2014–15 UEFA Champions League

European football tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

DatesQualifying:
1 July – 27 August 2014
Competition proper:
16 September 2014 – 6 June 2015
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 77 (from 53 associations)
ChampionsSpain Barcelona (5th title)
Runners-upItaly Juventus
Quick facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2014–15 UEFA Champions League
The Olympiastadion in Berlin hosted the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
1 July – 27 August 2014
Competition proper:
16 September 2014 – 6 June 2015
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 77 (from 53 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Barcelona (5th title)
Runners-upItaly Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played125
Goals scored361 (2.89 per match)
Attendance5,136,695 (41,094 per match)
Top scorer(s)Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Neymar (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
10 goals each
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The final was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany,[1] with Spanish side Barcelona defeating Italian side Juventus 3–1 to win their fifth title and complete an unprecedented second continental treble.[2] Real Madrid were the title holders, but they were eliminated by Juventus in the semi-finals.

This season was the first where clubs must comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in order to participate.[3] Moreover, this season was the first where a club from Gibraltar competed in the tournament, after the Gibraltar Football Association was accepted as the 54th UEFA member at the UEFA Congress in May 2013.[4] They were granted one spot in the Champions League,[5] which was taken by Lincoln Red Imps, the champions of the 2013–14 Gibraltar Premier Division.[6]

On 17 July 2014, the UEFA emergency panel ruled that Ukrainian and Russian clubs would not be drawn against each other "until further notice" due to the political unrest between the countries.[7] Another ruling centred in regional instability was also made where Israeli teams were prohibited from hosting any UEFA competitions due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[8] The rules regarding suspension due to yellow card accumulation were also changed such that all bookings expired on completion of the quarter-finals and were not carried forward to the semi-finals.[9] Moreover, this was the first season in which vanishing spray was used.[10]

Association team allocation

A total of 77 teams from 53 of the 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which do 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:[11]

  • Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify.
  • Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify.
  • Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
  • Associations 16–54 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify.

The winners of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League were given an additional entry as title holders if they would not qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league (because of the restriction that no association can have more than four teams playing in the Champions League, if the title holders are from the top three associations and finish outside the top four in their domestic league, the title holders' entry comes at the expense of the fourth-placed team of their association). However, this additional entry was not necessary for this season since the title holders qualified for the tournament through their domestic league.

Association ranking

For the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2013 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2008–09 to 2012–13.[12][13]

More information Rank, Association ...
Rank Association Coeff. Teams
1  Spain 88.025 4
2  England 82.963
3  Germany 79.614
4  Italy 64.147 3
5  Portugal 59.168
6  France 59.000
7  Ukraine 49.758 2
8  Russia 46.332
9  Netherlands 44.729
10  Turkey 34.500
11  Belgium 34.400
12  Greece 34.000
13  Switzerland 28.925
14  Cyprus 26.833
15  Denmark 25.700
16  Austria 25.375 1
17  Czech Republic 23.725
18  Romania 23.024
Rank Association Coeff. Teams
19  Israel 22.875 1
20  Belarus 20.875
21  Poland 20.750
22  Croatia 19.583
23  Sweden 15.625
24  Scotland 15.191
25  Serbia 14.625
26  Slovakia 14.208
27  Norway 14.175
28  Bulgaria 12.250
29  Hungary 11.750
30  Slovenia 9.708
31  Georgia 9.166
32  Azerbaijan 8.541
33  Finland 8.508
34  Bosnia and Herzegovina 7.833
35  Moldova 7.666
36  Republic of Ireland 7.375
Rank Association Coeff. Teams
37  Lithuania 6.500 1
38  Kazakhstan 5.958
39  Latvia 5.791
40  Iceland 5.416
41  Montenegro 5.250
42  Macedonia 5.250
43  Albania 4.166
44  Malta 3.958
45  Liechtenstein 3.500 0
46  Luxembourg 3.375 1
47  Northern Ireland 3.083
48  Wales 2.583
49  Estonia 2.208
50  Armenia 1.750
51  Faroe Islands 1.583
52  San Marino 0.666
53  Andorra 0.500
54  Gibraltar 0.000
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Distribution

Since the title holders Real Madrid qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league (as the third-placed team of the 2013–14 La Liga), the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:[14][15][16]

