2014%E2%80%9315_UEFA_Champions_League

2014–15 UEFA Champions League

2014–15 UEFA Champions League

60th season of the UEFA club football tournament


The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

The final was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany,[1] with Spanish side Barcelona defeating Italian side Juventus 3–1 to win their fifth title and complete an unprecedented second continental treble.[2] Real Madrid were the title holders, but they were eliminated by Juventus in the semi-finals.

This season was the first where clubs must comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in order to participate.[3] Moreover, this season was the first where a club from Gibraltar competed in the tournament, after the Gibraltar Football Association was accepted as the 54th UEFA member at the UEFA Congress in May 2013.[4] They were granted one spot in the Champions League,[5] which was taken by Lincoln Red Imps, the champions of the 2013–14 Gibraltar Premier Division.[6]

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.[7] Another ruling centred in regional instability was also made where Israeli teams were prohibited from hosting any UEFA competitions due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[8] The rules regarding suspension due to yellow card accumulation were also changed such that all bookings expired on completion of the quarter-finals and were not carried forward to the semi-finals.[9] Moreover, this was the first season in which vanishing spray was used.[10]

Association team allocation

A total of 77 teams from 53 of the 54 UEFA member associations participated in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which do not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[11]

  • Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify.
  • Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify.
  • Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
  • Associations 16–54 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify.

The winners of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League were given an additional entry as title holders if they would not qualify for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league (because of the restriction that no association can have more than four teams playing in the Champions League, if the title holders are from the top three associations and finish outside the top four in their domestic league, the title holders' entry comes at the expense of the fourth-placed team of their association). However, this additional entry was not necessary for this season since the title holders qualified for the tournament through their domestic league.

Association ranking

For the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2013 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2008–09 to 2012–13.[12][13]

More information Rank, Association ...

Distribution

Since the title holders Real Madrid qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league (as the third-placed team of the 2013–14 La Liga), the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:[14][15][16]

  • The champions of association 13 (Switzerland) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
  • The champions of association 16 (Austria) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
  • The champions of associations 47 (Northern Ireland) and 48 (Wales) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
More information Teams entering in this round, Teams advancing from previous round ...

Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Title holders).[17][18]

More information Group stage, Play-off round ...

Notes

  1. ^
    Serbia (SRB): Red Star Belgrade, the champions of the 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga, would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round, but were banned by UEFA for breaching UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.[19] As a result, the berth was given to Partizan, the runners-up of the league.
  2. ^
    Turkey (TUR): Fenerbahçe, the champions of the 2013–14 Süper Lig, would have qualified for the Champions League group stage, but were banned by UEFA because of the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal.[20][21] As a result, Galatasaray, the runners-up of the league, entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round, and the third qualifying round berth was given to Beşiktaş, the third-placed team of the league.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[22][23]

More information Phase, Round ...

The final date of 6 June could cause problems for South American international players called up to play in the 2015 Copa América, which begins on 11 June. FIFA international rules require clubs to release players 14 days prior to the start of an international tournament, which means the players would have to miss the Champions League final if the rules were enforced. If the players were allowed to play in the Champions League final, that would leave them as few as five days to travel and train prior to playing in the Copa América.[24]

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[25][26][27] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 23 June 2014.[28] The first legs were played on 1 and 2 July, and the second legs were played on 8 July 2014.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Second qualifying round

The first legs were played on 15 and 16 July, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 July 2014.

Notes
  1. ^
    Order of legs reversed after original draw, due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[29]
  2. ^
    Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round.

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2014.[30] The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 August 2014.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Notes
  1. ^
    Because of a clerical error by Legia Warsaw involving Bartosz Bereszyński, who was suspended for three matches as a result of a red card on matchday 6 of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage, UEFA awarded Celtic a 3–0 win. The error involved Legia Warsaw not registering the suspended player for the St. Patrick's Athletic tie the previous round, which meant those two matches did not count towards his suspension. The original match had ended in a 2–0 win for Legia Warsaw.[31]

Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 8 August 2014.[32] The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2014.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Group stage

Location of teams of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.

The draw for the group stage was held in Monaco on 28 August 2014.[33] The 32 teams were allocated into four pots based on their 2014 UEFA club coefficients,[25][26][27] with the title holders being placed in Pot 1 automatically. They were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 16–17 September, 30 September–1 October, 21–22 October, 4–5 November, 25–26 November, and 9–10 December 2014.

A total of 18 national associations were represented in the group stage. Ludogorets Razgrad and Malmö FF made their debut appearances in the group stage.[34] For the first time since the 1995–96 season, England's Manchester United did not qualify for the group stage.

