2014–15 UEFA Champions League
 The Olympiastadion in Berlin will host the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 July – 27 August 2014 (qualifying) 16 September 2014 – 6 June 2015 (competition proper) |
| Teams | 32 (group stage) 77 (total) (from 53 associations) |
The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League is the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final will be played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.[1] Real Madrid are the title holders.
This will be the first season where clubs must comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in order to participate.[2] Moreover, this season was the first where a club from Gibraltar competed in the tournament, after the Gibraltar Football Association was accepted as the 54th UEFA member at the UEFA Congress in May 2013.[3] They were granted one spot in the Champions League,[4] which was taken by Lincoln Red Imps, the champions of the 2013–14 Gibraltar Premier Division.[5]
On 17 July 2014, a 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.[6] Another ruling centered in regional instability was also made where Israeli teams were prohibited from hosting any UEFA competitions due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[7] The rules regarding suspensions due to yellow card accumulation were also changed such that all bookings expire on completion of the quarter-finals and are not carried forward to the semi-finals.[8]
Association team allocation
A total of 77 teams from 53 of the 54 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which do not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[9]
- Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify.
- Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify.
- Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
- Associations 16–54 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify.
The winners of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League are given an additional entry as title holders if they do not qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league (because of the restriction that no association can have more than four teams playing in the Champions League, if the title holders are from the top three associations and finish outside the top four in their domestic league, the title holders' entry comes at the expense of the fourth-placed team of their association). However, this additional entry is not necessary for this season since the title holders qualified for the tournament through their domestic league.
Association ranking
For the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2013 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2008–09 to 2012–13.[10][11]
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Distribution
Since the title holders Real Madrid qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league (as the third-placed team of the 2013–14 La Liga), the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:[12][13][14]
- The champions of association 13 (Switzerland) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
- The champions of association 16 (Austria) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
- The champions of associations 47 (Northern Ireland) and 48 (Wales) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round (6 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (34 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round | Champions (20 teams) |
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| Non-champions (10 teams) |
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| Play-off round | Champions (10 teams) |
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| Non-champions (10 teams) |
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| Group stage (32 teams) |
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| Knockout phase (16 teams) |
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Teams
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Title holders).[15][16]
- Notes
- ^ Serbia (SRB): Red Star Belgrade, the champions of the 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga, would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round, but were banned by UEFA for breaching UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.[17] As a result, the berth was given to Partizan, the runners-up of the league.
- ^ Turkey (TUR): Fenerbahçe, the champions of the 2013–14 Süper Lig, would have qualified for the Champions League group stage, but was banned by UEFA because of the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal.[18][19] As a result, Galatasaray, the runners-up of the league, entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round, and the third qualifying round berth was given to Beşiktaş, the third-placed team of the league.
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[12][20]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 23 June 2014 | 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 | 29–30 July 2014 | 5–6 August 2014 | |
| Play-off | Play-off round | 8 August 2014 | 19–20 August 2014 | 26–27 August 2014 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2014 (Monaco) |
16–17 September 2014 | |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September–1 October 2014 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2014 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2014 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2014 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 9–10 December 2014 | |||
| Knockout phase | Round of 16 | 15 December 2014 | 17–18 & 24–25 February 2015 | 10–11 & 17–18 March 2015 |
| Quarter-finals | 20 March 2015 | 14–15 April 2015 | 21–22 April 2015 | |
| Semi-finals | 24 April 2015 | 5–6 May 2015 | 12–13 May 2015 | |
| Final | 6 June 2015 at Olympiastadion, Berlin | |||
The final date of 6 June could cause problems with teams should they have South American international players. The South American continental tournament 2015 Copa América begins on 11 June, leaving only five days for players to travel, train and play in the quadrennial international tournament.[21]
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams will be divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[22][23][24] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round
The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 23 June 2014.[25] 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 
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3–6 |  HB
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1–1 | 2–5 |
La Fiorita 
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0–8 |  Levadia Tallinn
|
0–1 | 0–7 |
Second qualifying round
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 
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0–4 |  Aktobe
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0–1 | 0–3 |
Zrinjski Mostar 
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0–2 |  Maribor
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0–0 | 0–2 |
Sheriff Tiraspol 
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5–0 |  Sutjeska Nikšić
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2–0 | 3–0 |
Sparta Prague 
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8–1 | Levadia Tallinn
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7–0 | 1–1 |
Malmö FF 
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1–0 |  Ventspils
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0–0 | 1–0 |
Slovan Bratislava 
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3–0 |  The New Saints
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1–0 | 2–0 |
KR 
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0–5[B] |  Celtic
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0–1 | 0–4 |
Cliftonville 
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0–2 |  Debrecen
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0–0 | 0–2 |
Partizan 
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6–1 | HB
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3–0 | 3–1 |
Legia Warsaw 
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6–1 |  St Patrick's Athletic
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1–1 | 5–0 |
Rabotnički 
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1–2 |  HJK
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0–0 | 1–2 |
Dinamo Zagreb 
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4–0 |  Žalgiris Vilnius
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2–0 | 2–0 |
Ludogorets Razgrad 
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5–1 |  F91 Dudelange
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4–0 | 1–1 |
Valletta 
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0–5 |  Qarabağ
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0–1 | 0–4 |
Strømsgodset 
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0–3 |  Steaua București
|
0–1 | 0–2 |
- Notes
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw, due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[26]
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Third qualifying round
The third qualifying round will be split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections will enter the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2014.[27] Before the draw, it was decided based on political tensions between the countries that it would be impossible that Russian and Ukrainian teams would play each other.[28] The first legs will be played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs will be played on 5 and 6 August 2014.
