The1995–96 UEFA Champions League featured 24 teams, with eight teams (the league champions from the seven top-ranked nations in theUEFA country coefficient table, plus the defending champions from1994–95) qualifying automatically for thegroup stage and the remaining 16 (the league champions of the nations ranked 8–23 in the country coefficient table) playing in a two-legged preliminary round. The winners of each tie entered the Champions League group stage
Dynamo Kyiv won their tie againstAaB, but, in their first group game againstPanathinaikos, they were accused of a failed attempt to bribe refereeAntonio López Nieto to get a win. Despite an appeal, they were thrown out of the competition byUEFA and were banned for the subsequent two years. AaB replaced them in the group stage. Dynamo's ban was eventually reduced to just one season.
The sixteen lowest-ranked associations with teams that qualified for the Champions League entered the qualifying round.[1]
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of qualifying round advanced togroup stage |
| Assoc. | Team |
|---|---|
| 8 |  Anderlecht |
| 10 |  Beşiktaş |
| 11 |  Casino Salzburg |
| 13 |  Panathinaikos |
| 14 |  AaB |
| 15 |  IFK Göteborg |
| 16 |  Rangers |
| 17 |  Grasshopper |
| 18 |  Legia Warsaw |
| 19 |  Steaua București |
| 20 |  Rosenborg |
| 21 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 22 |  Ferencváros |
| 23 |  Hajduk Split |
| 24 |  Anorthosis Famagusta |
| 25 |  Dynamo Kyiv |
The sixteen teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots, each containing eight teams, for the draw based on their association's ranking.[1][2]
| Seeded | Unseeded |
|---|---|
Dynamo Kyiv won their tie againstAaB, but, in their first group game againstPanathinaikos, they were accused of a failed attempt to bribe the referee,Antonio López Nieto, to get a win. Despite an appeal, they were ejected from the competition and banned for two years, with AaB replacing them in the group stage. Dynamo's ban was eventually reduced to one season.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasshopper | 2–1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Rangers | 1–0 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Legia Warsaw | 3–1 | IFK Göteborg | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Casino Salzburg | 0–1 | Steaua București | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Dynamo Kyiv  | 4–1 | AaB | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Rosenborg | 4–3 | Beşiktaş | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Anderlecht | 1–2 | Ferencváros | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Panathinaikos | 1–1 (a) | Hajduk Split | 0–0 | 1–1 |
Grasshopper won 2–1 on aggregate.
Rangers won 1–0 on aggregate.
| IFK Göteborg | 1–2 | Legia Warsaw |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Legia Warsaw won 3–1 on aggregate.
Steaua București won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Dynamo Kyiv | 1–0 | AaB |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| AaB | 1–3 | Dynamo Kyiv |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Dynamo Kyiv won 4–1 on aggregate.
Rosenborg won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Ferencváros | 1–1 | Anderlecht |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Ferencváros won 2–1 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate; Panathinaikos won on away goals.
