2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League

2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League
	The Almaty Arena in Almaty hosted the final tournament
Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying rounds:; 28 August – 18 November 2018; Final tournament:; 26–28 April 2019
Teams	Final tournament: 4; Total: 57 (from 53 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Sporting CP (1st title)
Runners-up	Kairat
Third place	Barcelona
Fourth place	Inter FS
Tournament statistics
Matches played	124
Goals scored	828 (6.68 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Season total:; Michał Kubik (10 goals); Final tournament:; Dieguinho (3 goals)
	← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League was the 33rd edition of Europe's premier club futsal tournament, and the 18th edition organized by UEFA. It was also the first edition since the tournament was rebranded from "UEFA Futsal Cup" to "UEFA Futsal Champions League".^[1] The final tournament took place at the Almaty Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 26–28 April 2019.

Two-time defending champions Inter FS were unable to defend their title as they succumbed 5–3 to Sporting CP in the semi-finals. Appearing in their third consecutive final, Sporting CP defeated final tournament hosts Kairat 2–1 to claim their first title in the competition. Barcelona beat Inter FS 3–1 to finish in the third place.^[2]

Association team allocation[edit]

The format remained the same as the previous season, as the top three-ranked associations according to the UEFA Futsal National Team coefficient rankings can enter two teams. The title holders qualified automatically, and thus their association could also enter a second team. If the title holders were from the top three-ranked associations, the fourth-ranked association can also enter two teams. All other associations could enter one team (the winners of their regular top domestic futsal league, or in special circumstances, the runners-up).^[3]

Association ranking[edit]

For this season, the associations were allocated places according to the coefficient ranking of their men's senior national teams, calculated based on the following:^[4]

UEFA Futsal Euro 2016 final tournament and qualifying competition
2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup final tournament and qualifying competition
UEFA Futsal Euro 2018 final tournament and qualifying competition

Since the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Futsal Cup, Inter FS, were from the top three-ranked associations, the fourth-ranked association could also enter two teams. As a result, Spain, Portugal, Russia and Kazakhstan entered two teams.^[5]

Association ranking for 2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League

Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams
1	Russia	10.171	2
2	Spain	10.022
3	Portugal	9.633
4	Kazakhstan	9.000
5	Ukraine	8.389	1
6	Azerbaijan	7.822
7	Italy	7.444
8	Serbia	6.833
9	Slovenia	6.500
10	Croatia	4.278
11	Hungary	4.111
12	Czech Republic	3.611
13	Romania	3.500
14	Poland	3.389
15	France	2.944
16	Slovakia	2.944
17	Belarus	2.889
18	Netherlands	2.278
19	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.222

Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams
20	Belgium	2.111	1
21	Georgia	2.056
22	Macedonia	2.000
23	Finland	1.694
24	Latvia	1.222
25	Turkey	1.222
26	Moldova	0.833
27	England	0.833
28	Albania	0.778
29	Sweden	0.778
30	Montenegro	0.722
31	Denmark	0.722
32	Norway	0.722
33	Kosovo	0.667
34	Switzerland	0.583
35	Bulgaria	0.556
36	Armenia	0.500
37	Greece	0.500

Rank	Association	Coeff.	Teams
38	Germany	0.500	1
39	Wales	0.389
40	Lithuania	0.389
41	Cyprus	0.389
42	Israel	0.278
43	Andorra	0.222
44	Estonia	0.111
45	Malta	0.000
46	Gibraltar	0.000
47	San Marino	0.000
48	Scotland	0.000
NR	Austria	0.000
	Iceland
	Luxembourg
	Northern Ireland
	Republic of Ireland
	Faroe Islands		DNE
	Liechtenstein		DNE

Notes

TH – Additional berth for title holders
NR – No rank (association did not enter in any of the competitions used for computing coefficients)
DNE – Did not enter

Distribution[edit]

Following expansion of the tournament, the top-ranked teams no longer receive byes to the elite round, and the number of teams in the main round is increased from 24 to 32. Teams are ranked according to their UEFA club coefficients, computed based on results of the last three seasons, to decide on the round they enter:

The title holders and the teams ranked 1–22 or 23 (depending on the number of entries) enter the main round, divided into Path A and Path B.
- Path A contains the title holders and the teams ranked 1–11 and 16–19, and the 16 teams are drawn into four groups of four. The top three teams of each group advance to the elite round.
- Path B contains the teams ranked 12–15 and 20–22 or 23, and together with the preliminary round qualifiers (8 or 9 teams), the 16 teams are drawn into four groups of four. The winners of each group advance to the elite round.
The remaining lowest-ranked teams enter the preliminary round, and are drawn into groups of three or four. The winners of each group and possibly one or more best runners-up advance to main round Path B.