Play-off round
The play-off round will be split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections will enter the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage.
A total of 20 teams play in the play-off round:
Champions Route
The ten Champions Route winners of the third qualifying round.
League Route
Five teams which enter in this round, and the five League Route winners of the third qualifying round.
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Group stage
A total of 32 teams play in the group stage: 22 teams which enter in this stage, and the 10 winners of the play-off round (5 from the Champions Route, 5 from the League Route).
The 32 teams will be allocated into four pots based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[22][23][24] with the title holders being placed in Pot 1 automatically. They will be drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
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In each group, teams will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams will enter the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Teams that qualify for the group stage will also participate in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League, a competition available to players aged 19 or under.
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams will play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final which will be played at a neutral venue. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
- In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners will be seeded, and the eight group runners-up will be unseeded. The seeded teams will be drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there will be no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other.
See also
References
- ^ "Executive Committee decides hosts for 2015 finals". UEFA.org. 23 May 2013.
- ^ "EURO reflected key football values". UEFA.org. 24 May 2013.
- ^ "Congress decisions bring Gibraltar on board". UEFA.org. 24 May 2013.
- ^ "Strategic talks in Dubrovnik". UEFA.org. 20 September 2013.
- ^ "Lincoln win 12th straight Gibraltarian title". UEFA.com. 14 April 2014.
- ^ "Ukrainian, Russian clubs to be kept apart by UEFA in Euro competitions". Fox Sports.
- ^ "UEFA bars Israeli clubs from hosting matches while conflict continues". Fox Sports.
- ^ "Emergency Panel decisions". UEFA.org. 17 July 2014.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2014/15 Season" (PDF). UEFA.com. 1 May 2014.
- ^ "Country coefficients 2012/13". UEFA.com.
- ^ "UEFA Country Ranking 2013". Bert Kassies.
- ^ a b "2014/15 calendar and access list". UEFA.com.
- ^ "Access list 2014/2015". Bert Kassies.
- ^ "Madrid's win is Basel's gain". UEFA.com. 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Madrid and Lincoln bookend 2014/15 entries". UEFA.com. 18 June 2014.
- ^ "Qualification for European Cup Football 2014/2015". Bert Kassies.
- ^ "Crvena zvezda excluded from UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. 6 June 2014.
- ^ "Decisions on Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Steaua". UEFA.com. 25 June 2013.
- ^ "Fenerbahce: Turkish side lose match-fixing ban appeal". BBC Sport. 28 August 2013.
- ^ "UEFA European Football Calendar 2014/2015". Bert Kassies.
- ^ Pérez Serrano, Ángel (28 July 2014). "La Copa América, pesadilla del Barça este año" (in Spanish). mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Club coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com.
- ^ a b "UEFA Team Ranking 2014". Bert Kassies.
- ^ a b "Seeding in the Champions League 2014/2015". Bert Kassies.
- ^ "First 2014/15 missions for Celtic and Steaua". UEFA.com. 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Maccabi Tel Aviv's Champions League qualifier changed due to rocket fire". The Jerusalem Post. 10 July 2014.
- ^ "Draw takes Zenit, København to new destinations". UEFA.com. 18 July 2014.
- ^ http://www.uefa.org/about-uefa/news/newsid=2124836.html
External links
- UEFA Champions League (official website)