2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage

The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 20 October 2020 and ended on 9 December 2020.[1] A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League.

Krasnodar, Midtjylland, İstanbul Başakşehir and Rennes made their debut appearances in the group stage. Istanbul became the first city to provide four different participating teams in the group stage. This group stage was also the first in Champions League history to include three Russian teams.

Draw edit

The draw was held at the RTS Studios in Geneva, Switzerland on 1 October 2020 at 17:00 CEST.[2]

The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles (Regulations Article 13.06):

  • Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2019 UEFA country coefficients. As the Champions League title holders, Bayern Munich, were also the champions of their association, the champions of the next highest ranked association, Portugal, were also seeded into Pot 1.
  • Pots 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2020 UEFA club coefficients.[3]

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.[4]

Moreover, for associations with two or more teams, teams were paired in order to split them into two sets of four groups (A–D, E–H) for maximum television coverage. The following pairings were announced by UEFA after the group stage teams were confirmed:[5]

On each matchday, one set of four groups played their matches on Tuesday, while the other set of four groups played their matches on Wednesday, with the two sets of groups alternating between each matchday. The fixtures were decided after the draw, using a computer draw not shown to public, with the following match sequence (Regulations Article 16.02):[2]

Group stage schedule
Matchday Dates
Matchday 1 20–21 October 2020
Matchday 2 27–28 October 2020
Matchday 3 3–4 November 2020
Matchday 4 24–25 November 2020
Matchday 5 1–2 December 2020
Matchday 6 8–9 December 2020

There were scheduling restrictions: for example, teams from the same city (e.g. Real Madrid & Atlético Madrid and Manchester City & Manchester United) in general were not scheduled to play at home on the same matchday (to avoid them playing at home on the same day or on consecutive days, due to logistics and crowd control), and teams from "winter countries" (e.g. Russia) were not scheduled to play at home on the last matchday (due to cold weather).

Teams edit

Below were the participating teams (with their 2020 UEFA club coefficients),[6] grouped by their seeding pot. They included:

Key to colours
Group winners and runners-up advanced to round of 16
Third-placed teams entered Europa League round of 32
Pot 1 (by association rank)
Assoc. Team Coeff.
TH   Bayern Munich 136.000
EL   Sevilla 102.000
1   Real Madrid 134.000
2   Liverpool 99.000
3   Juventus 117.000
5   Paris Saint-Germain 113.000
6   Zenit Saint Petersburg 64.000
7   Porto 75.000
Pot 2
Team Coeff.
  Barcelona 128.000
  Atlético Madrid 127.000
  Manchester City 116.000
  Manchester United 100.000
  Shakhtar Donetsk 85.000
  Borussia Dortmund 85.000
  Chelsea 83.000
  Ajax 69.500
Pot 3
Team Notes Coeff.
  Dynamo Kyiv [LP] 55.000
  Red Bull Salzburg [CP] 53.500
  RB Leipzig 49.000
  Inter Milan 44.000
  Olympiacos [CP] 43.000
  Lazio 41.000
  Krasnodar [LP] 35.500
  Atalanta 33.500
Pot 4
Team Notes Coeff.
  Lokomotiv Moscow 33.000
  Marseille 31.000
  Club Brugge 28.500
  Borussia Mönchengladbach 26.000
  İstanbul Başakşehir 21.500
  Midtjylland [CP] 14.500
  Rennes 14.000
  Ferencváros [CP] 9.000

Notes

  1. TH Champions League title holders, automatically placed into Pot 1 as top seed.
  2. EL Europa League title holders, automatically placed into Pot 1 as second top seed.
  3. CP Winners of play-off round (Champions Path).
  4. LP Winners of play-off round (League Path).

Format edit

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the Europa League round of 32.

Tiebreakers edit

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see Article 17 Equality of points – group stage, Regulations of the UEFA Champions League):[7]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Wins in all group matches;
  10. Away wins in all group matches;
  11. Disciplinary points (direct red card = 3 points; double yellow card = 3 points; single yellow card = 1 point);
  12. UEFA club coefficient.

