The 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League knockout phase is scheduled to begin on 12 September 2018 and end on 18 May 2019 with the final at Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary, to decide the champions of the 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League.[1] A total of 32 teams compete in the knockout phase.[2]
Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Qualified teams
The knockout phase involves 32 teams: 20 teams which received a bye, and the 12 teams which advance from the qualifying round (ten group winners and two best runners-ups).[3]
Below are the 32 teams which participate in the knockout phase (with their 2018 UEFA club coefficients, which take into account their performance in European competitions from 2013–14 to 2017–18 plus 33% of their association coefficient from the same time span).[4]
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out. In the final, which is played as a single match, if the score is level at the end of normal time, extra time is played, followed by penalty shoot-out if the score remains tied.[2]
The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
In the draw for the round of 32, the sixteen teams with the highest UEFA club coefficients were seeded (with the title holders being the automatic top seed), and the other sixteen teams were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same qualifying round group could not be drawn against each other.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams with the highest UEFA club coefficients are seeded (with the title holders being the automatic top seed should they qualify), and the other eight teams are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the order of legs decided by draw. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there are no seedings, and teams from the same association can be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals are held together before the quarter-finals are played, the identity of the teams in the semi-finals are not known at the time of the draw. A draw is also held to determine the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue).
On 17 July 2014, the UEFA emergency panel ruled that Ukrainian and Russian clubs would not be drawn against each other "until further notice" due to the political unrest between the countries.[5]
Schedule
The schedule of the knockout phase is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1]
The draw for the semi-finals will be held on 9 November 2018 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, after the completion of the quarter-final draw.[8]
Overview
The first legs will be played on 20 and 21 April, and the second legs on 27 and 28 April 2019.
The final will be played on 18 May 2019 at the Groupama Arena in Budapest. The "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
↑ CET (UTC+1) for dates from 28 October 2018 up to 30 March 2019 (second legs of round of 16 and both legs of quarter-finals), and CEST (UTC+2) for all other dates.