The elite round remains to be contested by 16 teams (twelve teams from Path A and four teams from Path B), drawn into four groups of four, where the group winners and runners-up from main round Path A are seeded into the top two pots and kept apart if they are from the same group. The winners of each group advance to the final tournament, which is played in the same knockout format between four teams as before.

Teams[edit]

A record total of 57 teams from 53 associations entered this season's competition.^[6] Two associations had no league as of 2017–18 (Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein).

The 23 highest-ranked teams entered the main round, while the 34 lowest-ranked teams entered the preliminary round.^[7] The coefficient ranking was also used for seeding in the preliminary round and main round draws, where each team was assigned a seeding position according to their ranking for the respective draw. Nine teams were pre-selected as hosts for the preliminary round and eight teams were pre-selected as hosts for the main round.

The draws for the preliminary round and main round were held on 5 July 2018, 14:15 CEST (UTC+2), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[8] The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:

In the preliminary round, the 34 teams were drawn into nine groups: seven groups of four containing one team from each of the seeding positions 1–4, and two groups of three containing one team from each of the seeding positions 1–3. First, the nine teams which were pre-selected as hosts were drawn from their own designated pot and allocated to their respective group as per their seeding positions. Next, the remaining 25 teams were drawn from their respective pot which were allocated according to their seeding positions.
In the main round Path B, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four, containing one team from each of the seeding positions 1–4. First, the four teams which were pre-selected as hosts were drawn from their own designated pot and allocated to their respective group as per their seeding positions. Next, the remaining 12 teams were drawn from their respective pot which were allocated according to their seeding positions (including the nine preliminary round winners, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, which were allocated to first seeding position 4, then seeding position 3, then seeding position 2). Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, should a team from Armenia advance from the preliminary round and qualify for a main round group with a team from Azerbaijan, they would be swapped with the preliminary round group winner in seeding position 4 of the next main round group.
In the main round Path A, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four, containing one team from each of the seeding positions 1–4. First, the four teams which were pre-selected as hosts were drawn from their own designated pot and allocated to their respective group as per their seeding positions. Next, the remaining 12 teams were drawn from their respective pot which were allocated according to their seeding positions. Teams from the same association could be drawn into the same group. Based on the decisions taken by the UEFA Emergency Panel, teams from Russia and Ukraine would not be drawn into the same group.

Legend

TH: Futsal Cup title holders
CH: National champions
RU: National runners-up
(H): Preliminary and main round hosts

Qualified teams for 2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League

Teams entering main round
Rank	Team	Coeff.^[7]	Path	Seed
TH	Inter FS (CH)^[9]	73.334	A	1
1	Sporting CP (CH)^[10]	47.333
2	Gazprom-Ugra Yugorsk (CH)^[11]	41.000
3	Barcelona (RU)	36.001
4	Benfica (RU)^[10]	29.333		2
5	Kairat (CH)^[12]	28.500
6	Berettyóújfalu (RU)^{[Note HUN]}	23.001
7	Ekonomac (CH)^[13] (H)	20.501
8	Halle-Gooik (CH)^[14] (H)	17.000		3
9	Sibiryak (RU)^[11]	17.000
10	Era-Pack Chrudim (CH)^[15]	14.501
11	Lidselmash Lida (CH)^[16]	12.834
12	Nikars (CH)^[17] (H)	12.000	B	1
13	Acqua e Sapone (CH)^[18]	10.667
14	Araz Naxçivan (CH)^[19]	10.500
15	Aktobe (RU)^[12]	9.500
16	Dobovec (CH)^[20] (H)	8.167	A	4
17	Prodexim Kherson (CH)^[21]	8.167
18	Kremlin-Bicêtre United (CH)^[22]	8.167
19	Feniks (CH)^[23] (H)	5.833
20	Novo Vrijeme (CH)^[24] (H)	5.501	B	2
21	APOEL (CH)^[25] (H)	4.834
22	MIMEL Lučenec (RU)^{[Note SVK]} (H)	4.167

