The qualifying rounds for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League began on 12 July 2005.
In total, there were three qualifying rounds which provided 16 clubs to join the group stage.
The draw for this round was performed on 24 June 2005 in Nyon, Switzerland.
Liverpool Artmedia Bratislava Anorthosis Famagusta Gorica Dinamo Tbilisi Haka
Shelbourne Zrinjski Mostar Skonto Sheriff Tiraspol Kaunas Rabotnicki Dinamo Minsk Sliema Wanderers Pyunik Tirana Levadia Tallinn Glentoran Total Network Solutions F91 Dudelange Neftçi
Kairat Title-holders Liverpool, as well as 23 league champions from countries ranked 27 or lower in the 2004 UEFA ranking, were drawn against each other and played two matches, home and away, with the winners advancing to the second qualifying round.
Though they finished fifth in the Premier League in 2004–05 (at the time, only four teams from an association were allowed to compete in the Champions League), Liverpool were granted a special exemption by UEFA as the holders, whereby they were placed into the first qualification round,[1][2][3] and were drawn against TNS in that round.
The draw for this round was performed on 24 June 2005 in Nyon, Switzerland.
Liverpool[†] Celtic Anderlecht Dynamo Kyiv Lokomotiv Moscow Partizan Maccabi Haifa Steaua București Brøndby Rapid Wien CSKA Sofia Debrecen Trabzonspor Vålerenga Hajduk Split Thun Malmö FF Artmedia Bratislava[†] Anorthosis Famagusta[†] Tirana[†] Dinamo Tbilisi[†] Haka[†] Neftçi[†] Shelbourne[†] F91 Dudelange[†] Rabotnicki[†] Sheriff Tiraspol[†] Kaunas[†] The 12 winners from the first qualifying round, 10 champions from countries ranked 17–26, and six second–placed teams from countries ranked 10–15 were drawn against each other and played two matches, home and away, with the winners advancing to the third qualifying round.
Liverpool[†] Manchester United Internazionale Panathinaikos Artmedia Bratislava[†] Villarreal Sporting CP Monaco Ajax Club Brugge Anderlecht[†] Rangers Thun[†] Werder Bremen Lokomotiv Moscow[†] Rosenborg Slavia Prague Real Betis Basel Wisła Kraków Udinese Partizan[†] Shakhtar Donetsk Everton Malmö FF[†] Steaua București[†] Brøndby[†] Rapid Wien[†] CSKA Sofia[†] Debrecen[†] Anorthosis Famagusta[†] Vålerenga[†] The 14 winners from the second qualifying round, six champions from countries ranked 11–16, three second–placed teams from countries ranked 7–9, six third–placed teams from countries ranked 1–6, and three fourth–placed teams from countries ranked 1–3 were drawn to play 2 matches, home and away, with the winners advancing to the group stage and losers advancing to the first round of the UEFA Cup.