2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage facts for kids

The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage was an exciting part of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League football tournament. It happened between September 20 and December 13, 2018. In this stage, 48 different teams played against each other. They were all trying to win one of the 24 spots in the next part of the competition, called the knockout stage.

How the Group Stage Works

In the group stage, teams are put into smaller groups. Each team plays every other team in their group twice. One game is played at their home stadium, and the other is played away. This is called a "round-robin" format.

Moving to the Next Round

After all the games in a group are played, the teams are ranked. The team that finishes first (the "group winner") and the team that finishes second (the "runner-up") both move on. They go to the Round of 32, which is the start of the knockout stage.

Teams that finish third in their Europa League group also get another chance. They join the Europa League Round of 32. They are also joined by eight teams that finished third in the Champions League group stage.

How Teams are Ranked (Tiebreakers)

Sometimes, two or more teams might have the same number of points. To decide who ranks higher, special rules are used. Here's how they figure it out:

• Points in Head-to-Head Matches: They first look at the games played only between the tied teams. The team with more points from those games ranks higher.
• Goal Difference in Head-to-Head Matches: If points are still tied, they look at the goal difference (goals scored minus goals against) in games between only the tied teams.
• Goals Scored in Head-to-Head Matches: If still tied, they check who scored more goals in games between only the tied teams.
• Away Goals in Head-to-Head Matches: If it's still a tie, they count away goals scored in games between only the tied teams.
• Reapply Rules if Still Tied: If more than two teams are tied and these rules don't separate them all, they reapply the rules only to the teams that are still tied.
• Goal Difference in All Group Matches: If teams are still tied after all that, they look at the goal difference from all games in the group.
• Goals Scored in All Group Matches: Next, they check who scored more goals in all group matches.
• Away Goals Scored in All Group Matches: Then, they count away goals scored in all group matches.
• Wins in All Group Matches: After that, they look at who had more wins in all group matches.
• Away Wins in All Group Matches: Then, they count who had more away wins in all group matches.
• Disciplinary Points: This is about fair play. Teams get points for yellow and red cards (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point). The team with fewer disciplinary points ranks higher.
• UEFA Club Coefficient: Finally, if everything else is still tied, they use a special ranking system called the UEFA club coefficient.

Group Matches

The games in the group stage were played on specific dates: September 20, October 4, October 25, November 8, November 29, and December 13, 2018. Kick-off times were usually 18:55 or 21:00 CEST/CET.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEV	ZUR	AKL	LUD
1	Bayer Leverkusen	6	4	1	1	16	9	+7	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	4–2	1–1
2	Zürich	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	10			3–2	—	1–2	1–0
3	AEK Larnaca	6	1	2	3	6	12	−6	5			1–5	0–1	—	1–1
4	Ludogorets Razgrad	6	0	4	2	5	7	−2	4			2–3	1–1	0–0	—

• Matchday 1: AEK Larnaca played Zürich, with Zürich winning 1-0. Ludogorets Razgrad played Bayer Leverkusen, and Bayer Leverkusen won 3-2.
• Matchday 2: Bayer Leverkusen won against AEK Larnaca 4-2. Zürich won against Ludogorets Razgrad 1-0.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAL	CEL	RBL	ROS
1	Red Bull Salzburg	6	6	0	0	17	6	+11	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	1–0	3–0
2	Celtic	6	3	0	3	6	8	−2	9			1–2	—	2–1	1–0
3	RB Leipzig	6	2	1	3	9	8	+1	7			2–3	2–0	—	1–1
4	Rosenborg	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1			2–5	0–1	1–3	—

• Matchday 1: RB Leipzig played Red Bull Salzburg, with Red Bull Salzburg winning 3-2. Celtic played Rosenborg, and Celtic won 1-0.
• Matchday 2: Rosenborg played RB Leipzig, with RB Leipzig winning 3-1. Red Bull Salzburg won against Celtic 3-1.

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZEN	SLP	BOR	KOB
1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	6	3	2	1	6	5	+1	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Slavia Prague	6	3	1	2	4	3	+1	10			2–0	—	1–0	0–0
3	Bordeaux	6	2	1	3	6	6	0	7			1–1	2–0	—	1–2
4	Copenhagen	6	1	2	3	3	5	−2	5			1–1	0–1	0–1	—

• Matchday 1: Copenhagen played Zenit Saint Petersburg, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Slavia Prague won against Bordeaux 1-0.
• Matchday 2: Bordeaux played Copenhagen, with Copenhagen winning 2-1. Zenit Saint Petersburg won against Slavia Prague 1-0.

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	—

• Matchday 1: Spartak Trnava won against Anderlecht 1-0. Dinamo Zagreb won against Fenerbahçe 4-1.
• Matchday 2: Fenerbahçe won against Spartak Trnava 2-0. Anderlecht played Dinamo Zagreb, with Dinamo Zagreb winning 2-0.

