UEFA Champions League 2008–09

2008–09 UEFA Champions League
Tournament details
Teams 32 
Tournament statistics
Matches played 72
Goals scored 183  (2.54 per match)
Attendance 2,583,198  (35,878 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of England Steven Gerrard
Flag of Argentina Lionel Messi
(5 goals)

Infobox last updated on: 00:46, 26 November 2008 (UTC).

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.[1] 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.

Contents

Qualification

A total of 76 teams from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organises no domestic league competition) will participate in the 2008-09 Champions League. 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:

First qualifying round: (28 teams)

Second qualifying round: (28 teams)

Third qualifying round: (32 teams)

Group stage: (32 teams)

Group stage
Flag of Spain Real Madrid Flag of Italy Internazionale Flag of Germany Bayern Flag of Romania CFR Cluj
Flag of Spain Villarreal Flag of Italy Roma Flag of Germany Werder Bremen Flag of the Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
Flag of England Manchester UnitedTH Flag of France Lyon Flag of Portugal Porto Flag of Russia Zenit St. Petersburg
Flag of England Chelsea Flag of France Bordeaux Flag of Portugal Sporting CP Flag of Scotland Celtic[A]
Third qualifying round
Flag of Spain Barcelona Flag of Italy Fiorentina Flag of the Netherlands Twente Flag of the Czech Republic Slavia Prague
Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid Flag of France Marseille Flag of Russia Spartak Moscow Flag of Turkey Galatasaray
Flag of England Arsenal Flag of Germany Schalke 04 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk Flag of Greece Olympiacos
Flag of England Liverpool Flag of Portugal Vitória Guimarães Flag of Belgium Standard Liège Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia[A]
Flag of Italy Juventus Flag of Romania Steaua
Second qualifying round
Flag of Scotland Rangers Flag of Turkey Fenerbahçe Flag of Israel Beitar Jerusalem Flag of Austria Rapid Wien
Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv Flag of Greece Panathinaikos Flag of Serbia Partizan Flag of Poland Wisła Kraków[A]
Flag of Belgium Anderlecht Flag of Switzerland Basel Flag of Denmark Aalborg BK Flag of Hungary MTK Budapest[A]
Flag of the Czech Republic Sparta Prague Flag of Norway Brann
First qualifying round
Flag of Slovakia Artmedia Petržalka Flag of Lithuania Kaunas Flag of Belarus BATE Flag of Wales Llanelli
Flag of Croatia Dinamo Zagreb Flag of Finland Tampere United Flag of Albania Dinamo Tirana Flag of the Faroe Islands NSÍ Runavík
Flag of Cyprus Anorthosis Flag of Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol Flag of Estonia Levadia Flag of Luxembourg F91 Dudelange
Flag of Sweden IFK Göteborg Flag of Ireland Drogheda United Flag of Armenia Pyunik Yerevan Flag of Malta Valletta
Flag of Slovenia Domžale Flag of Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi Flag of Azerbaijan Inter Baku Flag of Andorra Santa Coloma
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Modriča Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Rabotnički Flag of Kazakhstan Aktobe Flag of San Marino Murata
Flag of Latvia Ventspils Flag of Iceland Valur Flag of Northern Ireland Linfield Flag of Montenegro Budućnost Podgorica

Excluded teams

Porto

On 4 June 2008, a decision was taken to exclude Portuguese champions Porto from this year's competition, after the club was 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. However, after Porto appealed the decision, the decision was deferred by UEFA's Appeals Body back to the Control & Disciplinary Body for re-assessment.[3] The meeting to re-assess the situation took place on 16 June 2008, with the decision being reversed and Porto being allowed back into the 2008-09 Champions League. The decision was taken due to Porto's disciplinary process in Portugal not yet being complete.[4]

CSKA Sofia

Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia were excluded from the tournament having failed to secure a UEFA licence due to the club being in debt to various government bodies and creditors.[5] Levski Sofia took their place in the 3rd qualifying round.

Round and draw dates

The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw.

