2018–19 UEFA Champions League

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
275
The Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid will host the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
26 June – 29 August 2018
Competition proper:
18 September 2018 – 1 June 2019
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 79
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored94 (2.94 per match)
Attendance1,436,519 (44,891 per match)
Top scorer(s)23x15px Lionel Messi (5 goals)

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]

Teams

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

Group stage
23x15px Barcelona (1st) File:Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund (4th) File:Flag of Italy.svg Roma (3rd) 23x15px Porto (1st)
23x15px Atlético Madrid (2nd)EL 23x15px Manchester City (1st) File:Flag of Italy.svg Internazionale (4th) 23x15px Shakhtar Donetsk (1st)
23x15px Real Madrid (3rd) 23x15px Manchester United (2nd) 23x15px Paris Saint-Germain (1st) 23x15px Club Brugge (1st)
23x15px Valencia (4th) 23x15px Tottenham Hotspur (3rd) 23x15px Monaco (2nd)[Note FRA] File:Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray (1st)
File:Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich (1st) 23x15px Liverpool (4th) 23x15px Lyon (3rd) 23x15px Viktoria Plzeň (1st)
File:Flag of Germany.svg Schalke 04 (2nd) File:Flag of Italy.svg Juventus (1st) 23x15px Lokomotiv Moscow (1st)
File:Flag of Germany.svg 1899 Hoffenheim (3rd) File:Flag of Italy.svg Napoli (2nd) 23x15px CSKA Moscow (2nd)
Play-off round
Champions Path League Path
23x15px Young Boys (1st) 23x15px PSV Eindhoven (1st)
Third qualifying round
Champions Path League Path
23x15px AEK Athens (1st) 23x15px Red Bull Salzburg (1st) 23x15px Spartak Moscow (3rd) 23x15px Standard Liège (2nd)
23x15px Benfica (2nd) File:Flag of Turkey.svg Fenerbahçe (2nd)
23x15px Dynamo Kyiv (2nd) 23x15px (2nd)
Second qualifying round
Champions Path League Path
Romania CFR Cluj (1st) File:Flag of Denmark.svg Midtjylland (1st) 23x15px Basel (2nd) 23x15px PAOK (2nd)
23x15px Dinamo Zagreb (1st) 23x15px BATE Borisov (1st) 23x15px Ajax (2nd) 23x15px Sturm Graz (2nd)
First qualifying round
23x15px Legia Warsaw (1st) 23x15px Red Star Belgrade (1st) 23x15px Kukësi (2nd)[Note ALB] Armenia Alashkert (1st)
Sweden Malmö FF (1st) 23x15px Astana (1st) 23x15px Cork City (1st) 23x15px F91 Dudelange (1st)
23x15px Hapoel Be'er Sheva (1st) 23x15px (1st) 23x15px Zrinjski Mostar (1st) 23x15px Crusaders (1st)
23x15px Celtic (1st) 23x15px Spartak Trnava (1st) 23x15px Torpedo Kutaisi (1st) 23x15px Sūduva Marijampolė (1st)
23x15px APOEL (1st) 23x15px (1st) 23x15px Spartaks Jūrmala (1st) 23x15px Valletta (1st)
23x15px Rosenborg (1st) 23x15px Sheriff Tiraspol (1st) 23x15px Shkëndija (1st) 23x15px The New Saints (1st)
23x15px Qarabağ (1st) 23x15px Valur (1st) 23x15px Flora Tallinn (1st) 23x15px Víkingur Gøta (1st)
23x15px Ludogorets Razgrad (1st) File:Flag of Finland.svg HJK (1st) 23x15px Sutjeska Nikšić (1st)
Preliminary round
23x15px Lincoln Red Imps (1st) 23x15px FC Santa Coloma (1st) San Marino (1st) 23x15px 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

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

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

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group B

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group C

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group D

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group E

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group F

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group G

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Group H

Template:2018–19 UEFA Champions League group table

Knockout stage

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

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

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

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.

Final

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

  1. Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano to host 2019 Champions League final. Union of European Football Associations. 20 September 2017. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2501768.html. Retrieved 3 November 2017. 
  2. Taylor, Daniel (June 2019). Liverpool win Champions League final after Salah and Origi sink Tottenham. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/01/tottenham-liverpool-champions-league-final-match-report. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Champions League and Europa League changes next season. Union of European Football Associations. 27 February 2018. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2499801.html. 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. Union of European Football Associations. 9 January 2018. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2499859.html. 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