Women's Champions League entries confirmed
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Article summary
A record 59 clubs from 47 countries have entered in 2016/17, including the first ever team from Kosovo to play in UEFA competition, among 36 sides in the 24 June qualifying round draw.
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The first team from Kosovo to be involved in any UEFA competition are among a record 59 sides from 47 associations entered in the 2016/17 UEFA Women's Champions League.
Having been admitted to UEFA in May, the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK)'s first representative club will be WFC Hajvalia. Meanwhile, the increased entry is also down to the fact 12 nations, up from eight, now receive two places in the competition. Of the 59-team field, 36 will feature in the qualifying round draw on 24 June, with the other 23.
Road to Cardiff
• Holders Lyon, the top two clubs from the 11 highest-ranked countries and the champions of the 12th-ranked nation (Norway) in accordance with the association coefficient rankingsreceive byes to the round of 32, as per the access list.
• The other 36 entrants (Norwegian runners-up Avaldnses and the champions of the remaining 35 associations) must compete in the qualifying round from 23 to 28 August for nine spots alongside those 23 sides already in the knockout phase.
• For the qualifying round draw at 13.30CET on 24 June in Nyon, the qualifying round hopefuls are ranked according to their coefficient, and in the draw one team from each of the four established seeding positions will be allocated to one of the nine qualifying groups.
• Nine clubs have also been designated as hosts: Apollon, Twente, PK-35 Vantaa, SFK 2000 Sarajevo, Medyk Konin, Osijek, Pomurje, Wexford Youths and Cardiff Met. They will be drawn first from a separate pot and placed in their group according to their seeding position. The selection of Cardiff Met means the competition will both begin and end in the Welsh capital as the final is on 1 June 2017 at Cardiff City Stadium.
• The nine qualifying group winners proceed to the 1 September draw for the round of 32, with the two-legged knockout phase commencing in October.
The contenders
• Debutants in round of 32: Eskilstuna United, Manchester City, Sturm Graz.
• Debutants in qualifying round: Avaldsnes, Ramat HaSharon, Newry City, Breznica Pljevija, Criuleni, Hajvalia (the first Kosovan entrants).
• Faroese champions KÍ Klaksvík maintain their unique record of entering all 16 seasons of UEFA women's competition.
• Holders Lyon and last term's runners-up Wolfsburg are the only past champions in contention this season. Paris Saint-Germain, Fortuna Hjørring and Zvezda-2005 are past finalists.
• Scotland have two entries for the first time.
Tournament calendar
Qualifying round draw: 13.30CET, 24 June
Qualifying round: 23–28 August
Round of 32 draw: 1 September
Round of 32: 5/6 & 12/13 October
Round of 16 draw: 17 October
Round of 16: 9/10 November & 16/17 November
Quarter-final & Semi-final draw: 25 November
Quarter-finals: 22/23 & 29/30 March
Semi-finals: 22/23 & 29/30 April
Final (Cardiff City Stadium): 1 June
Full entry list with coefficients
Bye to round of 32
1 Lyon (FRA, holders) 114.410
2 Wolfsburg (GER) 116.535
3 FC Rosengård (SWE) 85.615
4 Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 74.410
5 Fortuna Hjørring (DEN) 51.705
6 Brøndby (DEN) 50.705
7 Barcelona (ESP) 49.695
8 Rossiyanka (RUS) 44.365
9 Glasgow City (SCO) 39.900
10 Sparta Praha (CZE) 36.550
11 Bayern München (GER) 34.535
12 Zvezda-2005 (RUS) 32.365
13 Brescia (ITA) 27.705
14 Verona (ITA) 25.705
15 Slavia Praha (CZE) 25.550
16 Chelsea (ENG) 24.830
17 Eskilstuna United (SWE) 21.615
18 LSK Kvinner (NOR) 21.405
19 St. Pölten (AUT) 18.065
20 Manchester City (ENG) 16.830
21 Athletic Club (ESP) 13.695
22 Sturm Graz (AUT) 10.065
23 Hibernian (SCO) 9.900
Qualifying round (*group hosts): draw details tbc
Seeding position 1
1 FC Zürich (SUI) 34.240
2 Apollon (CYP)* 23.940
3 Standard Liège (BEL) 22.610
4 FC Twente (NED)* 21.600
5 Olimpia Cluj (ROU) 21.280
6 ŽFK Spartak (SRB) 19.950
7 BIIK-Kazygurt (KAZ) 17.270
8 PK-35 Vantaa (FIN)* 16.290
9 SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH)* 14.630
Seeding position 2
10 Gintra Universitetas (LTU) 13.965
11 Konak Belediyespor (TUR) 13.795
12 Medyk Konin (POL)* 13.445
13 Pomurje (SVN)* 11.970
14 Osijek (CRO)* 11.970
15 WFC Kharkiv (UKR) 11.300
16 PAOK (GRE) 10.305
17 Avaldsnes (NOR) 9.405
18 NSA Sofia (BUL) 8.645
Seeding position 3
19 Pärnu (EST) 7.980
20 Minsk (BLR) 7.800
21 Ferencváros (HUN) 6.455
22 Slovak Bratislava (SVK) 5.815
23 Wexford Youths (IRL)* 5.630
24 CF Benfica (POR) 5.465
25 Breidablik (IRL) 5.445
26 KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) 3.990
27 Ramat HaSharon (ISR) 2.640
Seeding position 4
28 KS Vllaznia (ALB) 1.995
29 Cardiff Met (WAL)* 1.660
30 Rīgas FS (LVA) 1.330
31 Dragon 2014 (MKD) 0.990
32 Newry City (NIR) 0.990
33 Hibernians (MLT) 0.665
34 Breznica Pljevija (MNE) 0.330
35 Criuleni (MDA) 0.000
36 Hajvalia (KOS) 0.000