2012–13 UEFA Champions League qualifying

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

2012–13 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the opening phase of the tournament, deciding 10 of the 32 clubs that would reach the group stage. It ran before the main competition and involved 54 teams split into two routes: the Champions Route (40 teams) and the League Route (14 teams).

Format and rounds
- The qualifying phase had rounds from the first to the third, plus a play‑off round. The 10 play‑off winners joined 22 automatic qualifiers in the group stage.
- Each tie was played over two legs, with each team hosting one leg. The team with the higher aggregate score advanced.
- If the aggregate score was tied, the away goals rule decided who progressed. If still level, 30 minutes of extra time were played. The away goals rule would apply again after extra time; if no goals were scored, the tie went to penalties.
- Draws used club coefficients to seed teams into seeded and unseeded pots. Seeded teams were paired with unseeded teams, and the order of the legs was drawn randomly.
- In some rounds, draws happened before earlier results were known, so seeding was based on the assumption that higher-ranked teams would advance.

Groups and progression
- Before some draws, UEFA could form “groups” for convenience and to prevent matches between teams from the same association. These groups were not real tournament groupings.
- A total of 54 teams entered the qualifying phase and play-off round (40 in the Champions Route, 14 in the League Route).
- The 10 play‑off winners (5 from each route) qualified for the group stage, joining 22 automatic qualifiers. Teams that lost in the third qualifying round or in the play‑off round moved to the Europa League.

Highlights
- Notable results included F91 Dudelange winning 11–0 on aggregate and Valletta 9–0.
- Linfield progressed on penalties after a 0–0 aggregate score.
- The phase also featured ties involving big clubs such as Dynamo Kyiv, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Basel, and Fenerbahçe, among others.

Statistics
- There were 226 goals scored in 88 qualifying and play‑off matches, averaging 2.57 goals per game.