2008/09 UEFA Champions League top scorers
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The four players vying for the UEFA Champions League top scorers' award are all in action in next week’s first knockout round openers as Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Miroslav Klose and Steven Gerrard battle it out to become this season's goal king.
Face off
However, one of the quartet, who are currently tied on five goals each, is certain to exit at this stage of the competition as the meeting of FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais sees Messi and Benzema go head-to-head. Both players have been in a rich vein of form in their respective domestic leagues as Messi has scored 16 times on Barcelona’s way to a clear lead at the top of the Liga, while Benzema has registered eleven goals as Lyon close in on another Ligue 1 title.
Contenders
Klose, who was the top marksman at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, has scored nine for FC Bayern München, who are fourth in the Bundesliga, and he will look to add to his European tally when his side take on Sporting Clube de Portugal. Gerrard, meanwhile, ended this tournament last season with six goals, the same number as Messi, as the pair finished joint-second with two others behind Manchester United FC's eight-goal Cristiano Ronaldo. Gerrard has scored nine as Liverpool FC chase United in the Premier League title, but they face a tough task to progress to the quarter-finals as they take on a rejuvenated Real Madrid CF.
Berbatov threat
Others in contention for the accolade include United's Dimitar Berbatov, who is one of the three players with four goals, along with Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero and FC Porto's Lisandro, who still have a chance of adding to their tally. The Bulgarian international has played the equivalent, minutes-wise, of just over two full games, which is far less than any of his rivals. Alex Ferguson's side face FC Internazionale Milano in the last 16.
Players Clubs Goals
Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 5
Steven Gerrard Liverpool FC 5Miroslav Klose FC Bayern Munchen 5
Karim Benzema Olympique Lyonnais 5
Dimitar Berbatov Manchester United FC 4
Danny Koevermans* PSV Eindhoven 4
Jadson* FC Shakhtar Donetsk 4
Alessandro Del Piero Juventus 4
Alberto Gilardino* ACF Fiorentina 4
Lisandro FC Porto 4
* No longer in UEFA Champions League
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One of European football's most historic competitions is being given a total makeover in 2009 following a decision from the UEFA Executive Committee in November 2007. The UEFA Cup, launched for the 1971/72 season, is to become the UEFA Europa League from the beginning of the 2009/10 campaign as work continues to enhance the image and profile of European club football's second club competition.
The main points of the new format are:
• The group stage is expanded to include 12 groups of four teams each. Each team plays the other three sides on a home-and-away basis, with the top two teams in each of the 12 groups progressing to the Round of 32.
• The titleholders and ten clubs eliminated from the UEFA Champions League play-off round qualify automatically for the group stage.
• Qualifying for the UEFA Europa League consists of four rounds. The domestic cup winners from the associations ranked 52 and 53 in the UEFA coefficient ranking, plus the domestic league runners-up from the associations ranked 35 to 51 (except Liechtenstein), the third-placed side from the associations ranked 22 to 51 (except Liechtenstein) and the three UEFA Fair Play winners enter the competition in the first qualifying round, which consists of two legs played on a home-and-away basis.
• The winners of those 25 ties are joined in the second qualifying round by the domestic cup winners from the associations ranked 28 to 51 in the UEFA coefficient, the runners-up from the associations ranked 19 to 34, the third-placed sides from the associations ranked 16 to 21, the fourth-placed sides from the associations ranked 10 to 15 and the fifth-placed sides from the associations ranked 7 to 9. These ties are also played over two legs, home and away.
• The victorious sides from those 40 ties progress to the third qualifying round, which also includes the domestic cup winners from the associations ranked 16 to 27, the domestic league runners-up from the associations ranked 16 to 18, the third-placed league side from the associations ranked 10 to 15, the fourth-placed side from the associations ranked 7 to 9, the fifth-placed side from the association ranked 4 to 6 and the sixth-placed side from the associations ranked 1 to 3. Again, these two legs are played home and away.
• The winners of these 35 ties are joined in the play-off round by the 15 losing teams from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Also entering the competition at this stage are the domestic cup winners from the associations ranked 1 to 15, the third-placed league sides from the associations ranked 7 to 9, the fourth-placed team from the associations ranked 4 to 6 and the fifth-placed teams from the associations ranked 1 to 3.
• The 37 victorious sides from these two legs qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage, which also includes the ten losing sides from the UEFA Champions League play-off round and the UEFA Europa League holders.
• The losing finalist for the domestic cup competition will still be entitled to be entered for the UEFA Europa League should the domestic cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
• The UEFA Europa League Round of 32 includes the top two teams from each of the 12 groups, plus the eight teams who finish in third position in their UEFA Champions League group. The winners of these 16 ties progress to the Round of 16, then the quarter-finals and subsequently the semi-finals.
• The final will be played on a Wednesday night in a single match at a neutral venue, kick-off 20.45CET.
• UEFA Europa League matches will be played on Thursday night in a week where there are UEFA Champions League matches, and on Wednesday and Thursday nights during weeks that are exclusive to the UEFA Europa League. There will be two kick-off times, in principle at 19.00 and 21.05CET according to local situations.
• There will be full centralisation of media rights from the UEFA Europa League group stage, involving non-exclusive presenting sponsor plus a centralised match ball for the group stage and full sponsorship centralisation (as for the UEFA Champions League) from the Round of 32 onwards.