  • The champions of association 13 (Switzerland) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
  • The champions of association 16 (Austria) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
  • The champions of associations 47 (Northern Ireland) and 48 (Wales) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
More information Teams entering in this round, Teams advancing from previous round ...
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round
(6 teams)
  • 6 champions from associations 49–54
Second qualifying round
(34 teams)
  • 31 champions from associations 17–48 (except Liechtenstein)
  • 3 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round Champions
(20 teams)
  • 3 champions from associations 14–16
  • 17 winners from the second qualifying round
Non-champions
(10 teams)
  • 9 runners-up from associations 7–15
  • 1 third-placed team from association 6
Play-off round Champions
(10 teams)
  • 10 winners from the third qualifying round for champions
Non-champions
(10 teams)
  • 2 third-placed teams from associations 4–5
  • 3 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–3
  • 5 winners from the third qualifying round for non-champions
Group stage
(32 teams)
  • 13 champions from associations 1–13
  • 6 runners-up from associations 1–6
  • 3 third-placed teams from associations 1–3
  • 5 winners from the play-off round for champions
  • 5 winners from the play-off round for non-champions
Knockout phase
(16 teams)
  • 8 group winners from the group stage
  • 8 group runners-up from the group stage
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Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Title holders).[17][18]

More information Group stage, Play-off round ...
Group stage
Spain Real Madrid (3rd)TH Germany Bayern Munich (1st) Portugal Sporting CP (2nd) Turkey Galatasaray (2nd)[Note TUR]
Spain Atlético Madrid (1st) Germany Borussia Dortmund (2nd) France Paris Saint-Germain (1st) Belgium Anderlecht (1st)
Spain Barcelona (2nd) Germany Schalke 04 (3rd) France Monaco (2nd) Greece Olympiacos (1st)
England Manchester City (1st) Italy Juventus (1st) Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk (1st) Switzerland Basel (1st)
England Liverpool (2nd) Italy Roma (2nd) Russia CSKA Moscow (1st)
England Chelsea (3rd) Portugal Benfica (1st) Netherlands Ajax (1st)
Play-off round
Champions Non-champions
Spain Athletic Bilbao (4th) Germany Bayer Leverkusen (4th) Portugal Porto (3rd)
England Arsenal (4th) Italy Napoli (3rd)
Third qualifying round
Champions Non-champions
Cyprus APOEL (1st) France Lille (3rd) Turkey Beşiktaş (3rd)[Note TUR] Cyprus AEL Limassol (2nd)
Denmark AaB (1st) Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (2nd) Belgium Standard Liège (2nd) Denmark Copenhagen (2nd)
Austria Red Bull Salzburg (1st) Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg (2nd) Greece Panathinaikos (2nd)
Netherlands Feyenoord (2nd) Switzerland Grasshopper (2nd)
Second qualifying round
Czech Republic Sparta Prague (1st) Serbia Partizan (2nd)[Note SRB] Finland HJK (1st) Montenegro Sutjeska (1st)
Romania Steaua București (1st) Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (1st) Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar (1st) North Macedonia Rabotnicki (1st)
Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st) Norway Strømsgodset (1st) Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol (1st) Albania Skënderbeu (1st)
Belarus BATE Borisov (1st) Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad (1st) Republic of Ireland St Patrick's Athletic (1st) Malta Valletta (1st)
Poland Legia Warsaw (1st) Hungary Debrecen (1st) Lithuania Žalgiris (1st) Luxembourg F91 Dudelange (1st)
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (1st) Slovenia Maribor (1st) Kazakhstan Aktobe (1st) Northern Ireland Cliftonville (1st)
Sweden Malmö FF (1st) Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi (1st) Latvia Ventspils (1st) Wales The New Saints (1st)
Scotland Celtic (1st) Azerbaijan Qarabağ (1st) Iceland KR (1st)
First qualifying round
Estonia Levadia Tallinn (1st) Faroe Islands HB (1st) Andorra FC Santa Coloma (1st)
Armenia Banants (1st) San Marino La Fiorita (1st) Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps (1st)
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Notes

  1. ^
    Serbia (SRB): Red Star Belgrade, the champions of the 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga, would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round, but were banned by UEFA for breaching UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.[19] As a result, the berth was given to Partizan, the runners-up of the league.
  2. ^
    Turkey (TUR): Fenerbahçe, the champions of the 2013–14 Süper Lig, would have qualified for the Champions League group stage, but were banned by UEFA because of the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal.[20][21] As a result, Galatasaray, the runners-up of the league, entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round, and the third qualifying round berth was given to Beşiktaş, the third-placed team of the league.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[22][23]

