The qualifying rounds for the 2008âÂÂ09 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 (), as listed by UEFA.
<section begin=Q1 /> The draw for the first qualifying round took place on 1 July 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland.<section end=Q1 />
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 40âÂÂ53: none of these teams had a team ranking.
<section begin=Q1 /> 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.
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Dinamo Zagreb won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Artmedia Petrà ¾alka won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Dinamo Tbilisi won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Kaunas won 7âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
IFK Göteborg won 9âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Ventspils won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Anorthosis Famagusta won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
1âÂÂ1 on aggregate; Inter Baku won on away goals.
Tampere United won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Domà ¾ale won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
ModriÃÂa Maxima won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Drogheda United won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
<section begin=Q2 /> 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.<section end=Q2 />
In the draw for the second qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients.
<section begin=Q2 /> 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.
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Kaunas won 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
2âÂÂ2 on aggregate; Brann won on away goals.
Partizan won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Artmedia Petrà ¾alka won 7âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Anorthosis Famagusta won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Dinamo Zagreb won 6âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Basel won 5âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Sparta Prague won 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Dynamo Kyiv won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Wisà Âa Kraków won 6âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Fenerbahçe won 7âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
AaB won 7âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
<section begin=Q3 /> The draw for the third qualifying round took place on 1 August 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland.<section end=Q3 />
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.
<section begin=Q3 /> 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 2008âÂÂ09 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).
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Anorthosis Famagusta won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Basel won 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Shakhtar Donetsk won 5âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Atlético Madrid won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
AaB won 4âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Barcelona won 4âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
BATE Borisov won 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Liverpool won 1âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Fenerbahçe won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Arsenal won 6âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Dynamo Kyiv won 8âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Juventus won 5âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Marseille won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Fiorentina won 2âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Steaua BucureÃÂti won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate.