# 2008–09 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds

The qualifying rounds for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League began on 15 July 2008. In total, there were three qualifying rounds which provided 16 clubs to join the group stages.
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA.

## Teams

* Key to colours
* Qualify for the group stage
* Eliminated in the Third qualifying round; Advanced to the UEFA Cup first round
Third qualifying round :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Liverpool | 118.996 |
| Barcelona | 117.837 |
| Arsenal | 110.996 |
| Schalke 04 | 67.078 |
| Juventus | 66.934 |
| Marseille | 63.380 |
| Steaua București | 59.398 |
| Olympiacos | 51.525 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 49.932 |
| Fiorentina | 40.934 |
| Spartak Moscow | 40.437 |
| Atlético Madrid | 36.837 |
| Levski Sofia | 32.644 |
| Slavia Prague | 31.496 |
| Galatasaray | 30.469 |
| Vitória de Guimarães | 18.176 |
| Standard Liège | 14.810 |
| Twente | 14.610 |
Second qualifying round :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Rangers | 66.013 |
| Panathinaikos | 52.525 |
| Basel | 51.993 |
| Fenerbahçe | 51.469 |
| Anderlecht | 41.810 |
| Sparta Prague | 36.496 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 34.932 |
| Partizan | 25.527 |
| Wisła Kraków | 15.973 |
| AaB | 12.748 |
| Brann | 12.400 |
| Rapid Wien | 10.840 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 5.197 |
| MTK Budapest | 4.960 |
First qualifying round :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 17.836 |
| Artmedia Petržalka | 14.070 |
| Domžale | 5.272 |
| IFK Göteborg | 4.518 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 4.327 |
| Tampere United | 4.176 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 3.925 |
| Ventspils | 3.915 |
| Rabotnicki | 3.090 |
| Modriča | 2.805 |
| Kaunas | 2.640 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 2.475 |
| Drogheda United | 2.420 |
| Valur | 1.980 |
| BATE Borisov | 1.760 |
| Levadia Tallinn | 1.430 |
| Inter Baku | 1.265 |
| Dinamo Tirana | 1.210 |
| Pyunik | 1.210 |
| Aktobe | 0.852 |
| Linfield | 0.770 |
| Llanelli | 0.770 |
| NSÍ | 0.605 |
| F91 Dudelange | 0.495 |
| Valletta | 0.275 |
| FC Santa Coloma | 0.165 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 0.165 |
| Murata | 0.082 |

## First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round took place on 1 July 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland.

### Seeding

In the draw for the first qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The lower pot contained the 14 teams from associations 40–53: none of these teams had a team ranking.
| Seeded | Seeded | Unseeded | Unseeded |
| Dinamo Zagreb Artmedia Petržalka Domžale IFK Göteborg Anorthosis Famagusta Tampere United Dinamo Tbilisi | Ventspils Rabotnicki Modriča Kaunas Sheriff Tiraspol Drogheda United Valur | BATE Borisov Levadia Tallinn Inter Baku Dinamo Tirana Pyunik Aktobe Linfield | Llanelli NSÍ F91 Dudelange Valletta FC Santa Coloma Budućnost Podgorica Murata |

### Summary

The first legs were held on 15 and 16 July, while the second legs were played on 22 and 23 July 2008.
Two of the 14 ties were won by the team with the lower UEFA coefficient: Inter Baku (Azerbaijan, country rank 42) beat Rabotnicki (Macedonia, 36); and BATE Borisov (Belarus, 40) beat Valur (Iceland, 37). Of the 28 teams in the first qualifying round, two survived as far as the group stage: Anorthosis Famagusta and BATE Borisov.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Linfield | 1–3 | Dinamo Zagreb | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Valletta | 0–3 | Artmedia Petržalka | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 3–1 | NSÍ | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| FC Santa Coloma | 2–7 | Kaunas | 1–4 | 1–3 |
| Murata | 0–9 | IFK Göteborg | 0–5 | 0–4 |
| Llanelli | 1–4 | Ventspils | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 3–0 | Pyunik | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Inter Baku | 1–1 (a) | Rabotnicki | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Tampere United | 3–2 | Budućnost Podgorica | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| F91 Dudelange | 0–3 | Domžale | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Dinamo Tirana | 1–4 | Modriča | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Aktobe | 1–4 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Drogheda United | 3–1 | Levadia Tallinn | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| BATE Borisov | 3–0 | Valur | 2–0 | 1–0 |

### Matches

Dinamo Zagreb won 3–1 on aggregate.
Artmedia Petržalka won 3–0 on aggregate.
Dinamo Tbilisi won 3–1 on aggregate.
Kaunas won 7–2 on aggregate.
IFK Göteborg won 9–0 on aggregate.
Ventspils won 4–1 on aggregate.
Anorthosis Famagusta won 3–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; Inter Baku won on away goals.
Tampere United won 3–2 on aggregate.
Domžale won 3–0 on aggregate.
Modriča won 4–1 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 4–1 on aggregate.
Drogheda United won 3–1 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 3–0 on aggregate.

## Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round took place on 1 July 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland, immediately after the draw for the first qualifying round.

