1998–99 UEFA Champions League

Number of teams per country as well as the starting round for each club and seeding were based on UEFA association coefficients. • Associations ranked 1–8 each have two participants • Associations ranked 9–48 each have one participant (except Liechtenstein) Association ranking For the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 1998 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 1993–94 to 1997–98. Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, an association could have an additional team participating in the Champions League, as noted below: • – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders Distribution Teams ==Round and draw dates==

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Geneva, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise). ==Qualifying rounds==

First qualifying round Second qualifying round ==Group stage==

Twenty-four teams took part in the group stage: the national champions of Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Netherlands, England and Portugal, the title holders, and the 16 winning teams from the second qualifying round. Arsenal, Athletic Bilbao, Brøndby, Croatia Zagreb, HJK, Internazionale, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Lens and Sturm Graz made their debuts in the group stage of the competition. This was the first time that a team from Finland played in the group stage. The teams were divided into six groups of four teams each, with the teams in each group playing each other twice (home and away) in a double round-robin format. Three points were awarded for each win, with one point each for a draw and none for a defeat. The winners of each group progressed to the quarter-finals, along with the two best second-placed teams. In the event that two or more teams had the same number of points at the end of the group stage, the rankings of the teams in question were determined by the following criteria: • greater number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question • goal difference resulting from the matches between the teams in question • greater number of goals scored away from home in matches between the teams in question • superior goal difference from all the matches played • greater number of goals scored • national association's coefficient at the start of the season in question The two best runners-up were determined by the following criteria: • highest number of points obtained in the group matches • goal difference from all group matches • greater number of goals scored in all group matches • greater number of goals scored away from home • national association's coefficient at the start of the season in question • individual club coefficient at the start of the season in question Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Ranking of second-placed teams ==Knockout stage==

The knockout stage was played in a single-elimination tournament format consisting of three rounds: quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Each tie in the quarter-finals and semi-finals was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home, while the final was played as a single match at a neutral venue. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, in the event that two teams scored the same number of goals over the two legs of their tie, the winner would be determined by the number of goals scored away from home. If both sides scored the same number of goals away from home, two 15-minute periods of extra time would be played. If both teams scored the same number of goals during extra time, the visiting team would qualify for the next round by having scored more goals away from home. If neither side scored during extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, if the scores were level after 90 minutes, two 15-minute periods of golden goal extra time would be played; i.e. whichever team scored first would be declared the winner. If neither side scored during golden goal extra time, a penalty shoot-out would again be used to determine the winner. In the quarter-finals, the two best runners-up cannot be drawn together, nor could the winners and runners-up from the same group. Both runners-up played the first leg of their quarter-final at home, as did the other two teams drawn first in the other two quarter-finals. Bracket Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final ==Top goalscorers==

The top scorers from the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League (excluding qualifying rounds) are as follows: ==See also==