Groups edit

The matchdays were 20–21 October, 27–28 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, 1–2 December, and 8–9 December 2020. The scheduled kickoff times were 21:00 CET/CEST, with two matches on each Tuesday and Wednesday scheduled for 18:55 CET/CEST.[8]

Times were CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group A edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAY ATM SAL LMO
1   Bayern Munich 6 5 1 0 18 5 +13 16 Advance to knockout phase 4–0 3–1 2–0
2   Atlético Madrid 6 2 3 1 7 8 −1 9 1–1 3–2 0–0
3   Red Bull Salzburg 6 1 1 4 10 17 −7 4 Transfer to Europa League 2–6 0–2 2–2
4   Lokomotiv Moscow 6 0 3 3 5 10 −5 3 1–2 1–1 1–3
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Red Bull Salzburg  2–2  Lokomotiv Moscow
Report
Bayern Munich  4–0  Atlético Madrid
Report

Lokomotiv Moscow  1–2  Bayern Munich
Report
Attendance: 8,196[10]
Atlético Madrid  3–2  Red Bull Salzburg
Report

Lokomotiv Moscow  1–1  Atlético Madrid
Report
Attendance: 8,147[11]
Red Bull Salzburg  2–6  Bayern Munich
Report

Atlético Madrid  0–0  Lokomotiv Moscow
Report
Bayern Munich  3–1  Red Bull Salzburg
Report

Lokomotiv Moscow  1–3  Red Bull Salzburg
Report
Attendance: 6,759[13]
Atlético Madrid  1–1  Bayern Munich
Report

Bayern Munich  2–0  Lokomotiv Moscow
Report
Red Bull Salzburg  0–2  Atlético Madrid
Report

Group B edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA BMG SHK INT
1   Real Madrid 6 3 1 2 11 9 +2 10 Advance to knockout phase 2–0 2–3 3–2
2   Borussia Mönchengladbach 6 2 2 2 16 9 +7 8[a] 2–2 4–0 2–3
3   Shakhtar Donetsk 6 2 2 2 5 12 −7 8[a] Transfer to Europa League 2–0 0–6 0–0
4   Inter Milan 6 1 3 2 7 9 −2 6 0–2 2–2 0–0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Borussia Mönchengladbach 6, Shakhtar Donetsk 0.
Real Madrid  2–3  Shakhtar Donetsk
Report
Inter Milan  2–2  Borussia Mönchengladbach
Report
Attendance: 1,000[9]

Shakhtar Donetsk  0–0  Inter Milan
Report
Borussia Mönchengladbach  2–2  Real Madrid
Report

Shakhtar Donetsk  0–6  Borussia Mönchengladbach
Report
Real Madrid  3–2  Inter Milan
Report

Borussia Mönchengladbach  4–0  Shakhtar Donetsk
Report
Inter Milan  0–2  Real Madrid
Report

Shakhtar Donetsk  2–0  Real Madrid
Report
Borussia Mönchengladbach  2–3  Inter Milan
Report

Real Madrid  2–0  Borussia Mönchengladbach
Report
Inter Milan  0–0  Shakhtar Donetsk
Report

Group C edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MCI POR OLY MAR
1   Manchester City 6 5 1 0 13 1 +12 16 Advance to knockout phase 3–1 3–0 3–0
2   Porto 6 4 1 1 10 3 +7 13 0–0 2–0 3–0
3   Olympiacos 6 1 0 5 2 10 −8 3[a] Transfer to Europa League 0–1 0–2 1–0
4   Marseille 6 1 0 5 2 13 −11 3[a] 0–3 0–2 2–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head away goals: Olympiacos 1, Marseille 0.
Manchester City  3–1  Porto
Report
Olympiacos  1–0  Marseille
Report

