The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition from the round of 16 onward.
The final was played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, in the second all-English final after Manchester United beat Chelsea in 2008. Liverpool won the match 2–0 to claim their sixth European Cup – becoming the third team to do so, behind Real Madrid in 1966, and Milan in 2003. The win gave Liverpool automatic qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage and the right to play in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup and the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, the latter two of which they won. As Chelsea and Arsenal also reached the 2019 UEFA Europa League final, this was the first season to have multiple finals of major European club competitions featuring teams from a single nation.
Defending champions Real Madrid, who had won four of the last five titles, including each of the last three, were eliminated by Ajax in the round of 16. Although Ajax was eliminated in the semi-finals, they had played more matches than any other team in the tournament due to entering in the second qualifying round.
Format changes On 9 December 2016, UEFA confirmed the reforming plan for the UEFA Champions League for the 2018–2021 cycle, which was announced on 26 August 2016. As per the new regulations, the previous season's UEFA Europa League winners will qualify automatically for the UEFA Champions League group stage (previously they would qualify for the play-off round, but would be promoted to the group stage only if the Champions League title holder berth was vacated, although this promotion to the group stage had been made in all three seasons since it was established from 2015 to 2016). Meanwhile, the top four teams from the leagues of the four top-ranked national associations in the UEFA country coefficients list will qualify automatically for the group stage as well. Only six teams will qualify for the group stage via the qualification rounds, down from ten in the previous season.
This was also the first year to feature a preliminary round, in which the representatives of the four bottom-ranked national associations in the UEFA country coefficients contested single-legged semi-finals and a final to determine the final team to enter the first qualifying round.
Association team allocation 79 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which did 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: Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify. Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify. Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify. Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein) each had one team qualify. The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League and 2017–18 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league. The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was not necessary. The winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Atlético Madrid, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders was not necessary.
Association ranking For the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2017 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2012–13 to 2016–17.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League winners – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League winners
+Association ranking for 2018–19 UEFA Champions LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.Teams1104.9984279.498375.962473.332556.6653650.532749.3322842.633942.4001039.2001133.1751232.0751331.0631427.9001525.3501625.25011724.3501824.0001919.875RankAssociationCoeff.Teams2019.75012119.7252219.3752318.9252418.5502518.3252617.7502715.8752815.3752915.2503013.1253111.7503211.0000339.5001349.500358.375367.650376.625RankAssociationCoeff.Teams386.5751396.500406.375416.125425.625435.250445.250455.125464.875474.500484.125494.000503.875513.500522.500531.165540.333550.000
Distribution In the default access list, the Champions League title holders qualified for the group stage. However, since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league (as third place of the 2017–18 La Liga), the following changes to the access list were made: The champions of association 11 (Czech Republic) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round. The champions of association 13 (Netherlands) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round. The champions of association 15 (Austria) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round. The champions of associations 18 (Denmark) and 19 (Belarus) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
In addition, the Europa League title holders qualified for the group stage. However, since Atlético Madrid, the Europa League champions, already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league (as second place of the 2017–18 La Liga), the following changes to the access list were made: The third-placed team of association 5 (France) entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round. The runners-up of association 10 (Turkey) and 11 (Czech Republic) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
+Access list for 2018–19 UEFA Champions LeagueTeams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundPreliminary round(4 teams)4 champions from associations 52–55First qualifying round(32 teams)31 champions from associations 20–51 (except Liechtenstein)1 winner from the preliminary roundSecond qualifying roundChampions Path(20 teams)4 champions from associations 16–1916 winners from the first qualifying roundLeague Path(4 teams)4 runners-up from associations 12–15Third qualifying roundChampions Path(12 teams)2 champions from associations 14–1510 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path(8 teams)5 runners-up from associations 7–11 1 third-placed team from association 62 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)Play-off roundChampions Path(8 teams)2 champions from associations 12–136 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path(4 teams)4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)Group stage(32 teams)11 champions from associations 1–11 6 runners-up from associations 1–6 5 third-placed teams from associations 1–5 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–44 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path) 2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)Knockout phase(16 teams)8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage
Teams League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders). +Qualified teams for 2018–19 UEFA Champions League (by entry round)Group stage Real Madrid TH Borussia Dortmund Roma Porto Atlético Madrid EL Manchester City Inter Milan Shakhtar Donetsk Barcelona Manchester United Paris Saint-Germain Club Brugge Valencia Tottenham Hotspur Monaco Galatasaray Bayern Munich Liverpool Lyon Viktoria Plzeň Schalke 04 Juventus Lokomotiv Moscow TSG Hoffenheim Napoli CSKA Moscow +Play-off roundChampions PathLeague Path Young Boys PSV Eindhoven +Third qualifying roundChampions PathLeague Path AEK Athens Red Bull Salzburg Spartak Moscow Standard Liège Benfica Fenerbahçe Dynamo Kyiv Slavia Prague +Second qualifying roundChampions PathLeague Path Dinamo Zagreb Midtjylland Basel PAOK CFR Cluj BATE Borisov Ajax Sturm Graz +First qualifying round Legia Warsaw Red Star Belgrade Kukësi Alashkert Malmö FF Astana Cork City F91 Dudelange Hapoel Be'er Sheva Olimpija Ljubljana Zrinjski Mostar Crusaders Celtic Spartak Trnava Torpedo Kutaisi Sūduva APOEL Vidi Spartaks Jūrmala Valletta Rosenborg Sheriff Tiraspol Shkëndija The New Saints Qarabağ Valur Flora Víkingur Gøta Ludogorets Razgrad HJK Sutjeska +Preliminary round Lincoln Red Imps FC Santa Coloma La Fiorita Drita Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
+Schedule for 2018–19 UEFA Champions LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingPreliminary round12 June 201826 June 2018 (semi-final round)29 June 2018 (final round)First qualifying round19 June 201810–11 July 201817–18 July 2018Second qualifying round24–25 July 201831 July – 1 August 2018Third qualifying round23 July 20187–8 August 201814 August 2018Play-offPlay-off round6 August 201821–22 August 201828–29 August 2018Group stageMatchday 130 August 2018(Monaco)18–19 September 2018Matchday 22–3 October 2018Matchday 323–24 October 2018Matchday 46–7 November 2018Matchday 527–28 November 2018Matchday 611–12 December 2018Knockout phaseRound of 1617 December 201812–13 & 19–20 February 20195–6 & 12–13 March 2019Quarter-finals15 March 20199–10 April 201916–17 April 2019Semi-finals30 April – 1 May 20197–8 May 2019Final1 June 2019 at Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid
From this season, there were staggered kick-off times in the group stage at 18:55 CET and 21:00 CET. Kick-off times starting from the knock-out phase were 21:00 CET.
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.
Preliminary round In the preliminary round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into one-legged semi-final and final ties. The draw for the preliminary round was held on 12 June 2018. The semi-final round was played on 26 June, and the final round was played on 29 June 2018, both at the Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar. The losers of both semi-final and final rounds entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.
Drita's win in the semi-final round was the first time that a team representing Kosovo had won a game in any UEFA competition.
First qualifying round The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 19 June 2018. The first legs were played on 10 and 11 July, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 July 2018. The losers entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round, except one team were drawn to receive a bye to the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
Second qualifying round The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Path (for league champions) and League Path (for league non-champions). The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2018. The first legs were played on 24 and 25 July, and the second legs were played on 31 July and 1 August 2018. The losers from both Champions Path and League Path entered the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
Third qualifying round