2018–19 UEFA Champions League

64th season of the UEFA club football tournament

The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

2018–19 UEFA Champions League
The Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid hosted the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
26 June – 29 August 2018
Competition proper:
18 September 2018 – 1 June 2019
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 79 (from 54 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored94 (2.94 per match)
Attendance1,436,519 (44,891 per match)
Top scorer(s)Argentina Lionel Messi (5 goals)
All statistics correct as of 3 October 2018.

The final was played at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain.[1] The final was played between two English clubs, Liverpool and Tottenham. Liverpool beat Tottenham 2–0 with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi. This brought Liverpool to there 6th European Champion Clubs' Cup / UEFA Champions League. Liverpool have won the most European Champion Clubs' Cup and UEFA Champions League than any other British Club.[2]

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders).[3][4][5]

Group stage
  Barcelona (1st)   Borussia Dortmund (4th)   Roma (3rd)   Porto (1st)
  Atlético Madrid (2nd)EL   Manchester City (1st)   Internazionale (4th)   Shakhtar Donetsk (1st)
  Real Madrid (3rd)   Manchester United (2nd)   Paris Saint-Germain (1st)   Club Brugge (1st)
  Valencia (4th)   Tottenham Hotspur (3rd)   Monaco (2nd)[Note FRA]   Galatasaray (1st)
  Bayern Munich (1st)   Liverpool (4th)   Lyon (3rd)   Viktoria Plzeň (1st)
  Schalke 04 (2nd)   Juventus (1st)   Lokomotiv Moscow (1st)
  1899 Hoffenheim (3rd)   Napoli (2nd)   CSKA Moscow (2nd)
Play-off round
Champions Path League Path
  Young Boys (1st)   PSV Eindhoven (1st)
Third qualifying round
Champions Path League Path
  AEK Athens (1st)   Red Bull Salzburg (1st)   Spartak Moscow (3rd)   Standard Liège (2nd)
  Benfica (2nd)   Fenerbahçe (2nd)
  Dynamo Kyiv (2nd)   (2nd)
Second qualifying round
Champions Path League Path
  CFR Cluj (1st)   Midtjylland (1st)   Basel (2nd)   PAOK (2nd)
  Dinamo Zagreb (1st)   BATE Borisov (1st)   Ajax (2nd)   Sturm Graz (2nd)
First qualifying round
  Legia Warsaw (1st)   Red Star Belgrade (1st)   Kukësi (2nd)[Note ALB]   Alashkert (1st)
  Malmö FF (1st)   Astana (1st)   Cork City (1st)   F91 Dudelange (1st)
  Hapoel Be'er Sheva (1st)   (1st)   Zrinjski Mostar (1st)   Crusaders (1st)
  Celtic (1st)   Spartak Trnava (1st)   Torpedo Kutaisi (1st)   Sūduva Marijampolė (1st)
  APOEL (1st)   (1st)   Spartaks Jūrmala (1st)   Valletta (1st)
  Rosenborg (1st)   Sheriff Tiraspol (1st)   Shkëndija (1st)   The New Saints (1st)
  Qarabağ (1st)   Valur (1st)   Flora Tallinn (1st)   Víkingur Gøta (1st)
  Ludogorets Razgrad (1st)   HJK (1st)   Sutjeska Nikšić (1st)
Preliminary round
  Lincoln Red Imps (1st)   FC Santa Coloma (1st)   (1st)   Drita (1st)
Notes
  1. ^ Albania (ALB): In March 2018, Skënderbeu Korçë was handed a 10-year ban from UEFA club competitions over match fixing.[6] Since they finished as champions of the 2017–18 Albanian Superliga, Kukësi, the runners-up of the league, will enter the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League instead of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.
  2. ^ France (FRA): Monaco is a club based in Monaco (which is not a UEFA member), but participates in the Champions League through one of the berths for France (any coefficient points they earn count towards France's total).

Round and draw dates

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The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[7]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary Preliminary round 12 June 2018 26 June 2018 (semi-final round) 29 June 2018 (final round)
Qualifying First qualifying round 19 June 2018 10–11 July 2018 17–18 July 2018
Second qualifying round 24–25 July 2018 31 July – 1 August 2018
Third qualifying round 23 July 2018 7–8 August 2018 14 August 2018
Play-off Play-off round 6 August 2018 21–22 August 2018 28–29 August 2018
Group stage Matchday 1 30 August 2018
(Monaco)
18–19 September 2018
Matchday 2 2–3 October 2018
Matchday 3 23–24 October 2018
Matchday 4 6–7 November 2018
Matchday 5 27–28 November 2018
Matchday 6 11–12 December 2018
Knockout phase Round of 16 17 December 2018 12–13 & 19–20 February 2019 5–6 & 12–13 March 2019
Quarter-finals 15 March 2019 9–10 April 2019 16–17 April 2019
Semi-finals 19 April 2019 30 April – 1 May 2019 7–8 May 2019
Final 1 June 2019 at Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid

From this season, there will be staggered kick-off times – 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET.[3]

Group stage

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The draw for the group stage will be held on 30 August 2018 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams are seeded into four pots based on the following principles (introduced starting this season):[8]

  • Pot 1 contains the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2017 UEFA country coefficients. If either or both title holders are one of the champions of the top six associations, the champions of the next highest ranked association(s) are also seeded into Pot 1.
  • Pot 2, 3 and 4 contain the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients.

In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams enter the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League round of 32. The matchdays are 18–19 September, 2–3 October, 23–24 October, 6–7 November, 27–28 November, and 11–12 December 2018.