Teams that qualified for the group stage also participated in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League, a competition available to players aged 19 or under.

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League round of 32. See 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage for tiebreakers if two or more teams are equal on points.

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.

Bracket

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
              
Italy Juventus 2 3 5
Germany Borussia Dortmund 1 0 1
Italy Juventus 1 0 1
France Monaco 0 0 0
England Arsenal 1 2 3
France Monaco (a) 3 0 3
Italy Juventus 2 1 3
Spain Real Madrid 1 1 2
Germany Bayer Leverkusen 1 0 1 (2)
Spain Atlético Madrid (p) 0 1 1 (3)
Spain Atlético Madrid 0 0 0
Spain Real Madrid 0 1 1
Germany Schalke 04 0 4 4
Spain Real Madrid 2 3 5
Italy Juventus 1
Spain Barcelona 3
France Paris Saint-Germain (aet; a) 1 2 3
England Chelsea 1 2 3
France Paris Saint-Germain 1 0 1
Spain Barcelona 3 2 5
England Manchester City 1 0 1
Spain Barcelona 2 1 3
Spain Barcelona 3 2 5
Germany Bayern Munich 0 3 3
Switzerland Basel 1 0 1
Portugal Porto 1 4 5
Portugal Porto 3 1 4
Germany Bayern Munich 1 6 7
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 0 0 0
Germany Bayern Munich 0 7 7

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 15 December 2014.[35] The first legs were played on 17, 18, 24 and 25 February, and the second legs were played on 10, 11, 17 and 18 March 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 20 March 2015.[36] The first legs were played on 14 and 15 April, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 April 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes) was held on 24 April 2015.[37] The first legs were played on 5 and 6 May, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 May 2015.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Final

More information Juventus, 1–3 ...

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Shakhtar's Luiz Adriano became the first player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Champions League group stage games, both against BATE Borisov.[40]

Source:[41]

Top assists

More information Rank, Player ...

Source:[42]

Squad of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament:[43]

See also


References

  1. "Executive Committee decides hosts for 2015 finals". UEFA.org. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. "Luis Suárez's strike rewards Barcelona's dominance to break Juventus". The Guardian. 6 June 2015. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  3. "EURO reflected key football values". UEFA.org. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  4. "Congress decisions bring Gibraltar on board". UEFA.org. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  5. "Strategic talks in Dubrovnik". UEFA.org. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. "Lincoln win 12th straight Gibraltarian title". UEFA.com. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. "Ukrainian, Russian clubs to be kept apart by UEFA in Euro competitions". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  8. "UEFA bars Israeli clubs from hosting matches while conflict continues". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  9. "Emergency Panel decisions". UEFA.org. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  10. "Vanishing spray paint approved for UEFA games". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  11. "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2014/15 Season" (PDF). UEFA.com. 1 May 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  12. "Country coefficients 2012/13". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  13. "UEFA Country Ranking 2013". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  14. "2014/15 access list". UEFA.com. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  15. "Access list 2014/2015". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  16. "Madrid's win is Basel's gain". UEFA.com. 27 May 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  17. "Madrid and Lincoln bookend 2014/15 entries". UEFA.com. 18 June 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  18. "Qualification for European Cup Football 2014/2015". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 2015-05-16. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  19. "Crvena zvezda excluded from UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  20. "Decisions on Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Steaua". UEFA.com. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  21. "Fenerbahce: Turkish side lose match-fixing ban appeal". BBC Sport. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  22. "UEFA European Football Calendar 2014/2015". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  23. Pérez Serrano, Ángel (28 July 2014). "La Copa América, pesadilla del Barça este año". mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  24. "Club coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  25. "UEFA Team Ranking 2014". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  26. "First 2014/15 missions for Celtic and Steaua". UEFA.com. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  27. "Draw takes Zenit, København to new destinations". UEFA.com. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  28. "Tough play-off tests for Napoli, Porto in Champions League". UEFA.com. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  29. "Holders Real Madrid draw Liverpool in group stage". UEFA.com. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  30. "UEFA Champions League group stage draw pots". UEFA.com. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  31. "Champions League round of 16 draw". UEFA.com. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  32. "Madrid meet Atlético again in quarter-finals". UEFA.com. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  33. "Guardiola takes Bayern to Barça, Madrid get Juve". UEFA.com. 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  34. "Full Time Report" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  35. "Çakır to referee UEFA Champions League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  36. Doyle, Paul; Miller, Nick (6 November 2014). "Champions League review: Dortmund's riddle and Luiz Adriano's record trick". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  37. "Statistics — Tournament phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  38. "Statistics — Tournament phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  39. "UEFA Champions League squad of the season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

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