2002–03 UEFA Champions League first group stage explained

See main article: 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League first group stage matches took place between 17 September and 13 November 2002. The draw for the group stage was made on 29 August 2002 in Monaco.^[1] ^[2]

The group stage featured the 16 automatic qualifiers and the 16 winners of the third qualifying round. Each team was drawn into one of eight groups but avoided teams from their own country. All four teams in the group played home and away matches against each other to determine the winner and runner-up in the group.

At the completion of the group stage, the top two teams in each group advanced to play in a second group stage, while the third-placed teams dropped down to the UEFA Cup.

Seeding

Seeding was determined by the UEFA coefficients.^[3] ^[4] Clubs from the same association were paired up to split the matchdays between Tuesday and Wednesday. Clubs with the same pairing letter would play on different days, ensuring that teams from the same city (e.g. Milan and Internazionale, who also share a stadium) did not play on the same day.

Key to colors
Teams advance to the second group stage
Teams enter the UEFA Cup round of 32

Pot 1
width=165	Team!	width=65	Coeff.
Real Madrid	147.223
Bayern Munich	133.495
Barcelona	116.233
Manchester United	111.899
Valencia	106.233
Juventus	91.334
Arsenal	90.729
Internazionale	88.334

Pot 2
width=165	Team!	width=65	Coeff.
Deportivo La Coruña	82.233
Bayer Leverkusen	81.495
Liverpool	79.729
Galatasaray	78.362
Roma	77.334
Lyon	74.176
Borussia Dortmund	73.495
Feyenoord	70.082

Pot 3
width=165	Team!	width=65	Coeff.
Milan	69.334
PSV Eindhoven	63.082
Dynamo Kyiv	59.979
Spartak Moscow	59.645
Lokomotiv Moscow	57.645
Olympiacos	55.058
AEK Athens	52.058
Ajax	48.082

Pot 4
width=165	Team!	width=65	Coeff.
Rosenborg	47.737
Lens	44.176
Newcastle United	43.729
Club Brugge	41.762
Auxerre	32.176
Genk	21.762
Maccabi Haifa	18.666
Basel	14.312

Tie-breaking criteria

Based on Article 7.06 in the UEFA regulations, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria will be applied to determine the rankings:^[5]

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 away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superior goal difference from all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored;
higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.

Groups

Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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¹ Maccabi Haifa played their home group matches at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, Cyprus after UEFA banned international matches from being played in Israel.

Group G

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Group H

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Notes and References

News: Europe's big guns kept apart . . 29 August 2002 . 25 November 2009 .
News: Champions League group guide . . 29 August 2002 . 25 November 2009 .
News: United and Bayern join top seeds . UEFA . 29 August 2002 . 14 September 2010 .
Web site: UEFA Club Ranking 2002 . Bert Kassies .
Web site: Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2002/03 . UEFA . 10–11 . 24 November 2009 .