The 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 15th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 7th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The final was played at the Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia, Italy on 26 May 2016, two days before the final of the men's tournament played at San Siro, Milan.
Lyon defeated Wolfsburg 4–3 on penalties (1–1 after extra time) to win their third European title. Frankfurt were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Wolfsburg in the semi-finals.
Association team allocation A total of 56 teams from 47 of the 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League. The ranking based on the UEFA Women's Champions League association coefficient was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–8 each had two teams qualify. All other associations, should they enter, each had one team qualify. The winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League were given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League through their domestic league. Because Frankfurt finished outside the top two league places, this additional entry was necessary, meaning Germany had three teams in the competition this season.
Association ranking For the 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2014 UEFA Women's Champions League association coefficient, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2009–10 to 2013–14.
Spain overtook the Czech Republic in the UEFA coefficient ranking and thus assured themselves a second entry.
RankAssociationCoeff.Teams1 Germany91.6662+12 France78.50023 Sweden61.5004 England58.5005 Russia47.0006 Italy39.5007 Spain35.0008 Denmark35.0009 Czech Republic34.000110 Austria31.50011 Norway30.00012 Scotland22.00013 Switzerland20.00014 Belgium19.00015 Kazakhstan19.00016 Poland18.50017 Netherlands18.00018 Iceland17.000RankAssociationCoeff.Teams19 Cyprus16.000120 Serbia15.00021 Finland15.00022 Hungary14.50023 Romania14.00024 Belarus12.50025 Greece12.50026 Ukraine12.00027 Turkey10.00028 Bosnia and Herzegovina10.00029 Portugal8.50030 Slovakia8.00031 Israel8.00032 Republic of Ireland8.00033 Slovenia7.50034 Bulgaria7.50035 Estonia5.00036 Croatia5.000RankAssociationCoeff.Teams37 Faroe Islands5.000138 Lithuania4.00039 Macedonia3.00040 Wales3.00041 Northern Ireland2.00042 Montenegro1.00043 Moldova0.50044 Luxembourg0.00045 Georgia0.0000 46 Latvia0.000147 Malta0.00048 Albania0.000 Andorra0.0000 Armenia Azerbaijan Gibraltar Liechtenstein San Marino Notes – Additional berth for title holders – Did not enter – No rank (association did not enter in the five seasons used for computing coefficients)
Teams Unlike the men's Champions League, not every association enters a team, and so the exact number of teams in each round can not be determined until the full entry list is known. For this season, the title holders, the champions and runners-up from associations 1–8 and the champions from associations 9–15 entered the round of 32, while the remaining teams entered the qualifying round.
The following list the teams that qualified and enter this season's competition. Here TH denotes the title holders, CH denotes the national champion, RU the national runner-up, Ned 1 and Bel 1 the best placed Belgian and Dutch team in their joint league. Gibraltar's champions were still ineligible, as the 2014–15 national league season was again played with only nine players per side. After some years of hiatus Georgia played out a national champion in 2014. For the first time in 12 years Neulengbach from Austria missed out on qualification. Luxembourg entered a team for the competition for the first time since the 2011–12 season. Faroese club KÍ had entered every past edition.
Round of 32 Frankfurt (TH) Bayern Munich (CH) Wolfsburg (RU) Lyon (CH) Paris Saint-Germain (RU) Rosengård (CH) KIF Örebro (RU) Liverpool (CH) Chelsea (RU) Zvezda Perm (CH) Zorky Krasnogorsk (RU) AGSM Verona (CH) Brescia (RU) Barcelona (CH) Atlético Madrid (RU) Brøndby (CH) Fortuna Hjørring (RU) Slavia Praha (CH) St. Pölten-Spratzern (CH) Lillestrøm SK (CH) Glasgow City (CH) Zürich (CH) Standard Liège (Bel 1) BIIK Kazygurt (CH) Qualifying round Medyk Konin (CH) Twente (Ned 1) Stjarnan (CH) Apollon Limassol (CH) PK-35 Vantaa (CH) Ferencváros (CH) Spartak Subotica (CH) Olimpia Cluj (CH) FC Minsk (CH) Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv (CH) PAOK (CH) Konak Belediyespor (CH) SFK 2000 (CH) CF Benfica (CH) Nové Zámky (CH) ASA Tel Aviv (CH) Wexford Youths (CH) Pomurje (CH) NSA Sofia (CH) Pärnu JK (CH) ŽNK Osijek (CH) KÍ Klaksvík (CH) Gintra Universitetas (CH) ŽFK Dragon 2014 (CH) Cardiff Met. (CH) Glentoran Belfast United (CH) Ekonomist (CH) Noroc Nimoreni (CH) Hibernians (CH) Rīgas FS (CH) Vllaznia (CH) Jeunesse Junglinster (CH)
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland). In contrast to previous seasons, the round of 16 draw was held after the round of 32 was completed (separately from the round of 32 draw) and was seeded. Moreover, the quarter-finals were now moved back to be played in midweek, with only the semi-finals played on weekends.
