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.
For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition from the round of 16 onward.
 The Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid hosted the final | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 26 June – 29 August 2018 Competition proper: 18 September 2018 – 1 June 2019 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 32 Total: 79 (from 54 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Liverpool (6th title) |
| Runners-up | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 125 |
| Goals scored | 366 (2.93 per match) |
| Attendance | 6,163,044 (49,304 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 12 goals |
| Best player(s) |
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The final was played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, in the second all-English final after Manchester United beat Chelsea in 2008. Liverpool won the match 2–0 to claim their sixth European Cup – becoming the third ever team to do so, behind Real Madrid in 1966, and Milan in 2003. The win gave Liverpool automatic qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage and the right to play in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup and the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, the latter two of which they won. As Chelsea and Arsenal also reached the 2019 UEFA Europa League final, this was the first season to have multiple finals of major European club competitions featuring teams from a single nation.
Real Madrid, who had won four of the last five titles, including each of the last three, were eliminated by Ajax in the round of 16. Although Ajax was eliminated in the semi-finals, they had played more matches than any other team in the tournament due to entering in the second qualifying round.
Format changes
On 9 December 2016, UEFA confirmed the reforming plan for the UEFA Champions League for the 2018–2021 cycle, which was announced on 26 August 2016. As per the new regulations, the previous season's UEFA Europa League winners will qualify automatically for the UEFA Champions League group stage (previously they would qualify for the play-off round, but would be promoted to the group stage only if the Champions League title holder berth was vacated, although this promotion to the group stage had been made in all three seasons since it was established from 2015–2016). Meanwhile, the top four teams from the leagues of the four top-ranked national associations in the UEFA country coefficients list will qualify automatically for the group stage as well. Only six teams will qualify for the group stage via the qualification rounds, down from ten in the previous season.
This was also the first year to feature a preliminary round, in which the representatives of the four bottom-ranked national associations in the UEFA country coefficients contested single-legged semi-finals and a final to determine the final team to enter the first qualifying round.
Association team allocation
79 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which did not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
- Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify.
- Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify.
- Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify.
- Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein) each had one team qualify.
- The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League and 2017–18 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league.
- The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was not necessary.
- The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Atlético Madrid, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders was not necessary.
Association ranking
For the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2017 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2012–13 to 2016–17.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- (UCL) – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League winners
- (UEL) – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League winners
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Distribution
In the default access list, the Champions League title holders qualified for the group stage. However, since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league (as third place of the 2017–18 La Liga), the following changes to the access list were made:
- The champions of association 11 (Czech Republic) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round.
- The champions of association 13 (Netherlands) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round.
- The champions of association 15 (Austria) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The champions of associations 18 (Denmark) and 19 (Belarus) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
In addition, the Europa League title holders qualified for the group stage. However, since Atlético Madrid, the Europa League champions, already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league (as second place of the 2017–18 La Liga), the following changes to the access list were made:
- The third-placed team of association 5 (France) entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round.
- The runners-up of association 10 (Turkey) and 11 (Czech Republic) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round (4 teams) |
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| First qualifying round (32 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round | Champions Path (20 teams) |
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| League Path (4 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round | Champions Path (12 teams) |
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| League Path (8 teams) |
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| Play-off round | Champions Path (8 teams) |
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| League Path (4 teams) |
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| Group stage (32 teams) |
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| Knockout phase (16 teams) |
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Teams
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders).
 Real MadridTH (3rd) |  Borussia Dortmund (4th) |  Roma (3rd) |  Porto (1st) |
| Atlético MadridEL (2nd) | Manchester City (1st) | Inter Milan (4th) |  Shakhtar Donetsk (1st) |
| Barcelona (1st) | 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) |
| Champions Path | League Path | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Young Boys (1st) |  PSV Eindhoven (1st) | ||
| Champions Path | League Path | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 AEK Athens (1st) |  Red Bull Salzburg (1st) | Spartak Moscow (3rd) | Standard Liège (2nd) |
| Benfica (2nd) | Fenerbahçe (2nd) | ||
| Dynamo Kyiv (2nd) | Slavia Prague (2nd) | ||
| Champions Path | League Path | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 Dinamo Zagreb (1st) |  Midtjylland (1st) | Basel (2nd) | PAOK (2nd) |
 CFR Cluj (1st) |  BATE Borisov (1st) | Ajax (2nd) | Sturm Graz (2nd) |
 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) |  Olimpija Ljubljana (1st) |  Zrinjski Mostar (1st) |  Crusaders (1st) |
 Celtic (1st) |  Spartak Trnava (1st) |  Torpedo Kutaisi (1st) |  Sūduva Marijampolė (1st) |
 APOEL (1st) |  Vidi (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) |
 Lincoln Red Imps (1st) |  FC Santa Coloma (1st) |  La Fiorita (1st) |  Drita (1st) |
- Notes
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 12 June 2018 | 26 June 2018 (semi-final round) | 29 June 2018 (final round) |
| 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 | 30 April – 1 May 2019 | 7–8 May 2019 | ||
| Final | 1 June 2019 at Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid | |||
From this season, there were staggered kick-off times in the group stage at 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET. Kick-off times starting from the knock-out phase were 21:00 CET.