Teams entering preliminary round
Rank	Team	Coeff.^[7]	Seed
23	Informatica Timişoara (CH)^[26] (H)	4.000	1
24	Mostar SG Staklorad (CH)^[27] (H)	3.501
25	Leo (CH)^[28]	3.250
26	Veles (CH)^[29] (H)	3.167
27	Hohenstein-Ernstthal (CH)^[30] (H)	3.084
28	Rekord Bielsko-Biała (CH)^[31] (H)	2.834
29	Hovocubo (CH)^[32]	2.667
30	Tatishvili (CH)^[33]	2.501
31	Sandefjord (CH)^[34]	2.250
32	Kampuksen Dynamo (CH)^[35]	2.167	2
33	Uddevalla (CH)^[36] (H)	2.084
34	JB Gentofte (CH)^[37]	2.084
35	Valletta (CH)^[38]	1.583
36	Varna City (CH)^[39]	1.583
37	Doukas (CH)^[40]	1.500
38	Reading Escolla (CH)^[41]	1.334
39	Dinamo Chişinău (CH)^[42] (H)	1.167
40	Lynx (CH)^[43]	1.001
41	Čelik (CH)^[44]	1.001	3
42	RCD Fidell (CH)^[45]	0.834
43	Osmanlıspor (CH)^{[Note TUR]}	0.667
44	Vytis (CH)^[46] (H)	0.583
45	Maccabi Nahalat Itzhak (CH)^[47]	0.583
46	Murexin Allstars (CH)^[48] (H)	0.500
47	Tirana (CH)^[49]	0.334
48	Futsamba Naas (CH)^[50]	0.334
49	Cardiff University (CH)^[51]	0.251
50	Encamp (CH)^[52]	0.251	4
51	Racing Luxembourg (CH)^[53]	0.250
52	Tallinna Cosmos (CH)^[54]	0.167
53	Murata (CH)^[55]	0.167
54	Wattcell (CH)^[56]	0.000
55	Belfast United (CH)^[57]	0.000
56	Vængir Júpiters (CH)^[58]	0.000

Notes

^
Hungary (HUN): Hungarian champions Győri ETO (coefficient 23.001) were entered into the main round draw, but withdrew afterwards due to financial problems, and so runners-up Berettyóújfalu replaced them in the competition.^[59]^[60]^[61]
^
Slovakia (SVK): Slovakian champions Slov-Matic Bratislava withdrew from the league due to financial problems, and so the berth was given to runners-up MIMEL Lučenec.^[62]^[63]
^
Turkey (TUR): Osmanlıspor were confirmed as Turkish champions after the preliminary round draw.^[64]

Format[edit]

In the preliminary round, main round, and elite round, each group was played as a round-robin mini-tournament at the pre-selected hosts.

In the final tournament, the four qualified teams played in knockout format (semi-finals, third place match, and final), either at a host selected by UEFA from one of the teams, or at a neutral venue if none of the teams wished to host.

Tiebreakers[edit]

In the preliminary round, main round, and elite round, teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 14.01 and 14.02):^[3]

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams have the same number of points, and they met in the last round of the group and are tied after applying all criteria above (not used if more than two teams have the same number of points, or if their rankings are not relevant for qualification for the next stage);
Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
UEFA club coefficient;
Drawing of lots.

Schedule[edit]

The schedule of the competition is as follows.^[65]

Schedule for 2018–19 UEFA Futsal Champions League
Round	Draw	Dates
Preliminary round	5 July 2018	28 August – 2 September 2018
Main round	5 July 2018	2–7 October 2018
Elite round	12 October 2018	13–18 November 2018
Final tournament	1 February 2019	Semi-finals: 26 April 2019 Third place match & Final: 28 April 2019

In the preliminary round, main round and elite round, the schedule of each group is as follows, with one rest day between matchdays 2 and 3 for four-team groups, and no rest days for three-team groups (Regulations Articles 19.04, 19.05 and 19.06):^[3]

Note: For scheduling, the hosts are considered as Team 1, while the visiting teams are considered as Team 2, Team 3, and Team 4 according to their coefficient rankings.

Group schedule
Matchday	Matches (4 teams)	Matches (3 teams)
Matchday 1	2 v 4, 1 v 3	1 v 3
Matchday 2	3 v 2, 1 v 4	3 v 2
Matchday 3	4 v 3, 2 v 1	2 v 1

Preliminary round[edit]

The winners of each group advance to the main round Path B to join the seven teams which receive byes (another 16 teams receive byes to the main round Path A).

Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mostar SG Staklorad (H)	3	3	0	17	5	+12	9	Main round
2	JB Gentofte	3	2	1	15	4	+11	6
3	Maccabi Nahalat Itzhak	3	1	2	9	15	−6	3
4	Wattcell	3	0	3	7	24	−17	0

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualifying tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

29 August 2018