A total of 32 teams play in the group stage: 26 teams which enter in this stage, and the six winners of the play-off round (four from Champions Path, two from League Path).

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DOR ATM BRU MON
1   Borussia Dortmund 6 4 1 1 10 2 +8 13[a] Advance to knockout phase 4–0 0–0 3–0
2   Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 9 6 +3 13[a] 2–0 3–1 2–0
3   Club Brugge 6 1 3 2 6 5 +1 6 Transfer to Europa League 0–1 0–0 1–1
4   Monaco 6 0 1 5 2 14 −12 1 0–2 1–2 0–4
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 Head-to-head goal difference: Borussia Dortmund +2, Atlético Madrid –2.

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAR TOT INT PSV
1   Barcelona 6 4 2 0 14 5 +9 14 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 2–0 4–0
2   Tottenham Hotspur 6 2 2 2 9 10 −1 8[a] 2–4 1–0 2–1
3   Inter Milan 6 2 2 2 6 7 −1 8[a] Transfer to Europa League 1–1 2–1 1–1
4   PSV Eindhoven 6 0 2 4 6 13 −7 2 1–2 2–2 1–2
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 Head-to-head away goals: Tottenham Hotspur 1, Inter Milan 0.

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAR LIV NAP ZVE
1   Paris Saint-Germain 6 3 2 1 17 9 +8 11 Advance to knockout phase 2–1 2–2 6–1
2   Liverpool 6 3 0 3 9 7 +2 9[a] 3–2 1–0 4–0
3   Napoli 6 2 3 1 7 5 +2 9[a] Transfer to Europa League 1–1 1–0 3–1
4   Red Star Belgrade 6 1 1 4 5 17 −12 4 1–4 2–0 0–0
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 Goals in all group matches: Liverpool 9, Napoli 7.

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POR SCH GAL LOM
1   Porto 6 5 1 0 15 6 +9 16 Advance to knockout phase 3–1 1–0 4–1
2   Schalke 04 6 3 2 1 6 4 +2 11 1–1 2–0 1–0
3   Galatasaray 6 1 1 4 5 8 −3 4 Transfer to Europa League 2–3 0–0 3–0
4   Lokomotiv Moscow 6 1 0 5 4 12 −8 3 1–3 0–1 2–0
Source: UEFA

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAY AJX BEN AEK
1   Bayern Munich 6 4 2 0 15 5 +10 14 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 5–1 2–0
2   Ajax 6 3 3 0 11 5 +6 12 3–3 1–0 3–0
3   Benfica 6 2 1 3 6 11 −5 7 Transfer to Europa League 0–2 1–1 1–0
4   AEK Athens 6 0 0 6 2 13 −11 0 0–2 0–2 2–3
Source: UEFA

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MC LYO SHK HOF
1   Manchester City 6 4 1 1 16 6 +10 13 Advance to knockout phase 1–2 6–0 2–1
2   Lyon 6 1 5 0 12 11 +1 8 2–2 2–2 2–2
3   Shakhtar Donetsk 6 1 3 2 8 16 −8 6 Transfer to Europa League 0–3 1–1 2–2
4   1899 Hoffenheim 6 0 3 3 11 14 −3 3 1–2 3–3 2–3
Source: UEFA

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA ROM PLZ CSKA
1   Real Madrid 6 4 0 2 12 5 +7 12 Advance to knockout phase 3–0 2–1 0–3
2   Roma 6 3 0 3 11 8 +3 9 0–2 5–0 3–0
3   Viktoria Plzeň 6 2 1 3 7 16 −9 7[a] Transfer to Europa League 0–5 2–1 2–2
4   CSKA Moscow 6 2 1 3 8 9 −1 7[a] 1–0 1–2 1–2
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 Head-to-head points: Viktoria Plzeň 4, CSKA Moscow 1.

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JUV MU VAL YB
1   Juventus 6 4 0 2 9 4 +5 12 Advance to knockout phase 1–2 1–0 3–0
2   Manchester United 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10 0–1 0–0 1–0
3   Valencia 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8 Transfer to Europa League 0–2 2–1 3–1
4   Young Boys 6 1 1 4 4 12 −8 4 2–1 0–3 1–1
Source: UEFA

Knockout stage

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In the knockout stage, teams play 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 is as follows:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners are seeded, and the eight group runners-up are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other.

Round of 16

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The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 17 December 2018. The first legs will be played on 12, 13, 19 and 20 February, and the second legs will be played on 5, 6, 12 and 13 March 2019.

Quarter-finals

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The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on 15 March 2019. The first legs will be played on 9 and 10 April, and the second legs will be played on 16 and 17 April 2019.

Semi-finals

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The draw for the semi-finals will be held on 19 April 2019. The first legs will be played on 30 April and 1 May, and the second legs will be played on 7 and 8 May 2019.

The final will be played on 1 June 2019 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.

References

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  1. "Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano to host 2019 Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  2. Taylor, Daniel (June 2019). "Liverpool win Champions League final after Salah and Origi sink Tottenham". The Observer.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Champions League and Europa League changes next season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. Kassies, Bert (4 March 2018). "Qualification for European Cup Football 2018/2019". kassiesA. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  5. Football seeding (17 May 2018). "Access list for 2018-19".
  6. "Albania's Skenderbeu handed 10-year ban over match-fixing in worst ever UEFA punishment". Tirana Times. 29 March 2018.
  7. "2018/19 Champions League match and draw calendar". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  8. "2018/19 UEFA Champions League regulations" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.

Other websites

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  NODES
admin 1
Association 11
INTERN 2
Note 8