2018–19 UEFA Champions League facts for kids

{{Infobox international football competition | tourney_name = UEFA Champions League | year = 2018–19 | image = Wanda-Metropolitano.jpg | size = 275 | caption = The Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid will host the final | dates = Qualifying:
26 June – 29 August 2018
Competition proper:
18 September 2018 – 1 June 2019 | num_teams = Competition proper: 32
Total: 79 | associations = 54 | champion_other = | count = | second_other = | matches = 32 | goals = 94 | attendance =

The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th time Europe's top club football tournament was held. It is organized by UEFA. This was the 27th season since the tournament changed its name from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

The final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was played at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain. The team that won this Champions League season played against the winner of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup.

Teams in the Tournament

Many football clubs from all over Europe compete in the UEFA Champions League. A total of 79 teams started in the tournament, but only 32 made it to the main competition, called the group stage.

Teams qualify based on how well they did in their own country's league the season before. For example, the champions (first place) from the top leagues usually get a spot. Some teams, like the winners of the previous Champions League or Europa League, also get a special spot.

Here are some of the famous teams that played in the group stage:

• Barcelona
• Bayern Munich
• Manchester City
• Juventus
• Real Madrid
• Liverpool
• Paris Saint-Germain

Important Notes

• Albania (ALB): A team called Skënderbeu Korçë was banned from UEFA competitions. Because of this, Kukësi, who finished second in their league, took their place in the Champions League.
• France (FRA): Monaco is a club from Monaco, which isn't a UEFA member country. However, they play in the Champions League as a French team. Any points they earn help France's overall ranking.

Tournament Schedule

The UEFA Champions League has different stages, from early qualifying matches to the final. All the draws (where teams find out who they play against) happen at UEFA's main office in Nyon, Switzerland, unless it says otherwise.

Starting from this season, matches had different kick-off times: some at 18:55 CET and others at 21:00 CET.

Group Stage Play

The group stage draw happened on August 30, 2018, in Monaco. In this stage, 32 teams are divided into eight groups, with four teams in each group. Teams from the same country cannot be in the same group.

Teams are placed into different "pots" for the draw:

• Pot 1 includes the winners of the previous Champions League and Europa League. It also includes the champions from the top six football leagues in Europe.
• Pots 2, 3, and 4 have the other teams. Their placement depends on their club's ranking in UEFA.

In the group stage, each team plays every other team in their group twice: once at home and once away. This is called a round-robin format.

• The top two teams from each group move on to the next part of the tournament, called the Round of 16.
• The teams that finish third in their group get a chance to play in the Europa League.

The group stage matches were played on specific dates between September and December 2018.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DOR	ATM	BRU	MON
1	Borussia Dortmund	6	4	1	1	10	2	+8	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–0	0–0	3–0
2	Atlético Madrid	6	4	1	1	9	6	+3	13			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	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	TOT	INT	PSV
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			2–4	—	1–0	2–1
3	Inter Milan	6	2	2	2	6	7	−1	8	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	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAR	LIV	NAP	ZVE
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			3–2	—	1–0	4–0
3	Napoli	6	2	3	1	7	5	+2	9	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	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		POR	SCH	GAL	LOM
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	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAY	AJX	BEN	AEK
1	Bayern Munich	6	4	2	0	15	5	+10	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	5–1	2–0
2	Ajax	6	3	3	0	11	5	+6	12			3–3	—	1–0	3–0
3	Benfica	6	2	1	3	6	11	−5	7	Transfer to Europa League		0–2	1–1	—	1–0
4	AEK Athens	6	0	0	6	2	13	−11	0			0–2	0–2	2–3	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MC	LYO	SHK	HOF
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	1899 Hoffenheim	6	0	3	3	11	14	−3	3			1–2	3–3	2–3	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RMA	ROM	PLZ	CSKA
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	Transfer to Europa League		0–5	2–1	—	2–2
4	CSKA Moscow	6	2	1	3	8	9	−1	7			1–0	1–2	1–2	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JUV	MU	VAL	YB
1	Juventus	6	4	0	2	9	4	+5	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–2	1–0	3–0
2	Manchester United	6	3	1	2	7	4	+3	10			0–1	—	0–0	1–0
3	Valencia	6	2	2	2	6	6	0	8	Transfer to Europa League		0–2	2–1	—	3–1
4	Young Boys	6	1	1	4	4	12	−8	4			2–1	0–3	1–1	—

Knockout Stage

In the knockout stage, teams play against each other in two matches, one at each team's home stadium. This is called a "two-legged tie." The team that scores more goals over both matches wins and moves on. The only exception is the final, which is just one match.

Here's how the draws work for each round:

• Round of 16: The eight teams that won their groups are "seeded." The eight teams that finished second in their groups are "unseeded." Seeded teams play against unseeded teams. The seeded teams get to play the second match at their home stadium. Teams from the same group or the same country cannot play against each other in this round.
• Quarter-finals and beyond: For these rounds, there are no seeded or unseeded teams. Any team can play against any other team, even if they were in the same group or are from the same country.

Round of 16

The draw for the Round of 16 was on December 17, 2018. The first matches were played in February 2019, and the second matches were in March 2019.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the Quarter-finals was on March 15, 2019. The first matches were played in early April 2019, and the second matches were a week later.

Semi-finals

The draw for the Semi-finals was on April 19, 2019. The first matches were played at the end of April and beginning of May 2019, with the second matches a week later.

Final Match

The final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was played on June 1, 2019, at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid. A special draw decided which team was considered the "home" team for the final.

See also

In Spanish: Liga de Campeones de la UEFA 2018-19 para niños