Date Event Date Event
1 July 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
6 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

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on Tuesday, 1 July 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland. The first leg matches were held on 15 July and 16 July, while the second legs were played on 22 July and 23 July 2008.

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   Home leg     Away leg  
Linfield Flag of Northern Ireland 1–3 Flag of Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 0–2 1–1
Valletta Flag of Malta 0–3 Flag of Slovakia Artmedia Petržalka 0–2 0–1
Dinamo Tbilisi Flag of Georgia (country) 3–1 Flag of the Faroe Islands NSÍ Runavík 3–0 0–1
Santa Coloma Flag of Andorra 2–7 Flag of Lithuania Kaunas 1–4 1–3
Murata Flag of San Marino 0–9 Flag of Sweden IFK Göteborg 0–5 0–4
Llanelli Flag of Wales 1–4 Flag of Latvia Ventspils 1–0 0–4
Anorthosis Flag of Cyprus 3–0 Flag of Armenia Pyunik Yerevan 1–0 2–0
Inter Baku Flag of Azerbaijan (a)1–1 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Rabotnički 0–0 1–1
Tampere United Flag of Finland 3–2 Flag of Montenegro Budućnost 2–1 1–1
F91 Dudelange Flag of Luxembourg 0–3 Flag of Slovenia Domžale 0–1 0–2
Dinamo Tirana Flag of Albania 1–4 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Modriča 0–2 1–2
Aktobe Flag of Kazakhstan 1–4 Flag of Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 1–0 0–4
Drogheda United Flag of Ireland 3–1 Flag of Estonia Levadia 2–1 1–0
BATE Flag of Belarus 3–0 Flag of Iceland Valur 2–0 1–0

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).

Second 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.

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   Home leg     Away leg  
Rangers Flag of Scotland 1–2 Flag of Lithuania Kaunas 0–0 1–2
Brann Flag of Norway (a)2–2 Flag of Latvia Ventspils 1–0 1–2
Inter Baku Flag of Azerbaijan 1–3 Flag of Serbia Partizan 1–1 0–2
Tampere United Flag of Finland 3–7 Flag of Slovakia Artmedia Petržalka 1–3 2–4
Anorthosis Flag of Cyprus 4–3 Flag of Austria Rapid Wien 3–0 1–3
Domžale Flag of Slovenia 2–6 Flag of Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 0–3 2–3
Panathinaikos Flag of Greece 3–0 Flag of Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 3–0 0–0
IFK Göteborg Flag of Sweden 3–5 Flag of Switzerland Basel 1–1 2–4
Sheriff Tiraspol Flag of Moldova 0–3 Flag of the Czech Republic Sparta Prague 0–1 0–2
Drogheda United Flag of Ireland 3–4 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 1–2[B] 2–2
Anderlecht Flag of Belgium 3–4 Flag of Belarus BATE 1–2 2–2
Beitar Jerusalem Flag of Israel 2–6 Flag of Poland Wisła Kraków 2–1 0–5
Fenerbahçe Flag of Turkey 7–0 Flag of Hungary MTK Hungária 2–0 5–0
Aalborg BK Flag of Denmark 7–1 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Modriča 5–0 2–1

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.[6] 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.

