two of three seeded teams and three unseeded teams, and one of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, while in the League Path there were three seeded teams and three unseeded teams. The first team drawn in each tie would be the home team of the first leg.
+Champions PathGroup 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Notes
+League PathSeededUnseeded
Summary
The first legs were played on 20 and 21 July, and the second legs were played on 27 and 28 July 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Main Path third qualifying round.
Champions Path matches
Dinamo Zagreb won 3–0 on aggregate.
Young Boys won 3–2 on aggregate.
Legia Warsaw won 3–1 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 4–1 on aggregate.
Olympiacos won 2–0 on aggregate.