2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage
# 2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage

The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League group stage matches took place between 16 September and 10 December 2008.

## Seeding structure

Seeding was determined by the UEFA coefficients: Pot 1 held teams ranked 1–10 (since Milan and Sevilla did not qualify), Pot 2 held teams ranked 11–23, Pot 3 held teams ranked 25–45, while Pot 4 held teams ranked 46–193 and unranked teams.

Clubs from the same association were paired up to split the matchdays between Tuesday and Wednesday. Clubs with the same pairing letter played on different days, ensuring that teams from the same city (e.g. Milan and Internazionale, who also share a stadium) did not play on the same day.

* Group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16
* Third-placed teams entered the UEFA Cup at the round of 32
* TH = Title holder

Pot 1 :

| Team | Coeff. |
| - | - |
| Manchester United | 107.996 |
| Chelsea | 124.996 |
| Liverpool | 118.996 |
| Barcelona | 117.837 |
| Arsenal | 110.996 |
| Lyon | 99.380 |
| Internazionale | 96.934 |
| Real Madrid | 93.837 |

Pot 2 :

| Team | Coeff. |
| - | - |
| Bayern Munich | 92.078 |
| PSV Eindhoven | 91.610 |
| Villarreal | 90.837 |
| Roma | 81.934 |
| Porto | 81.176 |
| Werder Bremen | 74.078 |
| Sporting CP | 70.271 |
| Juventus | 66.934 |

Pot 3 :

| Team | Coeff. |
| - | - |
| Marseille | 63.380 |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 60.437 |
| Steaua București | 59.398 |
| Panathinaikos | 52.525 |
| Bordeaux | 52.380 |
| Celtic | 52.013 |
| Basel | 51.993 |
| Fenerbahçe | 51.469 |

Pot 4 :

| Team | Coeff. |
| - | - |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 49.932 |
| Fiorentina | 40.934 |
| Atlético Madrid | 36.837 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 34.932 |
| CFR Cluj | 13.398 |
| Aalborg BK | 12.748 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 4.327 |
| BATE Borisov | 1.760 |

Of the 16 teams in Pots 1 and 2, 14 eventually qualified for the first knockout round. The exceptions were Werder Bremen (to the UEFA Cup) and PSV (eliminated). Their places went to Panathinaikos (from Pot 3) and Atlético Madrid (from Pot 4). Aalborg BK were the lowest-ranked Pot 4 team to qualify for the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

## Tie-breaking criteria

Based on paragraph 6.05 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:

* higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
* superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
* higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
* superior goal difference from all group matches played;
* higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
* higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.

## Groups

Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Roma | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Chelsea | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Bordeaux | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 7 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | CFR Cluj | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 4 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Panathinaikos | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Internazionale | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 8 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Werder Bremen | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 7 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Barcelona | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Basel | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 1 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Marseille | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | PSV | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 3 | |

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Manchester United | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Villarreal | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Aalborg BK | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 5 | |

### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Lyon | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Fiorentina | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Steaua București | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 1 | |

### Group G

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Porto | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Dynamo Kyiv | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Fenerbahçe | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 2 | |

### Group H

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Juventus | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 5 | Transfer to UEFA Cup |
| 4 | BATE Borisov | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 | |