Porto  2–0  Olympiacos
Report
Marseille  0–3  Manchester City
Report

Manchester City  3–0  Olympiacos
Report
Porto  3–0  Marseille
Report

Olympiacos  0–1  Manchester City
Report
Marseille  0–2  Porto
Report

Marseille  2–1  Olympiacos
Report
Porto  0–0  Manchester City
Report

Manchester City  3–0  Marseille
Report
Olympiacos  0–2  Porto
Report

Group D edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LIV ATA AJX MID
1   Liverpool 6 4 1 1 10 3 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase 0–2 1–0 2–0
2   Atalanta 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 11 0–5 2–2 1–1
3   Ajax 6 2 1 3 7 7 0 7 Transfer to Europa League 0–1 0–1 3–1
4   Midtjylland 6 0 2 4 4 13 −9 2 1–1 0–4 1–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Ajax  0–1  Liverpool
Report
Midtjylland  0–4  Atalanta
Report

Liverpool  2–0  Midtjylland
Report
Atalanta  2–2  Ajax
Report

Midtjylland  1–2  Ajax
Report
Attendance: 132[11]
Atalanta  0–5  Liverpool
Report

Liverpool  0–2  Atalanta
Report
Ajax  3–1  Midtjylland
Report

Liverpool  1–0  Ajax
Report
Atalanta  1–1  Midtjylland
Report

Ajax  0–1  Atalanta
Report
Midtjylland  1–1  Liverpool
Report

Group E edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CHE SEV KRA REN
1   Chelsea 6 4 2 0 14 2 +12 14 Advance to knockout phase 0–0 1–1 3–0
2   Sevilla 6 4 1 1 9 8 +1 13 0–4 3–2 1–0
3   Krasnodar 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 5 Transfer to Europa League 0–4 1–2 1–0
4   Rennes 6 0 1 5 3 11 −8 1 1–2 1–3 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Chelsea  0–0  Sevilla
Report
Rennes  1–1  Krasnodar
Report

Krasnodar  0–4  Chelsea
Report
Sevilla  1–0  Rennes
Report

Sevilla  3–2  Krasnodar
Report
Chelsea  3–0  Rennes
Report

Krasnodar  1–2  Sevilla
Report
Attendance: 10,554[18]
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Rennes  1–2  Chelsea
Report

Krasnodar  1–0  Rennes
Report
Sevilla  0–4  Chelsea
Report

Chelsea  1–1  Krasnodar
Report
Rennes  1–3  Sevilla
Report

Group F edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DOR LAZ BRU ZEN
1   Borussia Dortmund 6 4 1 1 12 5 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 3–0 2–0
2   Lazio 6 2 4 0 11 7 +4 10 3–1 2–2 3–1
3   Club Brugge 6 2 2 2 8 10 −2 8 Transfer to Europa League 0–3 1–1 3–0
4   Zenit Saint Petersburg 6 0 1 5 4 13 −9 1 1–2 1–1 1–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Zenit Saint Petersburg  1–2  Club Brugge
Report
Lazio  3–1  Borussia Dortmund
Report
Attendance: 1,000[15]

Borussia Dortmund  2–0  Zenit Saint Petersburg
Report
Club Brugge  1–1  Lazio
Report

Zenit Saint Petersburg  1–1  Lazio
Report
Club Brugge  0–3  Borussia Dortmund
Report

Lazio  3–1  Zenit Saint Petersburg
Report
Borussia Dortmund  3–0  Club Brugge
Report

Borussia Dortmund  1–1  Lazio
Report
Club Brugge  3–0  Zenit Saint Petersburg
Report

Zenit Saint Petersburg  1–2  Borussia Dortmund
Report
Lazio  2–2  Club Brugge
Report

Group G edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JUV BAR DKV FER
1   Juventus 6 5 0 1 14 4 +10 15[a] Advance to knockout phase 0–2 3–0 2–1
2   Barcelona 6 5 0 1 16 5 +11 15[a] 0–3 2–1 5–1
3   Dynamo Kyiv 6 1 1 4 4 13 −9 4 Transfer to Europa League 0–2 0–4 1–0
4   Ferencváros 6 0 1 5 5 17 −12 1 1–4 0–3 2–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: Juventus +1, Barcelona –1.
Dynamo Kyiv  0–2  Juventus
Report
Barcelona  5–1  Ferencváros
Report

