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.

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

• Associations 1-3 (Spain, England, and Italy) each have four teams qualify
• Associations 4-6 (France, Germany, and Portugal) each have three teams qualify
• Associations 7-15 (Romania, Netherlands, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Belgium, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Greece) each have two teams qualify
• Associations 16-53 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify

First qualifying round: (28 teams)

• 28 champions from associations 25-53

Second qualifying round: (28 teams)

• 14 winners from the first qualifying round
• 8 champions from associations 17-24 (Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Serbia, Denmark, Austria, Poland and Hungary)
• 6 runners-up from associations 10-15

Third qualifying round: (32 teams)

• 14 winners from the second qualifying round
• 6 champions from associations 11-16
• 3 runners-up from associations 7-9 (the Netherlands enter the winners of a series of play-off games rather than the runners-up automatically qualifying)
• 6 third-place finishers from associations 1-6
• 3 fourth-place finishers from associations 1-3

Group stage: (32 teams)

• 16 winners from the third qualifying round
• 10 champions from associations 1-10
• 6 runners-up from associations 1-6

Group stage
Real Madrid	Internazionale	Bayern	CFR Cluj
Villarreal	Roma	Werder Bremen	PSV Eindhoven
Manchester UnitedTH	Lyon	Porto	Zenit St. Petersburg
Chelsea	Bordeaux	Sporting CP	Celtic[A]
Third qualifying round
Barcelona	Fiorentina	Twente	Slavia Prague
Atlético Madrid	Marseille	Spartak Moscow	Galatasaray
Arsenal	Schalke 04	Shakhtar Donetsk	Olympiacos
Liverpool	Vitória Guimarães	Standard Liège	Levski Sofia[A]
Juventus	Steaua
Second qualifying round
Rangers	Fenerbahçe	Beitar Jerusalem	Rapid Wien
Dynamo Kyiv	Panathinaikos	Partizan	Wisła Kraków[A]
Anderlecht	Basel	Aalborg BK	MTK Budapest[A]
Sparta Prague	Brann
First qualifying round
Artmedia Petržalka	Kaunas	BATE	Llanelli
Dinamo Zagreb	Tampere United	Dinamo Tirana	NSÍ Runavík
Anorthosis	Sheriff Tiraspol	Levadia	F91 Dudelange
IFK Göteborg	Drogheda United	Pyunik Yerevan	Valletta
Domžale	Dinamo Tbilisi	Inter Baku	Santa Coloma
Modriča	Rabotnički	Aktobe	Murata
Ventspils	Valur	Linfield	Budućnost Podgorica

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]

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.

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

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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Linfield	1–3	Dinamo Zagreb	0–2	1–1
Valletta	0–3	Artmedia Petržalka	0–2	0–1
Dinamo Tbilisi	3–1	NSÍ Runavík	3–0	0–1
Santa Coloma	2–7	Kaunas	1–4	1–3
Murata	0–9	IFK Göteborg	0–5	0–4
Llanelli	1–4	Ventspils	1–0	0–4
Anorthosis	3–0	Pyunik Yerevan	1–0	2–0
Inter Baku	(a)1–1	Rabotnički	0–0	1–1
Tampere United	3–2	Budućnost	2–1	1–1
F91 Dudelange	0–3	Domžale	0–1	0–2
Dinamo Tirana	1–4	Modriča	0–2	1–2
Aktobe	1–4	Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	0–4
Drogheda United	3–1	Levadia	2–1	1–0
BATE	3–0	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).

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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Rangers	1–2	Kaunas	0–0	1–2
Brann	(a)2–2	Ventspils	1–0	1–2
Inter Baku	1–3	Partizan	1–1	0–2
Tampere United	3–7	Artmedia Petržalka	1–3	2–4
Anorthosis	4–3	Rapid Wien	3–0	1–3
Domžale	2–6	Dinamo Zagreb	0–3	2–3
Panathinaikos	3–0	Dinamo Tbilisi	3–0	0–0
IFK Göteborg	3–5	Basel	1–1	2–4
Sheriff Tiraspol	0–3	Sparta Prague	0–1	0–2
Drogheda United	3–4	Dynamo Kyiv	1–2[B]	2–2
Anderlecht	3–4	BATE	1–2	2–2
Beitar Jerusalem	2–6	Wisła Kraków	2–1	0–5
Fenerbahçe	7–0	MTK Hungária	2–0	5–0
Aalborg BK	7–1	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).

