As the 2022-23 Champions League enters the final matches in the group stage, now is a good time to look at the tiebreaker rules in the event two teams finish even on points. Here’s a look at what those tiebreakers are.
The first tiebreaker is points in games played by the teams in question against each other. This is essentially head-to-head points. Teams play each other twice in the group stage, so there’s a chance one team has the advantage here. If teams are tied on head-to-head points, the next tiebreaker is head-to-head goal differential. Chances are if the teams are tied on points, they are going to be tied on goal differential as well. The third tiebreaker is goals scored in head-to-head games.
If teams are still tied after these measures, the next tiebreaker is goal differential in the group stage as a whole. Chances are, this will end the tie. If this doesn’t end the tie, the next tiebreaker is goals scored in all group stage matches. The next tiebreaker is away goals in group stage matches.
If teams are somehow still tied after these measures, the next set of rules are group stage wins and group stage away wins. The next tiebreaker is disciplinary record and the final tiebreaker is UEFA coefficient, which is an all-encompassing number the association assigns to each club based on its overall track record. The tiebreaker rules will never get to this point unless every single group stage match ends in a 0-0 draw with no disciplinary actions.