### Seeding

In the draw for the second qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients.
| Seeded | Seeded | Unseeded | Unseeded |
| Rangers Panathinaikos Basel Fenerbahçe Anderlecht Sparta Prague Dynamo Kyiv | Partizan Dinamo Zagreb Wisła Kraków Artmedia Petržalka AaB Brann Rapid Wien | Domžale Beitar Jerusalem MTK Budapest IFK Göteborg Anorthosis Famagusta Tampere United Dinamo Tbilisi | Ventspils Inter Baku Modriča Kaunas Sheriff Tiraspol Drogheda United BATE Borisov |

#### Notes

* $^†$ Winners of the previous qualifying round whose identity was not known at the time of the draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the previous qualifying round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their defeated opponent in the draw for this round.

### Summary

The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, while the second legs were played on 5 and 6 August 2008.
Three of the 14 ties were won by the team with the lower UEFA coefficient: Kaunas (unranked, coefficient 2.640) beat Rangers (ranked 24, coefficient 66.013); BATE Borisov (unranked, 1.760) beat Anderlecht (56, 41.810); and Anorthosis Famagusta (ranked 193) beat Rapid Wien (ranked 166). Of the 28 teams in the second qualifying round, Panathinaikos were the only one to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Rangers | 1–2 | Kaunas | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Brann | 2–2 (a) | Ventspils | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Inter Baku | 1–3 | Partizan | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Tampere United | 3–7 | Artmedia Petržalka | 1–3 | 2–4 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 4–3 | Rapid Wien | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Domžale | 2–6 | Dinamo Zagreb | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| Panathinaikos | 3–0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| IFK Göteborg | 3–5 | Basel | 1–1 | 2–4 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 0–3 | Sparta Prague | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Drogheda United | 3–4 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Anderlecht | 3–4 | BATE Borisov | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 2–6 | Wisła Kraków | 2–1 | 0–5 |
| Fenerbahçe | 7–0 | MTK Budapest | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| AaB | 7–1 | Modriča | 5–0 | 2–1 |

### Matches

Kaunas won 2–1 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate; Brann won on away goals.
Partizan won 3–1 on aggregate.
Artmedia Petržalka won 7–3 on aggregate.
Anorthosis Famagusta won 4–3 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 6–2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 3–0 on aggregate.
Basel won 5–3 on aggregate.
Sparta Prague won 3–0 on aggregate.
Dynamo Kyiv won 4–3 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 4–3 on aggregate.
Wisła Kraków won 6–2 on aggregate.
Fenerbahçe won 7–0 on aggregate.
AaB won 7–1 on aggregate.

## Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round took place on 1 August 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland.

### Seeding

In the draw for the third qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The higher pot contained teams ranked 61 or higher. However, the draw was held before the second qualifying round was played, which meant that Kaunas and BATE Borisov effectively moved into the higher pot, replacing the teams they eliminated.
| Seeded | Seeded | Unseeded | Unseeded |
| Liverpool Barcelona Arsenal Schalke 04 Juventus Kaunas Marseille Steaua București | Panathinaikos Basel Olympiacos Fenerbahçe Shakhtar Donetsk BATE Borisov Fiorentina Spartak Moscow | Atlético Madrid Sparta Prague Dynamo Kyiv Levski Sofia Slavia Prague Galatasaray Partizan Vitória de Guimarães | Dinamo Zagreb Wisła Kraków Standard Liège Twente Artmedia Petržalka AaB Brann Anorthosis Famagusta |

#### Notes

* $^†$ Winners of the previous qualifying round whose identity was not known at the time of the draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the previous qualifying round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their defeated opponent in the draw for this round.

### Summary

The first legs were played on 12 and 13 August, while the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August. The winners of each tie advanced to the group stage, while the losers were seeded into the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round.
Four of the 16 ties were won by the team with the lower UEFA coefficient: Anorthosis Famagusta (ranked 193) beat Olympiacos (ranked 44); BATE Borisov (unranked, coefficient 1.760) beat Levski Sofia (ranked 80, coefficient 32.644); Atlético Madrid (ranked 67) beat Schalke 04 (ranked 22) and Dynamo Kyiv (ranked 74) beat Spartak Moscow (ranked 61).
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 3–1 | Olympiacos | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Vitória de Guimarães | 1–2 | Basel | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 5–1 | Dinamo Zagreb | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Schalke 04 | 1–4 | Atlético Madrid | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| AaB | 4–0 | Kaunas | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Barcelona | 4–1 | Wisła Kraków | 4–0 | 0–1 |
| Levski Sofia | 1–2 | BATE Borisov | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Standard Liège | 0–1 | Liverpool | 0–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Partizan | 3–4 | Fenerbahçe | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Twente | 0–6 | Arsenal | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| Spartak Moscow | 2–8 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1–4 | 1–4 |
| Juventus | 5–1 | Artmedia Petržalka | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Brann | 1–3 | Marseille | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Fiorentina | 2–0 | Slavia Prague | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Galatasaray | 2–3 | Steaua București | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Sparta Prague | 1–3 | Panathinaikos | 1–2 | 0–1 |
* ↑ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

### Matches

Anorthosis Famagusta won 3–1 on aggregate.
Basel won 2–1 on aggregate.
Shakhtar Donetsk won 5–1 on aggregate.
Atlético Madrid won 4–1 on aggregate.
AaB won 4–0 on aggregate.
Barcelona won 4–1 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 2–1 on aggregate.
Liverpool won 1–0 on aggregate.
Fenerbahçe won 4–3 on aggregate.
Arsenal won 6–0 on aggregate.
Dynamo Kyiv won 8–2 on aggregate.
Juventus won 5–1 on aggregate.
Marseille won 3–1 on aggregate.
Fiorentina won 2–0 on aggregate.
Steaua București won 3–2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 3–1 on aggregate.