A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 The Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 26 June – 29 August 2018 Competition proper: 18 September 2018 – 1 June 2019 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 32 Total: 79 (from 54 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Liverpool (6th title) |
| Runners-up | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 125 |
| Goals scored | 366 (2.93 per match) |
| Attendance | 6,163,044 (49,304 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 12 goals |
| Best player(s) |
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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.[5]
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.[6] Liverpool won the match 2–0 to claim their sixth European Cup – becoming the third ever 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.[7][8]
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.[9] 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.[10][11] 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 2015–2016). 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.[10] Only six teams will qualify for the group stage via the qualification rounds, down from ten in the previous season.[12]
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:[12][13]
- 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.[14]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- (UCL) – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League winners
- (UEL) – Additional berth for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League winners
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