2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage
Football tournament
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The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 18 September and ended on 12 December 2018.[1] A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League.[2]
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 30 August 2018, 18:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.[3]
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 (Regulations Article 13.06):[2]
- Pot 1 contained the Champions League title holders, the Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2017 UEFA country coefficients.[4] If either the Champions League or Europa League title holders were one of the champions of the top six associations, the champions of the association ranked seventh (and possibly eighth) were also seeded into Pot 1.
- Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients.[5]
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.[6]
Moreover, the draw was controlled for teams from the same association in order to split the teams evenly into the two sets of four groups (A–D, E–H) for maximum television coverage. On each matchday, one set of four groups played their matches on Tuesday, while the other set of four groups played their matches on Wednesday, with the two sets of groups alternating between each matchday. The following pairings were announced by UEFA after the group stage teams were confirmed:[3][7]
Real Madrid and Barcelona- Atlético Madrid and Valencia
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund- Schalke 04 and TSG Hoffenheim
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur- Manchester United and Liverpool
Juventus and Inter Milan- Napoli and Roma
Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon
Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow
Porto and Benfica
PSV Eindhoven and Ajax
The fixtures were decided after the draw, using a computer draw not shown to public, with the following match sequence (Regulations Article 16.02):[2]
| Matchday | Dates | Matches[note 1] |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 18–19 September 2018 | 2 v 3, 4 v 1 |
| Matchday 2 | 2–3 October 2018 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
| Matchday 3 | 23–24 October 2018 | 3 v 1, 2 v 4 |
| Matchday 4 | 6–7 November 2018 | 1 v 3, 4 v 2 |
| Matchday 5 | 27–28 November 2018 | 3 v 2, 1 v 4 |
| Matchday 6 | 11–12 December 2018 | 2 v 1, 4 v 3 |
There were scheduling restrictions: for example, teams from the same city (e.g. Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid) in general were not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday (to avoid them playing at home on the same day or on consecutive days, due to logistics and crowd control), and teams from "winter countries" (e.g. Russia) were not scheduled to play at home on the last matchday (due to cold weather).
Teams
Below were the participating teams (with their 2018 UEFA club coefficients),[5] grouped by their seeding pot. They included:
- 26 teams which entered in this stage
- 6 winners of the play-off round (4 from Champions Path, 2 from League Path)
| Key to colours |
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| Group winners and runners-up advanced to round of 16 |
| Third-placed teams entered Europa League round of 32 |
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- Notes
- TH Champions League title holders, automatically placed into Pot 1 as top seed.
- EL Europa League title holders, automatically placed into Pot 1 as second top seed.
- CP Winners of play-off round (Champions Path).
- LP Winners of play-off round (League Path).
Format
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the Europa League round of 32.
Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 17.01):[2]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above was reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Away goals scored in all group matches;
- Wins in all group matches;
- Away wins in all group matches;
- Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- UEFA club coefficient.
Groups
The matchdays were 18–19 September, 2–3 October, 23–24 October, 6–7 November, 27–28 November, and 11–12 December 2018.[1] The scheduled kickoff times were 21:00 CET/CEST, with two matches on each Tuesday and Wednesday scheduled for 18:55 CET/CEST.[8]
Times are CET/CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DOR | ATM | BRU | MON | |
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| 1 |  Borussia Dortmund |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 13[a] | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 |  Atlético Madrid |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13[a] | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 |  Club Brugge |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | Transfer to Europa League | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | |
| 4 |  Monaco |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–4 | — |
- Head-to-head goal difference: Borussia Dortmund +2, Atlético Madrid –2.
| Club Brugge | 0–1 | Borussia Dortmund |
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| Atlético Madrid | 3–1 | Club Brugge |
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| Borussia Dortmund | 3–0 | Monaco |
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| Club Brugge | 1–1 | Monaco |
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| Monaco | 0–2 | Borussia Dortmund |
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Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BAR | TOT | INT | PSV | |
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| 1 | Barcelona |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 |  Tottenham Hotspur |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 8[a] | 2–4 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 |  Inter Milan |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 8[a] | Transfer to Europa League | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | |
| 4 |  PSV Eindhoven |
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | — |
- Head-to-head away goals: Tottenham Hotspur 1, Inter Milan 0.
