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Champions League 08-09 Schedule

It may be only a month since Manchester United FC defeated Chelsea FC to win the UEFA Champions League, but the 2008/09 season kicks off on 1 July with the first and second qualifying round draw for games taking place a fortnight later.

Dates
Twenty-eight teams enter in the first qualifying round in July, with a further 14 coming in at the next stage. The eventual 14 winners in that phase will then take on 18 teams for 16 places in the group stage, with as many places already filled and the draw for the competition proper taking place in Monaco on 28 August. The matches then begin on 16/17 September, all leading to the final at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday 27 May 2009 – the last to take place before the showpiece is moved to the weekend.

uefa.com - UEFA Champions League - News & Features - News specific

UEFA Cup 08-09 Schedule

The UEFA Cup final will be held in Istanbul for the first time next season and the road to Turkey begins with the first qualifying round draw on 1 July.

July start
Four years after the Atatürk Olympic Stadium staged Turkey's first major European final with the UEFA Champions League decider between Liverpool FC and AC Milan, the UEFA Cup showpiece will be held on Istanbul's Asian side at Fenerbahçe SK's Şükrü Saraçoglu Stadium on 20 May 2009. But the first qualifying round is on 17 and 31 July, with the draw on the first of the month, and the 74 participants include Fair Play entrants Manchester City FC, Hertha BSC Berlin and FC Nordsjælland.

Competition
Twenty-seven sides then begin in the second qualifying round, including the last eleven UEFA Intertoto Cup winners, and the eventual 32 teams successful in those ties will take on 48 first-round entrants, including 16 sides eliminated from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, for berths in the group stage, which runs from 23 October until 19 December. The top three in all eight groups, plus the third-place teams in the eight UEFA Champions League pools, then begin the knockout phase. All the dates for the season are below.

uefa.com - UEFA Cup - News & Features - News Specific