The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
tournament organised by
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
.
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
were the title holders, but were eliminated by
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
in the
quarter-finals
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
.
The
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
was played between
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and Atlético Madrid at the
Stadio San Siro in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, Italy, with Real defeating Atlético 5–3 on penalties (1–1 after extra time) to win a record-extending eleventh European Cup/Champions League title. It was the second time in the tournament's history that both finalists were from the same city, after the same clubs faced each other in the
2014 final.
As the winners of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid qualified as the UEFA representative for the
2016 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association footbal ...
in Japan (their
third Club World Cup appearance), and also earned the right to play against the winners of the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League,
Sevilla
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville ...
, in the
2016 UEFA Super Cup. Madrid won both competitions.
Format changes
The UEFA Executive Committee held in May 2013 approved the following changes to the UEFA Champions League starting from the 2015–16 season (for the three-year cycle until the 2017–18 season):
*The winners of the previous season's
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
will qualify for the UEFA Champions League. They will enter at least the play-off round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used.
*The previous limit of a maximum of four teams per association will be increased to five, meaning that if the Champions League title holders or the Europa League title holders are from the top three ranked associations (but not both from the same one) and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will not be prevented from participating in the tournament. However, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will be moved to the Europa League.
Association team allocation
A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 54
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
member associations participated in the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League (the exception being
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
, which does not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the
UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
*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
2014–15 UEFA Champions League
The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions Lea ...
and
2014–15 UEFA Europa League
The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2015 UEFA Eur ...
were each given an additional entry if they would not qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league. Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the UEFA Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders were from the same top three ranked association and finished outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association would be moved to the Europa League. For this season:
**The winners of the
2014–15 UEFA Champions League
The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions Lea ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was not necessary.
**The winners of the
2014–15 UEFA Europa League
The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2015 UEFA Eur ...
,
Sevilla
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville ...
, did not qualify through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders was necessary.
Association ranking
For the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2014
UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
* – Additional berth for Europa League title holders
Distribution
In the default access list, the Champions League title holders enter the group stage.
However, since
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
already qualified for the group stage (as the champions of the
2014–15 La Liga), the Champions League title holders berth in the group stage is given to the Europa League title holders,
Sevilla
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville ...
. and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:
*The third-placed teams of associations 4 (Italy) and 5 (Portugal) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round.
Teams
League positions of the previous season qualified via league position shown in parentheses. Sevilla qualified as Europa League title holders. (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders).
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at UEFA headquarters in
Nyon
Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, unless stated otherwise).
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2015
UEFA club coefficients,
and then drawn into
two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round
The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 June 2015.
The first legs were played on 30 June and 1 July, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2015.
Lincoln Red Imps became the first Gibraltar team to win a tie in a UEFA competition, two years after Gibraltar's teams were first admitted entry.
Second qualifying round
The first legs were played on 14 and 15 July, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 July 2015.
Third qualifying round
The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015.
The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2015.
Play-off round
The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015.
The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2015.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
on 27 August 2015.
The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles (introduced starting this season):
*Pot 1 contained the title holders and the champions of the top seven associations based on their 2014
UEFA country coefficients.
As the title holders (
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
) were one of the champions of the top seven associations, the champions of the association ranked eighth (Netherlands'
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...
) were also seeded into Pot 1 (regulations Article 13.05).
*Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2015
UEFA club coefficients.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a
round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the
round of 16
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, while the third-placed teams entered the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League round of 32. The matchdays were 15–16 September, 29–30 September, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, and 8–9 December 2015.
The youth teams of the clubs that qualified for the group stage also played in the
2015–16 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they competed in the
UEFA Champions League Path (with the UEFA Youth League expanded to 64 teams, the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations compete in a separate
Domestic Champions Path until the play-offs).
A total of 17 national associations were represented in the group stage.
Astana
Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
,
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...
and
Gent made their debut appearances in the group stage. Astana were the first team from Kazakhstan to play in the Champions League group stage. With the maximum teams from the same association in the group stage increased from four to five, Spain became the first association to have five teams in the Champions League group stage. Since all three qualifying teams from the highest ranked leagues won their ties in the league route playoff round, the three countries of Spain, England and Germany had 13 of the 32 clubs in the group stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout phase
In the
knockout phase
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, teams played against each other over
two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
*In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
*In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.
Bracket
Round of 16
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 December 2015.
The first legs were played on 16, 17, 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 8, 9, 15 and 16 March 2016.
Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2016.
The first legs were played on 5 and 6 April, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 April 2016.
Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 April 2016.
The first legs were played on 26 and 27 April, and the second legs were played on 3 and 4 May 2016.
Final
Statistics
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Top goalscorers
Squad of the Season
The UEFA Technical Study Group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament.
See also
*
2015–16 UEFA Europa League
*
2015–16 UEFA Youth League
*
2016 UEFA Super Cup
*
2016 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association footbal ...
*
2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League
References
External links
2015–16 UEFA Champions League
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League seasons
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