| Inter Milan | 2–1 | Tottenham Hotspur |
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| PSV Eindhoven | 1–2 | Inter Milan |
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| Tottenham Hotspur | 2–1 | PSV Eindhoven |
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| Inter Milan | 1–1 | Barcelona |
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| Tottenham Hotspur | 1–0 | Inter Milan |
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| Barcelona | 1–1 | Tottenham Hotspur |
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| Inter Milan | 1–1 | PSV Eindhoven |
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PAR | LIV | NAP | RSB | |
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| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 6–1 | |
| 2 | Liverpool |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 9[a] | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 3 | Napoli |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 9[a] | Transfer to Europa League | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | |
| 4 |  Red Star Belgrade |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 4 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — |
- Goals in all group matches: Liverpool 9, Napoli 7.
| Red Star Belgrade | 2–0 | Liverpool |
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| Napoli | 3–1 | Red Star Belgrade |
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| Red Star Belgrade | 1–4 | Paris Saint-Germain |
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Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | POR | SCH | GAL | LMO | |
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| 1 |  Porto |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 16 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | |
| 2 | Schalke 04 |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 11 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 |  Galatasaray |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 4 | Transfer to Europa League | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | |
| 4 |  Lokomotiv Moscow |
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 0–1 | Schalke 04 |
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| Porto | 1–0 | Galatasaray |
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| Lokomotiv Moscow | 1–3 | Porto |
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| Schalke 04 | 2–0 | Galatasaray |
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| Schalke 04 | 1–0 | Lokomotiv Moscow |
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Group E
| Ajax | 3–0 |  AEK Athens |
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| Benfica | 0–2 | Bayern Munich |
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| Bayern Munich | 1–1 | Ajax |
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| AEK Athens | 2–3 | Benfica |
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| AEK Athens | 0–2 | Bayern Munich |
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| Bayern Munich | 2–0 | AEK Athens |
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| AEK Athens | 0–2 | Ajax |
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| Bayern Munich | 5–1 | Benfica |
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| Ajax | 3–3 | Bayern Munich |
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| Benfica | 1–0 | AEK Athens |
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Group F
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MCI | LYO | SHK | HOF | |
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| 1 | Manchester City |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–2 | 6–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Lyon |
6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 8 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | ||
| 3 |  Shakhtar Donetsk |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 6 | Transfer to Europa League | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | |
| 4 | TSG Hoffenheim |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–3 | — |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 2–2 | TSG Hoffenheim |
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| Lyon | 2–2 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
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| Shakhtar Donetsk | 1–1 | Lyon |
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| Manchester City | 2–1 | TSG Hoffenheim |
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Group G
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RMA | ROM | PLZ | CSKA | |
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| 1 | Real Madrid |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | |
| 2 | Roma |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 9 | 0–2 | — | 5–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 |  Viktoria Plzeň |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 7[a] | Transfer to Europa League | 0–5 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7[a] | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — |
- Head-to-head points: Viktoria Plzeň 4, CSKA Moscow 1.
| Viktoria Plzeň | 2–2 | CSKA Moscow |
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| CSKA Moscow | 1–0 | Real Madrid |
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| Roma | 3–0 | CSKA Moscow |
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| Real Madrid | 2–1 | Viktoria Plzeň |
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| CSKA Moscow | 1–2 | Roma |
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| Roma | 0–2 | Real Madrid |
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| Real Madrid | 0–3 | CSKA Moscow |
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Group H
| Juventus | 3–0 |  Young Boys |
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| Manchester United | 0–1 | Juventus |
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| Manchester United | 1–0 | Young Boys |
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Notes
- Positions for scheduling did not use the seeding pots, e.g., Team 1 was not necessarily the team from Pot 1 in the draw.
- Tottenham Hotspur played their home matches at Wembley Stadium, London, due to delays with the construction of their new stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.[15]
- Shakhtar Donetsk played their first two home matches at Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, instead of their regular stadium, the Donbas Arena in Donetsk, due to the war in Donbas.
- The Lyon v Shakhtar Donetsk match was played behind closed doors as UEFA punishment for crowd disorder at Lyon matches during the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.[22]
- Shakhtar Donetsk played this match at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, instead of their temporary stadium Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, due to martial law being declared in parts of Ukraine.