Team #1   Agg.   Team #2   Home leg     Away leg  
Anorthosis Flag of Cyprus 3–1 Flag of Greece Olympiacos 3–0 0–1
Vitória Guimarães Flag of Portugal 1–2 Flag of Switzerland Basel 0–0 1–2
Shakhtar Donetsk Flag of Ukraine 5–1 Flag of Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 2–0 3–1
Schalke 04 Flag of Germany 1–4 Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid 1–0 0–4
Aalborg BK Flag of Denmark 4–0 Flag of Lithuania Kaunas 2–0 2–0
Barcelona Flag of Spain 4–1 Flag of Poland Wisła Kraków 4–0 0–1
Levski Sofia Flag of Bulgaria 1–2 Flag of Belarus BATE 0–1 1–1
Standard Liège Flag of Belgium 0–1 Flag of England Liverpool 0–0 0–1 (aet)
Partizan Flag of Serbia 3–4 Flag of Turkey Fenerbahçe 2–2 1–2
Twente Flag of the Netherlands 0–6 Flag of England Arsenal 0–2 0–4
Spartak Moscow Flag of Russia 2–8 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 1–4 1–4
Juventus Flag of Italy 5–1 Flag of Slovakia Artmedia Petržalka 4–0 1–1
Brann Flag of Norway 1–3 Flag of France Marseille 0–1 1–2
Fiorentina Flag of Italy 2–0 Flag of the Czech Republic Slavia Prague 2–0 0–0
Galatasaray Flag of Turkey 2–3 Flag of Romania Steaua 2–2 0–1
Sparta Prague Flag of the Czech Republic 1–3[C] Flag of Greece Panathinaikos 1–2 0–1

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

Main article: UEFA Champions League 2008–09 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.[7]

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:

  1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
  3. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  4. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
  5. higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
  6. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
Key to colours in group tables
Teams that progressed to the first knockout round are indicated in bold type
Teams that progressed to the UEFA Cup are indicated in bold italics
Teams eliminated from European competitions for the season are indicated in plain italics

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Italy Roma 5 3 0 2 10 6 +4 9
Flag of England Chelsea 5 2 2 1 7 4 +3 8
Flag of France Bordeaux 5 2 1 2 5 9 −4 7
Flag of Romania CFR Cluj 5 1 1 3 4 7 −3 4
  BDX CLU CHL ROM
Bordeaux 1–0 1–1 1–3
CFR Cluj 1–2 0–0 1–3
Chelsea 4–0 9 Dec 1–0
Roma 9 Dec 1–2 3–1

On the next matchday (9 December)

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Italy Internazionale 5 2 2 1 7 5 +2 8
Flag of Greece Panathinaikos 5 2 1 2 7 7 0 7
Flag of Cyprus Anorthosis 5 1 3 1 8 7 +1 6
Flag of Germany Werder Bremen 5 0 4 1 5 8 −3 4
  ANO INT PAN BRM
Anorthosis 3–3 3–1 2–2
Internazionale 1–0 0–1 1–1
Panathinaikos 9 Dec 0–2 2–2
Werder Bremen 0–0 9 Dec 0–3

On the next matchday (9 December)

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Spain Barcelona 5 4 1 0 16 5 +11 13
Flag of Portugal Sporting CP 5 3 0 2 7 8 −1 9
Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 5 2 0 3 8 5 +3 6
Flag of Switzerland Basel 5 0 1 4 2 15 −13 1
  BAR BSL SHK SCP
Barcelona 1–1 9 Dec 3–1
Basel 0–5 1–2 9 Dec
Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2 5–0 0–1
Sporting CP 2–5 2–0 1–0

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid 5 3 2 0 9 4 +5 11
Flag of England Liverpool 5 3 2 0 8 4 +4 11
Flag of France Marseille 5 1 0 4 5 7 −2 3
Flag of the Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 5 1 0 4 4 11 −7 3
  ATL LIV MAR PSV
Atlético Madrid 1–1 2–1 2–1
Liverpool 1–1 1–0 3–1
Marseille 9 Dec 1–2 3–0
PSV Eindhoven 0–3 9 Dec 2–0

On the next matchday (9 December)

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of England Manchester United 5 2 3 0 7 1 +6 9
Flag of Spain Villarreal 5 2 3 0 9 5 +4 9
Flag of Denmark Aalborg BK 5 1 2 2 7 12 −5 5
Flag of Scotland Celtic 5 0 2 3 2 7 −5 2
  AAB CEL MU VIL
Aalborg BK 2–1 0–3 2–2
Celtic 0–0 1–1 10 Dec
Manchester United 10 Dec 3–0 0–0
Villarreal 6–3 1–0 0–0

On the next matchday (10 December)

