32 teams from 16 UEFA member associations participated in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League. The 2008-09 competition was the 6th season with 16 team knockout stage. England, Italy and Spain have 4 teams. France, Portugal and Germany have 3 teams. Nine countries have 2 teams. The remaining 37 countries are only represented by their champions.
Qualifying[]
The 2008-09 competition had 3 qualification rounds to reach the group stage.
1st Qualifying
The 28 lower tier domestic champions played a home and away knockout round.
2nd Qualifying
The 14 winners from 1st Qualifying join 14 additional teams, playing a home and away knockout round.
3rd Qualifying
The 14 winners from 2nd Qualifying join the remaining 18 teams, playing a home and away knockout round .
New teams | Teams in Champions League | |
---|---|---|
1st Qualifying | 28 teams >>> | 28 teams |
2nd Qualifying | 14 teams >>> |
14 winners from 1st Qualifying 14 new teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 28 teams |
3rd Qualifying | 18 teams >>> |
14 winners from 2nd Qualifying 18 new teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 32 teams |
Group Stage | 16 teams >>> |
16 winners from 3rd Qualifying 16 new teams -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— 32 teams |
Group Stage[]
The 16 winners from the 3rd Qualifying Round joined with the 16 automatic qualifying teams to form 8 groups of 4 teams, playing a home and away series.
Tables[]
The top 2 in each group advanced to the knockout stage.
Knockout Stage[]
Final[]