The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 27 June and ended on 23 August 2017.[1] A total of 57 teams competed in the qualifying phase and play-off round to decide 10 of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League.[2]
The schedule of the qualifying phase and play-off round was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1]
| Round | Draw | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 19 June 2017 | 27–28 June 2017 | 4–5 July 2017 | |
| Second qualifying round | 11–12 July 2017 | 18–19 July 2017 | ||
| Third qualifying round | 14 July 2017 | 25–26 July 2017 | 1–2 August 2017 | |
| Play-off round | 4 August 2017 | 15–16 August 2017 | 22–23 August 2017 |
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.[2]
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 were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association (or associations with political conflicts) were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
There were two routes which the teams were separated into during qualifying:
A total of 57 teams (42 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.[2]
Below were the participating teams (with their 2017 UEFA club coefficients),[3] [4] grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours | |
|---|---|
| Winners of the play-off round advance to the group stage | |
| Losers of the play-off round enter the Europa League group stage | |
| Losers of the third qualifying round enter the Europa League play-off round |
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The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 19 June 2017, 12:00 CEST.[5] Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
A total of ten teams played in the first qualifying round.
| width=50% | Seeded | width=50% | Unseeded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | The New Saints Linfield Víkingur Gøta Hibernians FC Santa Coloma | valign=top | Alashkert La Fiorita Europa FCI Tallinn Trepça'89 |
The first legs were played on 27 and 28 June, and the second legs were played on 4 July 2017.
|}
Víkingur Gøta won 6–2 on aggregate.----Hibernians won 3–0 on aggregate.----Alashkert won 2–1 on aggregate.----The New Saints won 4–3 on aggregate.----Linfield won 1–0 on aggregate.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2017, 12:00 CEST (after the completion of the first qualifying round draw).[5] Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
A total of 34 teams played in the second qualifying round: 29 teams which entered in this round, and the five winners of the first qualifying round. Since the draw for the second qualifying round took place before the results of the previous round were known, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie would advance to this round, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its defeated opponent.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | Red Bull Salzburg Ludogorets Razgrad APOEL Qarabağ Partizan | valign=top | Žalgiris Vilnius F91 Dudelange Budućnost Podgorica Hibernians Samtredia | valign=top | Copenhagen BATE Borisov Astana Rijeka Sheriff Tiraspol Hapoel Be'er Sheva | valign=top | Žilina The New Saints Kukësi Honvéd Alashkert Spartaks Jūrmala | valign=top | Celtic Legia Warsaw Maribor Malmö FF Rosenborg FH | valign=top | Dundalk Vardar Zrinjski Mostar Linfield Víkingur Gøta IFK Mariehamn | |
The first legs were played on 11, 12 and 14 July, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 July 2017.
|}
APOEL won 2–0 on aggregate.----Ludogorets Razgrad won 5–3 on aggregate.----Qarabağ won 6–0 on aggregate.----Partizan won 2–0 on aggregate.----Red Bull Salzburg won 6–0 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Sheriff Tiraspol won on away goals.----Astana won 2–1 on aggregate.----BATE Borisov won 4–2 on aggregate.----Copenhagen won 4–3 on aggregate.----Hapoel Be'er Sheva won 5–3 on aggregate.----Rijeka won 7–1 on aggregate.----Vardar won 4–2 on aggregate.----Maribor won 3–2 on aggregate.----Rosenborg won 3–2 on aggregate.----FH won 3–1 on aggregate.----Celtic won 6–0 on aggregate.----Legia Warsaw won 9–0 on aggregate.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 14 July 2017, 12:00 CEST.[6] Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
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 2017–18 UEFA Europa League play-off round.A total of 30 teams played in the third qualifying round:
Since the draw for the third qualifying round took place before the results of the previous round were known, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie would advance to this round, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its defeated opponent.
| Champions Route | League Route | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | Group 2 | |||||||||||
| width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | width=16% | Seeded | width=16% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | Celtic Copenhagen BATE Borisov Legia Warsaw Maribor | valign=top | Vardar Astana Rosenborg Slavia Prague FH | valign=top | Olympiacos Red Bull Salzburg Ludogorets Razgrad APOEL Qarabağ | valign=top | Partizan Rijeka Sheriff Tiraspol Hapoel Be'er Sheva Viitorul Constanța | valign=top | Dynamo Kyiv Ajax Viktoria Plzeň CSKA Moscow Club Brugge | valign=top | FCSB Young Boys Nice İstanbul Başakşehir AEK Athens | |
The first legs were played on 25 and 26 July, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 August 2017.
|+Champions Route|}|+League Route|}
2–2 on aggregate; Slavia Prague won on away goals.----Astana won 3–2 on aggregate.----Maribor won 2–0 on aggregate.----Copenhagen won 4–2 on aggregate.----Celtic won 1–0 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate; Hapoel Be'er Sheva won on away goals.----APOEL won 4–1 on aggregate.----1–1 on aggregate; Rijeka won on away goals.----Qarabağ won 2–1 on aggregate.----Olympiacos won 5–3 on aggregate.----FCSB won 6–3 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate; Nice won on away goals.----3–3 on aggregate; Young Boys won on away goals.----CSKA Moscow won 3–0 on aggregate.----İstanbul Başakşehir won 5–3 on aggregate.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2017, 12:00 CEST.[7] Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
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 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage.
A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round:
| Champions Route | League Route | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=25% | Seeded | width=25% | Unseeded | width=25% | Seeded | width=25% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | Olympiacos Celtic Copenhagen APOEL Maribor | valign=top | Qarabağ Astana Rijeka Hapoel Be'er Sheva Slavia Prague | valign=top | Sevilla Napoli Liverpool CSKA Moscow Sporting CP | valign=top | FCSB Young Boys Nice 1899 Hoffenheim İstanbul Başakşehir | |
The first legs were played on 15 and 16 August, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 August 2017.
|+Champions Route|}|+League Route|}
2–2 on aggregate; Qarabağ won on away goals.----APOEL won 2–0 on aggregate.----Olympiacos won 3–1 on aggregate.----Celtic won 8–4 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Maribor won on away goals.----Sevilla won 4–3 on aggregate.----CSKA Moscow won 3–0 on aggregate.----Napoli won 4–0 on aggregate.----Liverpool won 6–3 on aggregate.----Sporting CP won 5–1 on aggregate.
There were 246 goals scored in 94 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of goals per match.[8]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Sinclair | Celtic | 5 | 515 |
| Patrick Twumasi | Astana | 5 | 540 | |
| 3 | Marcos Tavares | Maribor | 4 | 388 |
| Andrija Pavlović | Copenhagen | 4 | 434 | |
| Dino Ndlovu | Qarabağ | 4 | 519 | |
| Anthony Nwakaeme | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 4 | 540 | |
| 7 | Uroš Nenadović | Alashkert | 3 | 257 |
| Eljero Elia | İstanbul Başakşehir | 3 | 339 | |
| Scott Quigley | The New Saints | 3 | 345 | |
| Wanderson | Ludogorets Razgrad | 3 | 350 | |
| Boban Nikolov | Vardar | 3 | 358 | |
| Mario Gavranović | Rijeka | 3 | 448 | |
| Igor de Camargo | APOEL | 3 | 544 |
Source:[9]