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of France Lyon 5 3 2 0 12 7 +5 11
Flag of Germany Bayern 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11
Flag of Italy Fiorentina 5 0 3 2 4 8 −4 3
Flag of Romania Steaua 5 0 1 4 3 11 −8 1
  BAY FIO LYO STE
Bayern 3–0 1–1 3–0
Fiorentina 1–1 1–2 0–0
Lyon 10 Dec 2–2 2–0
Steaua 0–1 10 Dec 3–5

On the next matchday (10 December)

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of England Arsenal 5 3 2 0 11 3 +8 11
Flag of Portugal Porto 5 3 0 2 7 8 −1 9
Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 5 1 2 2 3 4 −1 5
Flag of Turkey Fenerbahçe 5 0 2 3 4 10 −6 2
  ARS DYN FEN POR
Arsenal 1–0 0–0 4–0
Dynamo Kyiv 1–1 10 Dec 1–2
Fenerbahçe 2–5 0–0 1–2
Porto 10 Dec 0–1 3–1

On the next matchday (10 December)

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Italy Juventus 5 3 2 0 7 3 +4 11
Flag of Spain Real Madrid 5 3 0 2 6 5 +1 9
Flag of Russia Zenit St. Petersburg 5 1 2 2 4 4 0 5
Flag of Belarus BATE 5 0 2 3 3 8 −5 2
  BAT JUV RM ZNT
BATE 2–2 0–1 0–2
Juventus 10 Dec 2–1 1–0
Real Madrid 2–0 0–2 10 Dec
Zenit St. Petersburg 1–1 0–0 1–2

On the next matchday (10 December)

Top goalscorers

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

Rank Name Team Goals Time played
1 Flag of Argentina Lionel Messi Flag of Spain Barcelona 5 315'
Flag of England Steven Gerrard Flag of England Liverpool 406'
3 Flag of Bulgaria Dimitar Berbatov Flag of England Manchester United 4 203'
Flag of Brazil Jádson Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 339'
Flag of the Netherlands Danny Koevermans Flag of the Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 408'
Flag of France Karim Benzema Flag of France Lyon 446'
Flag of Italy Alessandro Del Piero Flag of Italy Juventus 461'
8 Flag of Spain Bojan Krkić Flag of Spain Barcelona 3 210'
Flag of Spain Joseba Llorente Flag of Spain Villarreal 237'
Flag of Greece Evangelos Mantzios Flag of Greece Panathinaikos 262'
Flag of Togo Emmanuel Adebayor Flag of England Arsenal 266'
Flag of Argentina Sergio Agüero Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid 306'
Flag of the Netherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy Flag of Spain Real Madrid 352'
Flag of Montenegro Mirko Vučinić Flag of Italy Roma 354'
Flag of Germany Miroslav Klose Flag of Germany Bayern 406'
Flag of Italy Alberto Gilardino Flag of Italy Fiorentina 441'
Flag of Senegal Mamadou Niang Flag of France Marseille 446'
Flag of Argentina Lisandro Flag of Portugal Porto 450'

Source: Top Scorers - Matchday 5 - Wednesday 26 November 2008 - (after matches) (accessed 26 November 2008)

See also

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

  1. Ravdin, Eugene; Menicucci, Paolo (2006-10-05). "Moscow and Rome feast on finals", UEFA. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 
  2. "Porto lose Champions League place", BBC Sport (2008-06-04). Retrieved on 2008-06-04. 
  3. "FC Porto case deferred" (PDF), uefa.com (2008-06-13). Retrieved on 2008-06-16. 
  4. "Porto admission confirmed", uefa.com (2008-06-16). Retrieved on 2008-06-16. 
  5. "CSKA Sofia banned from Champions League over unpaid debts" (2008-06-05). Retrieved on 2008-06-05. 
  6. "Draws for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup" (PDF), UEFA (2008-07-22). Retrieved on 2008-07-22. 
  7. "UEFA sets Monaco agenda", UEFA (2008-08-05). Retrieved on 2008-08-13.