1996–97 UEFA Champions League qualifying round
The 1996–97 UEFA Champions League featured 24 teams, with eight teams qualifying automatically for the group stage and the remaining 16 playing in a two-legged preliminary round. The winners of each tie entered the Champions League group stage, while the losers entered the UEFA Cup first round.
Teams
The sixteen lowest-ranked associations with teams that qualified for the Champions League entered the qualifying round.| Key to colours |
| Winners of qualifying round advanced to group stage |
| Losers of qualifying round entered UEFA Cup first round |
Seeding
The sixteen teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots, each containing eight teams, for the draw based on their association's ranking.| Seeded | Unseeded |
Summary
The winners of each tie in the preliminary round entered the Champions League group stage, whilst the losers entered the UEFA Cup first round.
Matches
Fenerbahçe won 2–1 on aggregate.----
Rangers won 10–3 on aggregate.
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Rosenborg won 3–1 on aggregate.
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IFK Göteborg won 4–1 on aggregate.
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4–4 on aggregate; Widzew Łódź won on away goals.
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Grasshopper won 6–0 on aggregate.
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Steaua București won 5–2 on aggregate.
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''Rapid Wien won 6–2 on aggregate.''