UEFA Champions League is off to a great start. Some top teams have begun their campaign flawlessly. While some others have faltered a little in the race to the Round of 16.
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Last year, Manchester City were crowned the UEFA Champions League winners. They beat Inter Milan 1-0 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium. This top European tournament is underway this season too. Many contenders are vying for a spot in the final at the iconic Wembley Stadium. Man City started their UCL defense with a win against Red Star Belgrade. Last year’s finalist Inter Milan drew their opening game against Real Sociedad. Bayern Munich won 4-3 against Man United. Real Madrid, Arsenal, PSG, Barcelona all started their campaign on a winning note.
Complete UCL table after the first game week
How does the UEFA Champions League group stage work?
The 32 teams compete in a double round-robin format called the group stage. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16, the first round of the knockout phase. The teams are ranked by points. Three points are awarded for a win, one point is awarded for a tie and no points are awarded for a loss. According to UEFA, if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied:
- 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 in 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.
If teams still have an equal ranking after having applying the above criterias, the above criterias are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, the criterias below apply in the order given to the two or more teams still equal.
- Superior goal difference in all group matches.
- Higher number of goals scored in all group matches.
- Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches.
- Higher number of wins in all group matches.
- Higher number of away wins in all group matches.
- Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points).
- Higher club coefficient.