UEFA Champions League 2008-09
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The UEFA Champions League 2008-09 will be 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.[1] It is the seventh 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.
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[edit] Qualification
A total of 76 teams will participate in the 2008-09 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organizes 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 4 teams qualify
- Associations 4-6 (France, Germany, and Portugal) each have 3 teams qualify
- Associations 7-15 (Romania, Netherlands, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Belgium, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Greece) each have 2 teams qualify
- Associations 16-53 each have 1 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
- 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
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1 Moved up from the lower qualifiying round due to the Title Holder entry not being used.
[edit] Excluded teams
[edit] Porto
Portuguese champions Porto, barring a successful appeal, have been excluded from this year's competition by UEFA, after being found guilty of bribing referees in the Portuguese Liga during the 2003-04 season.[2] As a result, Vitória Guimarães were promoted from the 3rd qualifying round to the group stage and Benfica from the UEFA Cup into the 3rd qualifying round.
[edit] CSKA Sofia
Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia will be excluded from the tournament having failed to secure a UEFA licence due to the club being in debt to various government bodies and creditors.[3] Levski Sofia will take their place in the 3rd qualifying round.
[edit] Round and draw dates
The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw.
| Date | Event | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 June 2008 | Draw for first and second qualifying rounds | 4 November 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 4 |
| 15 July 2008 | First qualifying round, first leg | 5 November 2008 | |
| 16 July 2008 | 25 November 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 5 | |
| 22 July 2008 | First qualifying round, second leg | 26 November 2008 | |
| 23 July 2008 | 9 December 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 6 | |
| 29 July 2008 | Second qualifying round, first leg | 10 December 2008 | |
| 30 July 2008 | 19 December 2008 | Draw for first knockout round | |
| 1 August 2008 | Draw for third qualifying round | 24 February 2009 | First knockout round, first leg |
| 5 August 2008 | Second qualifying round, second leg | 25 February 2009 | |
| 7 August 2008 | 10 March 2009 | First knockout round, second leg | |
| 12 August 2008 | Third qualifying round, first leg | 11 March 2009 | |
| 13 August 2008 | 20 March 2009 | Draw for remaining rounds | |
| 26 August 2008 | Third qualifying round, second leg | 7 April 2009 | Quarter-finals, first leg |
| 27 August 2008 | 8 April 2009 | ||
| 28 August 2008 | Draw for group stage | 14 April 2009 | Quarter-finals, second leg |
| 16 September 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 1 | 15 April 2009 | |
| 17 September 2008 | 28 April 2009 | Semi-finals, first leg | |
| 30 September 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 2 | 29 April 2009 | |
| 1 October 2008 | 5 May 2009 | Semi-finals, second leg | |
| 21 October 2008 | Group stage, Matchday 3 | 6 May 2009 | |
| 22 October 2008 | 27 May 2009 | Final in Rome, Italy |
[edit] Qualifying rounds
Clubs listed in UEFA coefficient order.
[edit] First qualifying round
The following teams are certain to compete in the first qualifying round of the Champions League:
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Seeded teams |
Unseeded teams |
[edit] Second qualifying round
The following teams are certain to compete in the second qualifying round of the Champions League:
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Seeded teams
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Unseeded teams
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[edit] Third qualifying round
The following teams will compete in the third qualifying round of the Champions League:
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Seeded teams
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Unseeded teams
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[edit] Group stage
The following teams will compete in the group stage of the Champions League. Also entering winners of the third qualifying round. Clubs listed in club coefficient order.
Chelsea- Manchester United
Lyon
Internazionale
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven- Villarreal
- Roma
- Werder Bremen
Sporting CP
Zenit St. Petersburg- Bordeaux
Celtic- Vitória Guimarães
CFR Cluj
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Ravdin, Eugene; Menicucci, Paolo. "Moscow and Rome feast on finals", UEFA, 2006-10-05. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ "Porto lose Champions League place", BBC Sport, 2008-06-04. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ "CSKA Sofia banned from Champions League over unpaid debts", 2008-06-05. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
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