Unic Press UK: 2018/19 UEFA Champions League
Champions League draw
- Group A: Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge
- Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven, Internazionale Milano
- Group C: Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Crvena zvezda
- Group D: Lokomotiv Moskva, Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray
- Group E: Bayern München, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens
- Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim
- Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moskva, Viktoria Plzeň
- Group H: Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys
Round of 16 (Draw: 17 December)
- First legs: 12/13 & 19/20 February
- Second legs: 5/6 & 12/13 March
Quarter final (Draw: 15 March)
- First legs: 9/10 April
- Second legs: 16/17 April
Semi finals and final (Draw: 15 March)
- Semi final, first legs: 30 April / 1 May
- Semi final, second legs: 7/8 May
- The final match will hold at the Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid, on 1 June 2019
About UEFA Champions League
“Football’s premier club competition, the European Champion Clubs’ Cup was launched soon after UEFA’s first Congress, held in Vienna on 2 March 1955, yet the competition was not a UEFA initiative.
“Whereas many of UEFA’s founder members were more interested in establishing a national team competition, the French sports daily L’Equipe and its then-editor Gabriel Hanot were championing the cause for a Europe-wide club competition. Hanot, together with colleague Jacques Ferran, designed a blueprint for a challenge tournament to be played on Wednesdays under floodlights. The tournament initiated by L’Equipe did not stipulate that the participating teams had to be champions of their country, but they invited clubs who they considered had the most fan appeal.
“UEFA – which had been founded in June 1954 – reacted by contacting the world body FIFA, and the latter’s Executive Committee, meeting in London on 8 May 1955, authorised the new club competition under the condition that it was organised by UEFA and that the national associations concerned gave their consent to their clubs taking part. UEFA’s Executive Committee accepted the conditions laid down by FIFA and agreed to run the competition at its meeting on 21 June 1955.” (UEFA)
