2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 20 September and ended on 13 December 2018.[1] A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.[2]
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2018, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.[3]
The 48 teams were drawn into twelve 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 their 2018 UEFA club coefficients.[4]
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.[5]
Moreover, the draw was controlled for teams from the same association in order to split the teams evenly into the two sets of six groups (A–F, G–L) for maximum television coverage. On each matchday, one set of six groups played their matches at 18:55 CET/CEST, while the other set of six groups played their matches at 21:00 CET/CEST, 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][6]
Real Betis and Sevilla
Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig
Chelsea and Arsenal
Lazio and Milan
Marseille and Bordeaux
Spartak Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg
Dynamo Kyiv and Vorskla Poltava
Standard Liège and Anderlecht
Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş
Slavia Prague and Jablonec
PAOK and Olympiacos
Red Bull Salzburg and Rapid Wien
Celtic and Rangers
AEK Larnaca and Apollon Limassol
Rosenborg and Sarpsborg 08
The fixtures were decided after the draw, using a computer draw not shown to public, with the following match sequence (Regulations Article 15.02):[2]
| Matchday | Date | Matches[note 1] |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 20 September 2018 | 2 v 3, 4 v 1 |
| Matchday 2 | 4 October 2018 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
| Matchday 3 | 25 October 2018 | 3 v 1, 2 v 4 |
| Matchday 4 | 8 November 2018 | 1 v 3, 4 v 2 |
| Matchday 5 | 29 November 2018 | 3 v 2, 1 v 4 |
| Matchday 6 | 13 December 2018 | 2 v 1, 4 v 3 |
There were scheduling restrictions: for example, teams from the same city (e.g., Arsenal and Chelsea) in general were not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday (to avoid them playing at home on the same day, 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),[4] grouped by their seeding pot. They included:
- 17 teams which entered in the group stage
- 21 winners of the play-off round (8 from Champions Path, 13 from Main Path)
- 6 losers of the Champions League play-off round (4 from Champions Path, 2 from League Path)
- 4 League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Group winners and runners-up advanced to round of 32 |
- Notes
- EL-CP Winners of play-off round (Champions Path).
- EL-MP Winners of play-off round (Main Path).
- CL-CP Losers of Champions League play-off round (Champions Path).
- CL-LP Losers of Champions League play-off round (League Path).
- CL-LQ Losers of Champions League third qualifying 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 32, where they were joined by the eight third-placed teams of the Champions League group stage.
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 16.01):[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 were 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 20 September, 4 October, 25 October, 8 November, 29 November, and 13 December 2018. The scheduled kickoff times were 18:55 and 21:00 CET/CEST, except for a few matches whose kickoff times were 16:50 CET/CEST.[7]
Times are CET/CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Group A
AEK Larnaca  | 0–1 |  Zürich |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Ludogorets Razgrad  | 2–3 |  Bayer Leverkusen |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Bayer Leverkusen | 4–2 | AEK Larnaca |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Zürich | 1–0 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Zürich | 3–2 | Bayer Leverkusen |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1–0 | Zürich |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Zürich | 1–2 | AEK Larnaca |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1–1 | Ludogorets Razgrad |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| AEK Larnaca | 1–5 | Bayer Leverkusen |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group B
| RB Leipzig | 2–3 |  Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| RB Leipzig | 2–0 |  Celtic |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Rosenborg  | 2–5 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Red Bull Salzburg | 1–0 | RB Leipzig |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| RB Leipzig | 1–1 | Rosenborg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Celtic | 1–2 | Red Bull Salzburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group C
Copenhagen  | 1–1 |  Zenit Saint Petersburg |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Slavia Prague  | 1–0 |  Bordeaux |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Copenhagen | 0–1 | Slavia Prague |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 1–0 | Copenhagen |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Bordeaux | 2–0 | Slavia Prague |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Copenhagen | 0–1 | Bordeaux |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DZG | FEN | SPT | AND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dinamo Zagreb |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | |
| 2 |  Fenerbahçe |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 |  Spartak Trnava |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 7 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 |  Anderlecht |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — |
| Spartak Trnava | 1–0 | Anderlecht |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 4–1 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Fenerbahçe | 2–0 | Spartak Trnava |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Anderlecht | 2–2 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Spartak Trnava | 1–2 | Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Spartak Trnava | 1–0 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group E
- Goal difference in all group matches: Vorskla Poltava –9, Qarabağ –11.