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.
Preliminary round
In the preliminary round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into one-legged semi-final and final ties. The draw for the preliminary round was held on 12 June 2018. The semi-final round was played on 26 June, and the final round was played on 29 June 2018, both at the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar. The losers of both semi-final and final rounds entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| FC Santa Coloma | 0–2 (a.e.t.) | Drita |
| La Fiorita | 0–2 | Lincoln Red Imps |
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Red Imps | 1–4 (a.e.t.) | Drita |
Drita's win on 26 June 2018 was the first time that a team representing Kosovo had won a game in any UEFA competition.
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 19 June 2018. The first legs were played on 10 and 11 July, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 July 2018. The losers entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round, except one team were drawn to receive a bye to the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 2–4 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| Shkëndija | 5–4 | The New Saints | 5–0 | 0–4 |
| Sūduva Marijampolė | 3–2 | APOEL | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 0–1 | Qarabağ | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| F91 Dudelange | 2–3 | Vidi | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Drita | 0–5 | Malmö FF | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Víkingur Gøta | 2–5 | HJK | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 9–0 | Crusaders | 7–0 | 2–0 |
| Cork City | 0–4 | Legia Warsaw | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Valur | 2–3 | Rosenborg | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Kukësi | 1–1 (a) | Valletta | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Flora Tallinn | 2–7 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 1–4 | 1–3 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | 0–2 | Red Star Belgrade | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Alashkert | 0–6 | Celtic | 0–3 | 0–3 |
| Spartak Trnava | 2–1 | Zrinjski Mostar | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Astana | 3–0 | Sutjeska Nikšić | 1–0 | 2–0 |
Notes
Second qualifying round
The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for league non-champions). The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2018. The first legs were played on 24 and 25 July, and the second legs were played on 31 July and 1 August 2018. The losers from both Champions Path and League Path entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astana | 2–1 | Midtjylland | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 0–1 | Vidi | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Kukësi | 0–3 | Qarabağ | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| CFR Cluj | 1–2 | Malmö FF | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 7–2 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 5–0 | 2–2 |
| Red Star Belgrade | 5–0 | Sūduva Marijampolė | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| BATE Borisov | 2–1 | HJK | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Shkëndija | 1–0 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Legia Warsaw | 1–2 | Spartak Trnava | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Celtic | 3–1 | Rosenborg | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAOK | 5–1 | Basel | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Ajax | 5–1 | Sturm Graz | 2–0 | 3–1 |
Third qualifying round
The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for league non-champions). The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 23 July 2018. The first legs were played on 7 and 8 August, and the second legs were played on 14 August 2018. The losers from Champions Path entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League play-off round, while the losers from League Path entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | 2–3 | AEK Athens | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 4–0 | Shkëndija | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Red Star Belgrade | 3–2 | Spartak Trnava | 1–1 | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Qarabağ | 1–2 | BATE Borisov | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Astana | 0–3 | Dinamo Zagreb | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Malmö FF | 1–1 (a) | Vidi | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Liège | 2–5 | Ajax | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Benfica | 2–1 | Fenerbahçe | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Slavia Prague | 1–3 | Dynamo Kyiv | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| PAOK | 3–2 | Spartak Moscow | 3–2 | 0–0 |
Play-off round
The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for league non-champions). The draw for the play-off round was held on 6 August 2018. The first legs were played on 21 and 22 August, and the second legs were played on 28 and 29 August. The losers from both Champions Path and League Path entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Star Belgrade | 2–2 (a) | Red Bull Salzburg | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| BATE Borisov | 2–6 | PSV Eindhoven | 2–3 | 0–3 |
| Young Boys | 3–2 | Dinamo Zagreb | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Vidi | 2–3 | AEK Athens | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benfica | 5–2 | PAOK | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Ajax | 3–1 | Dynamo Kyiv | 3–1 | 0–0 |
Group stage
Atlético Madrid
Real MadridManchester teams
Manchester City
Manchester UnitedMoscow teams
CSKA Moscow
Lokomotiv Moscow Brown: Group A; 
Red: Group B; 
Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.The draw for the group stage was held on 30 August 2018 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles (introduced starting this season):
- Pot 1 contained 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 were 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 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League round of 32. The matchdays were 18–19 September, 2–3 October, 23–24 October, 6–7 November, 27–28 November, and 11–12 December 2018.
The youth teams of the clubs that qualified for the group stage also participated in the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they competed in the UEFA Champions League Path (the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations competed in a separate Domestic Champions Path until the play-offs).
A total of fifteen national associations were represented in the group stage. 1899 Hoffenheim, Red Star Belgrade (1991 European champions) and Young Boys made their debut appearances in the group stage (although Red Star Belgrade had appeared in the European Cup group stage).
| Tiebreakers |
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| Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 17.01):
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Group A
| 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 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | 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 | — |
Notes:
