The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 30 June and ended on 26 August 2015.
A total of 56 teams competed in the qualifying phase and play-off round to decide 10 of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.
If away goals were also equal, then 30 minutes of extra time was played, divided into two 15-minute halves.
If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.
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 formed "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 were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
[1] Below are the participating teams (with their 2015 UEFA club coefficients),[6] grouped by their starting rounds.
[8][9] The New Saints Levadia Tallinn Pyunik FC Santa Coloma Crusaders
Maribor Maccabi Tel Aviv Lech Poznań Qarabağ Sarajevo Astana Rudar Pljevlja Vardar Hibernians Celtic BATE Borisov Malmö FF
Molde Midtjylland Ventspils Žalgiris Pyunik[†] Stjarnan Lincoln Red Imps[†] Dundalk Steaua București Ludogorets Razgrad Dinamo Zagreb Partizan Videoton Skënderbeu The New Saints[†] Dila Gori Trenčín Crusaders[†] Milsami Orhei Fola Esch The first legs were played on 14 and 15 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 July 2015.
The losing teams in both sections entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
A total of 30 teams played in the third qualifying round:[4] The draw was held on 17 July 2015.
[14][15] Basel Steaua București[†] Celtic[†] Milsami Orhei[†] Astana[†] Lech Poznań[†] Partizan[†] Qarabağ[†]
BATE Borisov[†] Dinamo Zagreb[†] Maccabi Tel Aviv[†] Malmö FF[†] Molde[†] Midtjylland[†] Videoton[†] Shakhtar Donetsk Ajax CSKA Moscow Club Brugge Monaco Young Boys Sparta Prague Fenerbahçe Panathinaikos Rapid Wien The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2015.
The losing teams in both sections entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage.
A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round:[5] The draw was held on 7 August 2015.
BATE Borisov Dinamo Zagreb Maccabi Tel Aviv Partizan Malmö FF Skënderbeu Astana Manchester United Valencia Bayer Leverkusen Shakhtar Donetsk[‡] Sporting CP CSKA Moscow[‡] Lazio Club Brugge Monaco Rapid Wien The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2015.