A total of 72 teams from 48 of the 52 UEFA member associations participated in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League. Kazakhstan also did not participate this year as none of their clubs were able to obtain UEFA license. 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 16–49 each have one team qualify.
Association ranking
For the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2003 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1998–1999 to 2002–03. Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
Distribution
Since the title holders qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league, and the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, while no team from Kazakhstan was admitted, the following changes to the default access list are made:
The champions of association 10 are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
The champions of association 16 are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
The champions of associations 26, 27 and 28 are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses. ;Notes
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows. ;Notes
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Group stage
16 winners from the third qualifying round, 10 champions from countries ranked 1–10, and six second-placed teams from countries ranked 1–6 were drawn into eight groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group will advance to the Champions League play-offs, while the third-placed teams will advance to the third round of the UEFA Cup. Tiebreakers, if necessary, are applied in the following order:
Points earned in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
Total goals scored in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
Away goals scored in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