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ARS	SPO	VOR	QRB
1	Arsenal	6	5	1	0	12	2	+10	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	0–0	4–2	1-0
2	Sporting CP	6	4	1	1	13	3	+10	13			0–1	—	3-0	2–0
3	Vorskla Poltava	6	1	0	5	4	13	−9	3			0–3	1–2	—	0–1
4	Qarabağ	6	1	0	5	2	13	−11	3			0–3	1–6	0–1	—

• Matchday 1: Sporting CP won against Qarabağ 2-0. Arsenal won against Vorskla Poltava 4-2.
• Matchday 2: Vorskla Poltava played Sporting CP, with Sporting CP winning 2-1. Qarabağ played Arsenal, and Arsenal won 3-0.

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BET	OLY	MIL	DUD
1	Real Betis	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–0	1–1	3–0
2	Olympiacos	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10			0–0	—	3–1	5–1
3	Milan	6	3	1	2	12	9	+3	10			1–2	3–1	—	5–2
4	F91 Dudelange	6	0	1	5	3	16	−13	1			0–0	0–2	0–1	—

• Matchday 1: F91 Dudelange played Milan, with Milan winning 1-0. Olympiacos played Real Betis, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
• Matchday 2: Real Betis won against F91 Dudelange 3-0. Milan won against Olympiacos 3-1.

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VIL	RW	RAN	SPM
1	Villarreal	6	2	4	0	12	5	+7	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	5–0	2–2	2–0
2	Rapid Wien	6	3	1	2	6	9	−3	10			0–0	—	1–0	2–0
3	Rangers	6	1	3	2	8	8	0	6			0–0	3–1	—	0–0
4	Spartak Moscow	6	1	2	3	8	12	−4	5			3–3	1–2	4–3	—

• Matchday 1: Villarreal played Rangers, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Rapid Wien won against Spartak Moscow 2-0.
• Matchday 2: Spartak Moscow played Villarreal, and the game ended in a 3-3 draw. Rangers won against Rapid Wien 3-1.

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FRA	LAZ	APL	MAR
1	Eintracht Frankfurt	6	6	0	0	17	5	+12	18	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	2–0	4–0
2	Lazio	6	3	0	3	9	11	−2	9			1–2	—	2–1	2–1
3	Apollon Limassol	6	2	1	3	10	10	0	7			2–3	2–0	—	2–2
4	Marseille	6	0	1	5	6	16	−10	1			1–2	1–3	1–3	—

• Matchday 1: Marseille played Eintracht Frankfurt, with Eintracht Frankfurt winning 2-1. Lazio won against Apollon Limassol 2-1.
• Matchday 2: Apollon Limassol played Marseille, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Eintracht Frankfurt won against Lazio 4-1.

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GNK	MAL	BES	SRP
1	Genk	6	3	2	1	14	8	+6	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	1–1	4–0
2	Malmö FF	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	9			2–2	—	2–0	1–1
3	Beşiktaş	6	2	1	3	9	11	−2	7			2–4	0–1	—	3–1
4	Sarpsborg 08	6	1	2	3	8	13	−5	5			3–1	1–1	2–3	—

• Matchday 1: Beşiktaş won against Sarpsborg 08 3-1. Genk won against Malmö FF 2-0.
• Matchday 2: Malmö FF won against Beşiktaş 2-0. Sarpsborg 08 won against Genk 3-1.

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEV	KRA	STL	AKH
1	Sevilla	6	4	0	2	18	6	+12	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–0	5–1	6–0
2	Krasnodar	6	4	0	2	8	8	0	12			2–1	—	2–1	2–1
3	Standard Liège	6	3	1	2	7	9	−2	10			1–0	2–1	—	2–1
4	Akhisarspor	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1			2–3	0–1	0–0	—

• Matchday 1: Sevilla won against Standard Liège 5-1. Akhisarspor played Krasnodar, with Krasnodar winning 1-0.
• Matchday 2: Krasnodar won against Sevilla 2-1. Standard Liège won against Akhisarspor 2-1.

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DKV	REN	AST	JAB
1	Dynamo Kyiv	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	2–2	0–1
2	Rennes	6	3	0	3	7	8	−1	9			1–2	—	2–0	2–1
3	Astana	6	2	2	2	7	7	0	8			0–1	2–0	—	2–1
4	Jablonec	6	1	2	3	6	8	−2	5			2–2	0–1	1–1	—

• Matchday 1: Rennes won against Jablonec 2-1. Dynamo Kyiv played Astana, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
• Matchday 2: Astana won against Rennes 2-0. Jablonec played Dynamo Kyiv, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CHL	BATE	VID	PAOK
1	Chelsea	6	5	1	0	12	3	+9	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	1–0	4–0
2	BATE Borisov	6	3	0	3	9	9	0	9			0–1	—	2–0	1–4
3	MOL Vidi	6	2	1	3	5	7	−2	7			2–2	0–2	—	1–0
4	PAOK	6	1	0	5	5	12	−7	3			0–1	1–3	0–2	—

• Matchday 1: PAOK played Chelsea, with Chelsea winning 1-0. MOL Vidi played BATE Borisov, with BATE Borisov winning 2-0.
• Matchday 2: BATE Borisov played PAOK, with PAOK winning 4-1. Chelsea won against MOL Vidi 1-0.