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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Anorthosis	3–1	Olympiacos	3–0	0–1
Vitória Guimarães	1–2	Basel	0–0	1–2
Shakhtar Donetsk	5–1	Dinamo Zagreb	2–0	3–1
Schalke 04	1–4	Atlético Madrid	1–0	0–4
Aalborg BK	4–0	Kaunas	2–0	2–0
Barcelona	4–1	Wisła Kraków	4–0	0–1
Levski Sofia	1–2	BATE	0–1	1–1
Standard Liège	0–1	Liverpool	0–0	0–1 (aet)
Partizan	3–4	Fenerbahçe	2–2	1–2
Twente	0–6	Arsenal	0–2	0–4
Spartak Moscow	2–8	Dynamo Kyiv	1–4	1–4
Juventus	5–1	Artmedia Petržalka	4–0	1–1
Brann	1–3	Marseille	0–1	1–2
Fiorentina	2–0	Slavia Prague	2–0	0–0
Galatasaray	2–3	Steaua	2–2	0–1
Sparta Prague	1–3[C]	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).

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]

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

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Chelsea 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7 Roma 4 2 0 2 7 5 +2 6 Bordeaux 4 2 0 2 4 8 −4 6 CFR Cluj 4 1 1 2 3 4 −1 4

BDX CLU CHL ROM Bordeaux – 1–0 26 Nov 1–3 CFR Cluj 1–2 – 0–0 26 Nov Chelsea 4–0 9 Dec – 1–0 Roma 9 Dec 1–2 3–1 –

On the next matchday (26 November)

• Chelsea will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat Bordeaux
• CFR Cluj will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they lose to Roma

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Internazionale 4 2 2 0 7 4 +3 8 Anorthosis 4 1 2 1 6 5 +1 5 Panathinaikos 4 1 1 2 6 7 −1 4 Werder Bremen 4 0 3 1 3 6 −3 3

ANO INT PAN BRM Anorthosis – 3–3 3–1 26 Nov Internazionale 1–0 – 26 Nov 1–1 Panathinaikos 9 Dec 0–2 – 2–2 Werder Bremen 0–0 9 Dec 0–3 –

On the next matchday (26 November)

• Internazionale will qualify for the knockout stage if they do not lose to Panathinaikos
• Anorthosis will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat Werder Bremen AND Internazionale defeat Panathinaikos
• Panathinaikos will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they lose to Internazionale and Anorthosis defeat Werder Bremen
• Werder Bremen will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they are defeated by Anorthosis OR
  • they draw with Anorthosis AND Panathinaikos defeat Internazionale

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Barcelona 4 3 1 0 11 3 +8 10 Sporting CP 4 3 0 1 5 3 +2 9 Shakhtar Donetsk 4 1 0 3 3 5 −2 3 Basel 4 0 1 3 2 10 −8 1

BAR BSL SHK SCP Barcelona – 1–1 9 Dec 3–1 Basel 0–5 – 1–2 9 Dec Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2 26 Nov – 0–1 Sporting CP 26 Nov 2–0 1–0 –

On the next matchday (26 November)

• Shakhtar Donetsk will qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup if they defeat Basel
• Basel will be eliminated from all European competitions if they do not beat Shakhtar Donetsk

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Atlético Madrid 4 2 2 0 7 3 +4 8 Liverpool 4 2 2 0 7 4 +3 8 Marseille 4 1 0 3 5 6 −1 3 PSV Eindhoven 4 1 0 3 3 9 −6 3

ATL LIV MAR PSV Atlético Madrid – 1–1 2–1 26 Nov Liverpool 1–1 – 26 Nov 3–1 Marseille 9 Dec 1–2 – 3–0 PSV Eindhoven 0–3 9 Dec 2–0 –

On the next matchday (26 November)

• Liverpool will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat Marseille, OR they draw with Marseille and PSV Eindhoven fail to defeat Atlético Madrid
• Atlético Madrid will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat PSV Eindhoven, OR they draw with PSV Eindhoven and Marseille fail to defeat Liverpool
• Marseille will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they fail to defeat Liverpool
• PSV Eindhoven will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they fail to defeat Atlético Madrid

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Manchester United 4 2 2 0 7 1 +6 8 Villarreal 4 2 2 0 9 5 +4 8 Celtic 4 0 2 2 1 5 −4 2 Aalborg BK 4 0 2 2 5 11 −6 2

AAB CEL MU VIL Aalborg BK – 25 Nov 0–3 2–2 Celtic 0–0 – 1–1 10 Dec Manchester United 10 Dec 3–0 – 0–0 Villarreal 6–3 1–0 25 Nov –

On the next matchday (25 November)

