UEFA Champions League Qualifying Phases

Qualifying Phases Explained
Five 'Groups' are involved in finally establishing the 32-team UEFA Champions League. To begin with, the title-holders and the 15 'Group 1' clubs automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
'Group 1' consists of the league champions from the nine top-rated national associations from the UEFA Table of Coefficents, and the runners-up from the six top-rated national associations from the same ranking.

Three other groups are involved in the three-round qualifying process.

• Q1: The First Qualifying Phase will consist of 22 clubs. These clubs, who make up 'Group 4', are the league champions from the national associations ranked from 27th to 48th in the UEFA Table of Coefficients.
• Q2: The Second Qualifying Phase will consist of 28 clubs. The 11 winners from the First Qualifying Phase are joined by 17 clubs from 'Group 3', which comprise the 11 champions from the associations ranked from 16th to 26th in the UEFA Table of Coefficients as well as the six runners-up from associations ranked from 10th to 15th.
• Q3: The clubs who advance from the Third Qualifying Phase will participate in the UEFA Champions League. This 14 clubs who advance from the Second Qualifying Phase are joined by the 18 clubs from 'Group 2'. These 18 clubs are drawn from four sources: firstly, there are the six third-placed clubs from the national associations ranked from 1st to 6th, secondly, there are three fourth-placed clubs from the national associations ranked from 1st to 3rd, thirdly there are three runners-up from the national associations ranked from 7th to 9th and, finally, there are the six champions from the national associations ranked from 10th to 15th in the UEFA Table of Coefficients.

UEFA Champions League
Once the qualifiers from the Third Qualifying Phase are known, the make-up of the 32-club UEFA Champions League is complete. Two group phases are completed before the competition reverts to the traditional knock-out finish! The UEFA Executive Committee has decided that matches in the competition from this stage will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

In UEFA Champions League Group Phase 1, the 32 qualifying clubs are divided into eight groups of four. In league format, each club plays one another both at home and away, meaning six matchdays for the participants.  

At the end of UEFA Champions League Group Phase 1, the eight group winners and runners-up qualify for the UEFA Champions League Group Phase 2. Here, four groups of four clubs exist, and, again, clubs play each other on a home-and-away basis, meaning six further matchdays.

At the culmination of UEFA Champions League Group Phase 2, the four winners and runners-up advance to the Quarter-Finals, when the competition adopts the knock-out format that currently exists. Both the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals will be played over two legs, and at the end of this process, two teams will contest the UEFA Champions League Final.

UEFA Table of Coefficients