Round Draw First leg Second leg Qualifying round 25 June 2015 11–16 August 2015 Round of 32 20 August 2015 7–8 October 2015 14–15 October 2015 Round of 16 19 October 2015 11–12 November 2015 18–19 November 2015 Quarter-finals 27 November 2015 23–24 March 2016 30–31 March 2016 Semi-finals 23–24 April 2016 30 April–1 May 2016 Final 26 May 2016 at Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia
Qualifying round
The draw for the qualifying round was held on 25 June 2015. The 32 teams were allocated into four seeding positions based on their 2015 UEFA club coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15 plus 33% of their association coefficient from the same time span. They were drawn into eight groups of four (one from each seeding position), with the restriction that each group had to contain one of the eight teams which were pre-selected as hosts (which were allocated their own designated pot).
In each group, teams played against each other in a round-robin mini-tournament at the pre-selected hosts. The eight group winners advanced to the round of 32. The matchdays were 11, 13 and 16 August 2015.
TiebreakersThe teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings (regulations Articles 14.01 and 14.02): higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question; superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question; higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question; if, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply; superior goal difference in all group matches; higher number of goals scored in all group matches; if only two teams have the same number of points, and they are tied according to criteria 1 to 6 after having met in the last round of the group, their ranking is determined by a penalty shoot-out (this criterion is not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if the rankings of the two teams are not relevant for which team qualifies for the next stage). lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points); higher club coefficient.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, 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 32, the sixteen teams with the highest UEFA coefficients were seeded (with the title holders being the automatic top seed), and the other sixteen teams were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams with the highest UEFA coefficients were seeded (with the title holders being the automatic top seed should they qualify), and the other eight teams were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from 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 association could be drawn against each other.
Bracket
Round of 32 The draw for the round of 32 was held on 20 August 2015. The first legs were played on 7 and 8 October, and the second legs were played on 14 and 15 October 2015.
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 19 October 2015. The first legs were played on 11 and 12 November, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 November 2015.
Quarter-finals The draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held on 27 November 2015. The first legs were played on 23 March, and the second legs were played on 30 March 2016.
Semi-finals The first legs were played on 24 April, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 May 2016.
Final
The final was played on 26 May 2016 at the Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
Statistics Statistics include qualifying rounds.
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsTotal1 Ada Hegerberg Lyon—13132 Ebere Orji Ferencváros9—93 Jill Roord Twente7184 Uchechi Sunday FC Minsk7075 Cristiane Paris Saint-Germain—66 Aleksandra Sikora Medyk Konin6067 Jasna Djoković SFK 20005—5 Eugénie Le Sommer Lyon—55 Marta Rosengård—55 Poliana Stjarnan505 Sanna Saarinen PK-35 Vantaa505
Squad of the season The UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament:
PlayerTeam Sarah Bouhaddi Lyon Sandra Paños Barcelona Emma Berglund Rosengård Wendie Renard Lyon Amel Majri Lyon Griedge Mbock Bathy Lyon Nilla Fischer Wolfsburg Pauline Bremer Lyon Simone Laudehr Frankfurt Saki Kumagai Lyon Camille Abily Lyon Shirley Cruz Paris Saint-Germain Louisa Nécib Lyon Lena Goeßling Wolfsburg Dzsenifer Marozsán Frankfurt Eugénie Le Sommer Lyon Ada Hegerberg Lyon Cristiane Paris Saint-Germain
See also 2015–16 UEFA Champions League
References
External links 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League European league standings