More information Phase, Round ...
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 23 June 2014 1–2 July 2014 8–9 July 2014
Second qualifying round 15–16 July 2014 22–23 July 2014
Third qualifying round 18 July 2014 29–30 July 2014 5–6 August 2014
Play-off Play-off round 8 August 2014 19–20 August 2014 26–27 August 2014
Group stage Matchday 1 28 August 2014
(Monaco)
16–17 September 2014
Matchday 2 30 September–1 October 2014
Matchday 3 21–22 October 2014
Matchday 4 4–5 November 2014
Matchday 5 25–26 November 2014
Matchday 6 9–10 December 2014
Knockout phase Round of 16 15 December 2014 17–18 & 24–25 February 2015 10–11 & 17–18 March 2015
Quarter-finals 20 March 2015 14–15 April 2015 21–22 April 2015
Semi-finals 24 April 2015 5–6 May 2015 12–13 May 2015
Final 6 June 2015 at Olympiastadion, Berlin
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The final date of 6 June could cause problems for South American international players called up to play in the 2015 Copa América, which begins on 11 June. FIFA international rules require clubs to release players 14 days prior to the start of an international tournament, which means the players would have to miss the Champions League final if the rules were enforced. If the players were allowed to play in the Champions League final, that would leave them as few as five days to travel and train prior to playing in the Copa América.[24]

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[25][26][27] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 23 June 2014.[28] The first legs were played on 1 and 2 July, and the second legs were played on 8 July 2014.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
FC Santa Coloma Andorra3–3 (a)Armenia Banants1–02–3
Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar3–6Faroe Islands HB1–12–5
La Fiorita San Marino0–8Estonia Levadia Tallinn0–10–7
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Second qualifying round

The first legs were played on 15 and 16 July, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 July 2014.

Notes:
  1. Order of legs reversed after original draw, due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[29]
  2. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round.

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2014.[30] The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 August 2014.

Notes:
  1. Because of a clerical error by Legia Warsaw involving Bartosz Bereszyński, who was suspended for three matches as a result of a red card on matchday 6 of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage, UEFA awarded Celtic a 3–0 win. The error involved Legia Warsaw not registering the suspended player for the St. Patrick's Athletic tie the previous round, which meant those two matches did not count towards his suspension. The original match had ended in a 2–0 win for Legia Warsaw.[31]

Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 8 August 2014.[32] The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2014.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Group stage

Location of teams of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage.
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 in Monaco on 28 August 2014.[33] The 32 teams were allocated into four pots based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[25][26][27] with the title holders being placed in Pot 1 automatically. They were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 16–17 September, 30 September–1 October, 21–22 October, 4–5 November, 25–26 November, and 9–10 December 2014.

A total of 18 national associations were represented in the group stage. Ludogorets Razgrad and Malmö FF made their debut appearances in the group stage.[34] For the first time since the 1995–96 season, England's Manchester United did not qualify for the group stage.

Teams that qualified for the group stage also participated in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League, a competition available to players aged 19 or under.

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League round of 32. See 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage for tiebreakers if two or more teams are equal on points.

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ATM JUV OLY MAL
1 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 14 3 +11 13 Advance to knockout phase 1–0 4–0 5–0
2 Italy Juventus 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10 0–0 3–2 2–0
3 Greece Olympiacos 6 3 0 3 10 13 3 9 Transfer to Europa League 3–2 1–0 4–2
4 Sweden Malmö FF 6 1 0 5 4 15 11 3 0–2 0–2 2–0
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Source: UEFA

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA BSL LIV LUD
1 Spain Real Madrid 6 6 0 0 16 2 +14 18 Advance to knockout phase 5–1 1–0 4–0
2 Switzerland Basel 6 2 1 3 7 8 1 7 0–1 1–0 4–0
3 England Liverpool 6 1 2 3 5 9 4 5 Transfer to Europa League 0–3 1–1 2–1
4 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 6 1 1 4 5 14 9 4 1–2 1–0 2–2
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Source: UEFA

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MON LEV ZEN BEN
1 France Monaco 6 3 2 1 4 1 +3 11 Advance to knockout phase 1–0 2–0 0–0
2 Germany Bayer Leverkusen 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10 0–1 2–0 3–1
3 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg 6 2 1 3 4 6 2 7 Transfer to Europa League 0–0 1–2 1–0
4 Portugal Benfica 6 1 2 3 2 6 4 5 1–0 0–0 0–2
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Source: UEFA

