UEFA Champions League 2008–09

Infobox International Football Competition
tourney_name = UEFA Champions League
year = 2008–09
other_titles =


size =
caption =
country =
dates = 16 September 2008 – 27 May 2009
num_teams = 32
confederations =
venues =
cities =
champion_other =
count =
second_other =
third_other =
fourth_other =
matches = 32
goals = 75
attendance = 1143489
top_scorer = flagicon|ENG Steven Gerrard (3 goals)
flagicon|ARG Sergio Agüero (3 goals)
player =The UEFA Champions League 2008–09 is the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. [cite news |first=Eugene |last=Ravdin |coauthors=Menicucci, Paolo |title=Moscow and Rome feast on finals |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=464251.html |publisher=UEFA |date=2006-10-05 |accessdate=2007-05-25 ] It is the eighth time the European Cup final has been held in Italy and the fourth time it has been held at the Stadio Olimpico. Manchester United are the defending champions, having won the trophy the previous season.

Qualification

A total of 76 teams will participate in the 2008-09 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organises no domestic league competition). Countries are allocated places according to their UEFA league co-efficient. The title holder entry is not used since Manchester United qualified for the group stage as the Premier League (Association 2) champions.

Below is the qualification scheme for the 2008-09 Champions League:

*Associations 1-3 (Spain, England, and Italy) each have four teams qualify
*Associations 4-6 (France, Germany, and Portugal) each have three teams qualify
*Associations 7-15 (Romania, Netherlands, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Belgium, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Greece) each have two teams qualify
*Associations 16-53 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify

First qualifying round: (28 teams)
*28 champions from associations 25-53

Second qualifying round: (28 teams)
*14 winners from the first qualifying round
*8 champions from associations 17-24 (Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Serbia, Denmark, Austria, Poland and Hungary)
*6 runners-up from associations 10-15

Third qualifying round: (32 teams)
*14 winners from the second qualifying round
*6 champions from associations 11-16
*3 runners-up from associations 7-9 (the Netherlands enter the winners of a series of play-off games rather than the runners-up automatically qualifying)
*6 third-place finishers from associations 1-6
*3 fourth-place finishers from associations 1-3

Group stage: (32 teams)
*16 winners from the third qualifying round
*10 champions from associations 1-10
*6 runners-up from associations 1-6

In the draw for the first qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The lower pot contained the 14 teams from associations 40-53: none of these teams had a team ranking.

Two of the 14 ties were won by the lower ranked team: Inter Baku (Azerbaijan, country rank 42) beat Rabotnički (Macedonia, 36); and BATE (Belarus, 40) beat Valur (Iceland, 37).

econd qualifying round

The first leg matches were played on 29 July and 30 July, while the second legs were played on 5 August and 6 August 2008.

In the draw for the second qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The higher pot contained teams ranked 166 or higher: so each tie contained exactly one team ranked in the top 166.

Three of the 14 ties were won by the lower ranked team: Kaunas (unranked, coefficient 2.640) beat Rangers (ranked 24, coefficient 66.013); BATE (unranked, 1.760) beat Anderlecht (56, 41.810); and Anorthosis (ranked 193) beat Rapid Wien (ranked 166).

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round took place on 1 August 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland. [cite news |title=Draws for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup |url=http://www.uefa.com/multimediafiles/download/pressrelease/uefa/uefamedia/73/42/19/734219_download.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=UEFA |date=2008-07-22 |accessdate=2008-07-22 ] The first leg matches were played on 12 August and 13 August, while the second leg matches took place on 26 August and 27 August.The losing team of each match are being seeded into the UEFA Cup 2008-09 first round; while the winning teams advance into the UEFA Champions League 2008-09 group stage.

In the draw for the third qualifying round, teams were divided into two pots, on the basis of UEFA coefficients. The higher pot contained teams ranked 61 or higher. However, the draw was held before the second qualifying round was played, which meant that Kaunas and BATE effectively moved into the higher pot, replacing the teams they eliminated.

Four of the 16 ties were won by the lower ranked team: Anorthosis (ranked 193) beat Olympiacos (ranked 44); BATE (unranked, coefficient 1.760) beat Levski Sofia (ranked 80, coefficient 32.644); Atlético Madrid (ranked 67) beat Schalke 04 (ranked 22) and Dynamo Kyiv (ranked 74) beat Spartak Moscow (ranked 61).

Group stage

The draw for the group stage took place on 28 August 2008 at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, prior to the 2008 UEFA Super Cup the following day. [cite news |title=UEFA sets Monaco agenda |url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=131072/newsid=736884.html |publisher=UEFA |date=2008-08-05 |accessdate=2008-08-13 ]

Tie-breaking criteria

Based on paragraph 4.05 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
#higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
#higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
#superior goal difference from all group matches played;
#higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
#higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Top goalscorers

The top scorers from the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League (group stage only) are as follows:

Source: [http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/ucl/2009/md02_2_6.pdf Top Scorers - Matchday 2 - Wednesday 1 October 2008 - (after matches)]

ee also

* UEFA Cup 2008–09
* UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008

Footnotes

:A. Moved up from the lower qualifying round due to the Title Holder entry not being used.:B. Match was played in Dublin.:C. Order of legs reversed

References