Sporting CP  | 2–0 |  Qarabağ |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Arsenal  | 4–2 |  Vorskla Poltava |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Vorskla Poltava | 1–2 | Sporting CP |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Qarabağ | 0–3 | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Qarabağ | 0–1 | Vorskla Poltava |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Sporting CP | 0–1 | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Vorskla Poltava | 0–1 | Qarabağ |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Arsenal | 0–0 | Sporting CP |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Vorskla Poltava | 0–3 | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Sporting CP | 3–0 | Vorskla Poltava |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group F
- Goal difference in all group matches: Olympiacos +5, Milan +3.
F91 Dudelange  | 0–1 |  Milan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Real Betis  | 1–1 | Milan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Olympiacos  | 5–1 | F91 Dudelange |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Real Betis | 1–0 | Olympiacos |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group G
- Head-to-head points: Villarreal 4, Rapid Wien 1.
| Spartak Moscow | 3–3 | Villarreal |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Spartak Moscow | 1–2 | Rapid Wien |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Rangers | 0–0 | Villarreal |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Villarreal | 2–0 | Spartak Moscow |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Rapid Wien | 1–0 | Rangers |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group H
| Lazio | 2–1 | Apollon Limassol |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Apollon Limassol | 2–2 | Marseille |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 4–0 | Marseille |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group I
| Beşiktaş | 3–1 | Sarpsborg 08 |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Sarpsborg 08 | 3–1 | Genk |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Sarpsborg 08 | 1–1 |  Malmö FF |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Beşiktaş | 2–4 | Genk |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Malmö FF | 1–1 | Sarpsborg 08 |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Sarpsborg 08 | 2–3 | Beşiktaş |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group J
- Head-to-head goal difference: Sevilla +2, Krasnodar –2.
| Sevilla | 5–1 | Standard Liège |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Akhisarspor | 0–1 | Krasnodar |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Standard Liège | 2–1 | Akhisarspor |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Krasnodar | 2–1 | Standard Liège |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Standard Liège | 1–0 | Sevilla |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group K
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2–2 |  Astana |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Astana | 2–0 | Rennes |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Jablonec | 1–1 | Astana |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Astana | 2–1 | Jablonec |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Dynamo Kyiv | 3–1 | Rennes |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Astana | 0–1 | Dynamo Kyiv |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Dynamo Kyiv | 0–1 | Jablonec |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group L
Vidi  | 0–2 |  BATE Borisov |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Chelsea | 3–1 | BATE Borisov |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| BATE Borisov | 0–1 | Chelsea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| BATE Borisov | 2–0 | Vidi |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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.
- AEK Larnaca played their home matches at GSP Stadium, Nicosia, instead of their regular stadium AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, Larnaca.
- Qarabağ played their home matches at Olympic Stadium, Baku, instead of their regular stadium Azersun Arena, Baku.
- Vorskla Poltava played this match at NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv, instead of their regular stadium Oleksiy Butovsky Vorskla Stadium, Poltava, due to martial law being declared in parts of Ukraine.[66]
- F91 Dudelange played their home matches at Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, instead of their regular stadium Stade Jos Nosbaum, Dudelange.
- Apollon Limassol played their home matches at GSP Stadium, Nicosia, instead of their regular stadium Tsirio Stadium, Limassol.
- Vidi played their home matches at Groupama Arena, Budapest, due to delays with the construction of their new stadium Sóstói Stadion, Székesfehérvár.[144]