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.
The final was played at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain, between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, in the second all-English final after Manchester United beat Chelsea in Moscow in 2008. Liverpool won the match 2–0 to claim their sixth European Cup – putting them outright third in the list of clubs with the most European Cup titles behind Real Madrid and Milan. The win gave them 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, both of which they won.
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.
For the first time, the video assistant referee system was used in the competition from the [|round of 16] onward.

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. 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.

Association team allocation

79 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participate in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
For the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2017 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2012–13 to 2016–17.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
In the default access list, the Champions League title holders qualify for the group stage. However, since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made:
In addition, the Europa League title holders qualify for the group stage. However, since Atlético Madrid, the Europa League champions, already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made:
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses.

Real MadridTH Borussia Dortmund Roma Porto
Atlético MadridEL Manchester City Inter Milan Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona Manchester United Paris Saint-Germain Club Brugge
Valencia Tottenham Hotspur Monaco Galatasaray
Bayern Munich Liverpool Lyon Viktoria Plzeň
Schalke 04 Juventus Lokomotiv Moscow
1899 Hoffenheim Napoli CSKA Moscow

Legia Warsaw Red Star Belgrade Kukësi Alashkert
Malmö FF Astana Cork City F91 Dudelange
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Olimpija Ljubljana Zrinjski Mostar Crusaders
Celtic Spartak Trnava Torpedo Kutaisi Sūduva Marijampolė
APOEL Vidi Spartaks Jūrmala Valletta
Rosenborg Sheriff Tiraspol Shkëndija The New Saints
Qarabağ Valur Flora Tallinn Víkingur Gøta
Ludogorets Razgrad HJK Sutjeska Nikšić


;Notes

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.
From this season, there will be 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 will be 21:00 CET.

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.
Drita's win on 26 June 2018 was the first time that a team representing Kosovo had won a game in any UEFA competition.

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.

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.

Second qualifying round

The second qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path and League Path. 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.

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round is split into two separate sections: Champions Path and League Path. 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 enter the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League play-off round, while the losers from League Path enter the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path and League Path. 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.

Group stage

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 :
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.
The youth teams of the clubs that qualify for the group stage also participate in the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they compete in the UEFA Champions League Path.
A total of 15 national associations are represented in the group stage. 1899 Hoffenheim, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys will make their debut appearances in the group stage.
Tiebreakers

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.

Bracket

Round of 16

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

Quarter-finals

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

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2019. The first legs were played on 30 April and 1 May, and the second legs were played on 7 and 8 May 2019.

Final

The final was played on 1 June 2019 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. The "home" team was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played
1 Lionel Messi Barcelona12837
2 Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich8714
3 Sergio Agüero Manchester City6510
3 Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus6749
3 Moussa Marega Porto6840
3 Dušan Tadić Ajax61080
7 Andrej Kramarić 1899 Hoffenheim5481
7 Paulo Dybala Juventus5518
7 Neymar Paris Saint-Germain5532
7 Edin Džeko Roma5570
7 Lucas Moura Tottenham Hotspur5725
7 Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur5778
7 Raheem Sterling Manchester City5871
7 Mohamed Salah Liverpool51058

Top assists

RankPlayerTeamAssistsMinutes played
1 Leroy Sané Manchester City5395
1 Luis Suárez Barcelona5900
1 Jordi Alba Barcelona5990
1 Dušan Tadić Ajax51080
5 Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City4247
5 Riyad Mahrez Manchester City4388
5 Carlos Soler Valencia4390
5 Edin Džeko Roma4570
5 Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain4701
5 Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool4921

Squad of the season

On 2 June 2019, the UEFA technical study group selected the following 20 players as the squad of the tournament.
PlayerTeam
Marc-André ter Stegen Barcelona
Alisson Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk Liverpool
Andrew Robertson Liverpool
Matthijs de Ligt Ajax
Jan Vertonghen Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City
Moussa Sissoko Tottenham Hotspur
Hakim Ziyech Ajax
Frenkie de Jong Ajax
Tanguy Ndombele Lyon
Georginio Wijnaldum Liverpool
David Neres Ajax
Raheem Sterling Manchester City
Lucas Moura Tottenham Hotspur
Dušan Tadić Ajax
Lionel Messi Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus
Sadio Mané Liverpool

Players of the season

Votes were cast for players of the season by coaches of the 32 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players was announced on 8 August 2019. The award winners were announced and presented during the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on 29 August 2019.

Goalkeeper of the season

Defender of the season

Midfielder of the season

Forward of the season