• Manchester United will qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they do not lose to Villarreal OR
  • they lose to Villarreal AND Aalborg BK fail to defeat Celtic
• Villarreal will qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they do not lose to Manchester United OR
  • they lose to Manchester United AND Celtic fail to defeat Aalborg BK
• Celtic will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they lose to Aalborg BK (in the first case, they will be eliminated from all European competitions) OR
  • they draw Aalborg OR
  • they defeat Aalborg and Manchester United fail to defeat Villarreal (in the third case, they will qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup)
• Aalborg BK will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they lose to Celtic (in the first case, they will be eliminated from all European competitions) OR
  • they draw Celtic OR
  • they defeat Celtic and Villarreal fail to defeat Manchester United (in the third case, they will qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup)

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Lyon 4 2 2 0 10 6 +4 8 Bayern 4 2 2 0 6 2 +4 8 Fiorentina 4 0 3 1 3 6 −3 3 Steaua 4 0 1 3 3 8 −5 1

BAY FIO LYO STE Bayern – 3–0 1–1 25 Nov Fiorentina 1–1 – 25 Nov 0–0 Lyon 10 Dec 2–2 – 2–0 Steaua 0–1 10 Dec 3–5 –

On the next matchday (25 November)

• Lyon will qualify for the knockout stage if they do not lose to Fiorentina
• Bayern will qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they do not lose to Steaua OR
  • Fiorentina do not defeat Lyon
• Fiorentina will not qualify for the knockout stage if they do not defeat Lyon
• Steaua will be eliminated from all European competitions if they lose to Bayern AND Fiorentina defeat Lyon

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Arsenal 4 2 2 0 10 3 +7 8 Porto 4 2 0 2 5 7 −2 6 Dynamo Kyiv 4 1 2 1 3 3 0 5 Fenerbahçe 4 0 2 2 3 8 −5 2

ARS DYN FEN POR Arsenal – 25 Nov 0–0 4–0 Dynamo Kyiv 1–1 – 10 Dec 1–2 Fenerbahçe 2–5 0–0 – 25 Nov Porto 10 Dec 0–1 3–1 –

On the next matchday (25 November)

• Arsenal will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat or draw 0–0 with Dynamo Kyiv
• Porto will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat Fenerbahçe AND Dynamo Kyiv do not defeat Arsenal
• Dynamo Kyiv will not qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they lose to Arsenal and Porto defeat Fenerbahçe OR
  • they draw 0–0 with Arsenal and Porto defeat Fenerbahçe (in the second case, they will qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup)
• Fenerbahçe will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they fail to beat Porto
• Fenerbahçe will be eliminated from all European competitions if
  • they lose to Porto and Dynamo Kyiv do not lose to Arsenal OR
  • they draw Porto and Dynamo Kyiv beat Arsenal

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Juventus 4 3 1 0 7 3 +4 10 Real Madrid 4 2 0 2 5 5 0 6 Zenit St. Petersburg 4 1 1 2 4 4 0 4 BATE 4 0 2 2 3 7 −4 2

BAT JUV RM ZNT BATE – 2–2 25 Nov 0–2 Juventus 10 Dec – 2–1 1–0 Real Madrid 2–0 0–2 – 10 Dec Zenit St. Petersburg 1–1 25 Nov 1–2 –

On the next matchday (25 November)

• Real Madrid will qualify for the knockout stage if they defeat BATE AND Zenit St. Petersburg do not defeat Juventus
• Zenit St. Petersburg will not qualify for the knockout stage if
  • they lose to Juventus and Real Madrid defeat BATE OR
  • they draw Juventus and Real Madrid defeat BATE (in the second case, they will qualify for the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup)
• BATE will be unable to qualify for the knockout stage if they fail to beat Real Madrid
• BATE will be eliminated from all European competitions if
  • they draw Real Madrid and Zenit St. Petersburg defeat Juventus OR
  • they lose to Real Madrid and Zenit St. Petersburg do not lose to Juventus

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

Rank	Name	Team	Goals	Time played
1	Dimitar Berbatov	Manchester United	4	203'
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona		257'
	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool		307'
	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus		383'
5	Evangelos Mantzios	Panathinaikos	3	172'
	Sergio Agüero	Atlético Madrid		216'
	Joseba Llorente	Villarreal		237'
	Emmanuel Adebayor	Arsenal		266'
	Danny Koevermans	PSV Eindhoven		300'
	Karim Benzema	Lyon		351'
	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Real Madrid		352'
	Mirko Vučinić	Roma		354'
	Mamadou Niang	Marseille		356'

Source: Top Scorers - Matchday 4 - Wednesday 5 November 2008 - (after matches) (accessed 5 November 2008)

• UEFA Cup 2008–09
• UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008

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