The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League knockout phase began on 12 February and ended on 1 June 2019 with the final at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, to decide the champions of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout phase.[2]
For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the Champions League knockout phase.[3]
Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Round and draw dates
The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1]
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced under more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.[2]
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
For the quarter-finals and semi-finals, teams from the same city (e.g., Manchester City and Manchester United) were not scheduled to play at home on the same day or consecutive days, due to logistics and crowd control.[4] To avoid such scheduling conflict, if the two teams were drawn to play at home for the same leg, the order of legs of the tie involving the team which was not titleholders of Champions League or Europa League (or lower-tier, if both were continental titleholders), or the team with the lower domestic ranking in the qualifying season (if neither team were continental title holder, e.g. Manchester United for this season) was reversed from the original draw.[5]
Qualified teams
The knockout phase involved the 16 teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 17 December 2018, 12:00 CET.[6]
Manchester United became the first team in UEFA Champions League history to advance after losing at home by two goals or more in the first leg.[7] Including the European Cup era, only Ajax managed this feat, winning a play-off match they forced in the 1968–69 European Cup quarter-finals against Benfica after losing 1–3 in the first leg at home and winning 3–1 in the second leg away.[8]
Summary
The first legs were played on 12, 13, 19 and 20 February, and the second legs were played on 5, 6, 12 and 13 March 2019.
^Order of legs reversed after original draw, in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur match in the same city.
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2019, 12:00 CET (after the quarter-final draw).[26] Both semi-finals are considered to be among the best comebacks in UEFA Champions League history.[35]
Summary
The first legs were played on 30 April and 1 May, and the second legs were played on 7 and 8 May 2019.
The final was played on 1 June 2019 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. The nominal home team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.[26]
^CET (UTC+1) for dates up to 30 March 2019 (round of 16), and CEST (UTC+2) for dates thereafter (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final).
^Tottenham Hotspur played their round of 16 home match at Wembley Stadium, London, instead of their home Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, due to delays with the construction of their new stadium.[15]
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