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DOR ARS AND GAL
1 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 4 1 1 14 4 +10 13 Advance to knockout phase 2–0 1–1 4–1
2 England Arsenal 6 4 1 1 15 8 +7 13 2–0 3–3 4–1
3 Belgium Anderlecht 6 1 3 2 8 10 2 6 Transfer to Europa League 0–3 1–2 2–0
4 Turkey Galatasaray 6 0 1 5 4 19 15 1 0–4 1–4 1–1
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Source: UEFA

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAY MCI ROM CSKA
1 Germany Bayern Munich 6 5 0 1 16 4 +12 15 Advance to knockout phase 1–0 2–0 3–0
2 England Manchester City 6 2 2 2 9 8 +1 8 3–2 1–1 1–2
3 Italy Roma 6 1 2 3 8 14 6 5 Transfer to Europa League 1–7 0–2 5–1
4 Russia CSKA Moscow 6 1 2 3 6 13 7 5 0–1 2–2 1–1
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Source: UEFA

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAR PAR AJX APO
1 Spain Barcelona 6 5 0 1 15 5 +10 15 Advance to knockout phase 3–1 3–1 1–0
2 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 1 1 10 7 +3 13 3–2 3–1 1–0
3 Netherlands Ajax 6 1 2 3 8 10 2 5 Transfer to Europa League 0–2 1–1 4–0
4 Cyprus APOEL 6 0 1 5 1 12 11 1 0–4 0–1 1–1
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Source: UEFA

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CHE SCH SPO MRB
1 England Chelsea 6 4 2 0 17 3 +14 14 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 3–1 6–0
2 Germany Schalke 04 6 2 2 2 9 14 5 8 0–5 4–3 1–1
3 Portugal Sporting CP 6 2 1 3 12 12 0 7 Transfer to Europa League 0–1 4–2 3–1
4 Slovenia Maribor 6 0 3 3 4 13 9 3 1–1 0–1 1–1
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Source: UEFA

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POR SHK ATH BATE
1 Portugal Porto 6 4 2 0 16 4 +12 14 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 2–1 6–0
2 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 6 2 3 1 15 4 +11 9 2–2 0–1 5–0
3 Spain Athletic Bilbao 6 2 1 3 5 6 1 7 Transfer to Europa League 0–2 0–0 2–0
4 Belarus BATE Borisov 6 1 0 5 2 24 22 3 0–3 0–7 2–1
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Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.

Bracket

Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
Italy Juventus235
Germany Borussia Dortmund101
Italy Juventus101
France Monaco000
England Arsenal123
France Monaco (a)303
Italy Juventus213
Spain Real Madrid112
Germany Bayer Leverkusen101 (2)
Spain Atlético Madrid (p)011 (3)
Spain Atlético Madrid000
Spain Real Madrid011
Germany Schalke 04044
6 June – Berlin
Spain Real Madrid235
Italy Juventus1
Spain Barcelona3
France Paris Saint-Germain (a.e.t.; a)123
England Chelsea123
France Paris Saint-Germain101
Spain Barcelona325
England Manchester City101
Spain Barcelona213
Spain Barcelona325
Germany Bayern Munich033
Switzerland Basel101
Portugal Porto145
Portugal Porto314
Germany Bayern Munich167
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk000
Germany Bayern Munich077

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 15 December 2014.[35] The first legs were played on 17, 18, 24 and 25 February, and the second legs were played on 10, 11, 17 and 18 March 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 20 March 2015.[36] The first legs were played on 14 and 15 April, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 April 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes) was held on 24 April 2015.[37] The first legs were played on 5 and 6 May, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 May 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Barcelona Spain5–3Germany Bayern Munich3–02–3
Juventus Italy3–2Spain Real Madrid2–11–1
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Final

The final was played on 6 June 2015 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.

More information Juventus, 1–3 ...
Juventus Italy1–3Spain Barcelona
  • Morata 55'
Report
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Attendance: 70,442[38]

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Shakhtar's Luiz Adriano became the first player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Champions League group stage games, both against BATE Borisov.[39]

Source:[40]

Top assists

More information Rank, Player ...
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Source:[41]

Squad of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament:[42]

See also

References

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