2018–19 UEFA Champions League
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.
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 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. 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.
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. 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.