Juventus  0–2  Barcelona
Report
Ferencváros  2–2  Dynamo Kyiv
Report

Barcelona  2–1  Dynamo Kyiv
Report
Ferencváros  1–4  Juventus
Report

Dynamo Kyiv  0–4  Barcelona
Report
Juventus  2–1  Ferencváros
Report

Juventus  3–0  Dynamo Kyiv
Report
Ferencváros  0–3  Barcelona
Report

Barcelona  0–3  Juventus
Report
Dynamo Kyiv  1–0  Ferencváros
Report

Group H edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAR RBL MUN IBFK
1   Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 0 2 13 6 +7 12[a] Advance to knockout phase 1–0 1–2 5–1
2   RB Leipzig 6 4 0 2 11 12 −1 12[a] 2–1 3–2 2–0
3   Manchester United 6 3 0 3 15 10 +5 9 Transfer to Europa League 1–3 5–0 4–1
4   İstanbul Başakşehir 6 1 0 5 7 18 −11 3 0–2 3–4 2–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head away goals: Paris Saint-Germain 1, RB Leipzig 0.
Paris Saint-Germain  1–2  Manchester United
Report
RB Leipzig  2–0  İstanbul Başakşehir
Report

İstanbul Başakşehir  0–2  Paris Saint-Germain
Report
Manchester United  5–0  RB Leipzig
Report
Attendance: 577[16]
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

İstanbul Başakşehir  2–1  Manchester United
Report
RB Leipzig  2–1  Paris Saint-Germain
Report

Manchester United  4–1  İstanbul Başakşehir
Report
Paris Saint-Germain  1–0  RB Leipzig
Report

İstanbul Başakşehir  3–4  RB Leipzig
Report
Manchester United  1–3  Paris Saint-Germain
Report

Paris Saint-Germain  5–1  İstanbul Başakşehir
Report
RB Leipzig  3–2  Manchester United
Report

Notes edit

  1. ^ CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 24 October 2020 (matchday 1), and CET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 2–6).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.
  3. ^ a b c Real Madrid played their home matches at Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium, Madrid, instead of their regular stadium Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid.
  4. ^ a b c Shakhtar Donetsk played their home matches at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, instead of their regular stadium Donbass Arena, Donetsk, due to the war conditions in Eastern Ukraine.
  5. ^ a b Ferencváros played their home matches against Juventus and Barcelona at Puskás Aréna, Budapest, instead of their regular stadium Groupama Arena, Budapest.[21]
  6. ^ a b The Paris Saint-Germain v İstanbul Başakşehir match was suspended after 14 minutes, with the score 0–0 at the time, as both teams left the pitch in protest after an alleged racist incident by a match official directed at the assistant manager of İstanbul Başakşehir;[22] then resumed on 9 December 2020, 18:55 CET, with a new team of match officials.

References edit

  1. ^ "UEFA Champions League Schedule". UEFA.com. 30 September 2020.
  2. ^ "UEFA Champions League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. UEFA.
  4. ^ "Emergency Panel decisions". UEFA.com. UEFA. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Champions League group stage draw: all you need to know". UEFA.com. UEFA. October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League (2018-21 cycle) - 2020/21 Season" (PDF). UEFA. 15 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Champions League group stage fixtures". UEFA.com. 2 October 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 1 – Wednesday 21 October 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 2 – Tuesday 27 October 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 3 – Tuesday 3 November 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 4 – Wednesday 25 November 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 5 – Tuesday 1 December 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 6 – Wednesday 9 December 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 1 – Tuesday 20 October 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 2 – Wednesday 28 October 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 3 – Wednesday 4 November 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 4 – Tuesday 24 November 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 5 – Wednesday 2 December 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h "Full Time Summary Matchday 6 – Tuesday 8 December 2020" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  21. ^ "UEFA-döntés: a Puskásban a Juventus és a Barcelona" (in Hungarian). fradi.hu. 6 October 2020.
  22. ^ "PSG v Istanbul Basaksehir: Both teams walk off pitch as match temporarily suspended". BBC Sport. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.

External links edit