The knockout phase of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League began on 24 February 2009 and concluded with the final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. The knockout phase involved the 16 teams who finished in the top two in each of their groups in the group stage.

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

Format Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that had the higher aggregate score over the two legs progressed to the next round. In the event that aggregate scores finished level, the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progressed. If away goals were also equal, 30 minutes of extra time were played. If there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team qualified by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided via a penalty shoot-out.

The draw mechanism is as follows:

In the draw for the first knockout round, matches were played between the winners of one group and the runners-up of a different group, with the group winner hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or same association cannot be drawn against each other. From the quarter-finals onwards, these restrictions did not apply and teams from the same national association or in same group could be drawn against each other.

In the final, the tie was played over just one leg at a neutral venue. If scores were level at the end of normal time in the final, extra time was played, followed by penalties if scores remained tied.

Qualified teams Key to coloursSeeded in round of 16 drawUnseeded in round of 16 draw

GroupWinnersRunners-upA Roma ChelseaB Panathinaikos InternazionaleC Barcelona Sporting CPD Liverpool Atlético MadridE Manchester United VillarrealF Bayern Munich LyonG Porto ArsenalH Juventus Real Madrid

Bracket

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 19 December 2008, and conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and Bruno Conti, the ambassador for the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final.

Summary

The first legs of the round of 16 were played on 24 and 25 February 2009, while the second legs were played on 10 and 11 March.

Bayern Munich defeated Sporting CP by 12–1 on aggregate in the first knockout round; the biggest two-leg win in Champions League era. Manchester United's 2–0 victory against Internazionale in the first knockout round was their 21st consecutive undefeated match, a record surpassing Ajax's 20 undefeated matches, set between 1985–86 and 1995–96. The record was extended to 25 matches, ending with a 2–0 defeat to Barcelona in the final.

Matches The knockout phase began on 24 February with four first-leg ties. English side Arsenal gained a first leg advantage with a 1–0 home victory against Roma at the Emirates Stadium, courtesy of Robin van Persie's 37th-minute penalty. The other English team in action, Manchester United, drew 0–0 with Internazionale at the San Siro, failing to score the away goal they had been hoping for. The other two matches finished in score draws, with the away sides having the upper hand going into the second legs. Lyon drew 1–1 with Barcelona at the Stade de Gerland in France, with Barcelona's Thierry Henry cancelling out an opener from Juninho. Porto came from behind twice away to Atlético Madrid to secure a 2–2 draw at the Vicente Calderón. Maxi Rodríguez put Atlético in front in the fourth minute, Lisandro López equalised in the 22nd minute, Diego Forlán scored on the stroke of half-time to restore Atlético's advantage but López levelled in the 72nd minute.

In the second set of first leg ties, played on 25 February 2009, three teams scored away goals. Bayern Munich scored five times without reply away to Sporting CP. In the match at the Estádio José Alvalade, Franck Ribéry gave the Germans the lead in the 42nd minute and Miroslav Klose doubled their advantage in the 57th. Ribéry scored again from the penalty spot in the 63rd before a brace from Luca Toni put the tie out of Sporting's reach, even before the second leg. Five-time winners Liverpool also managed an away win, against nine-time winners Real Madrid, but had to wait until the 82nd minute at the Santiago Bernabéu for it, when Yossi Benayoun scored a header from Fábio Aurélio's free-kick to hand them the advantage for the second leg. Villarreal and Panathinaikos shared a score draw at the El Madrigal, with Giuseppe Rossi scoring a 67th-minute penalty to cancel out Giorgos Karagounis' 59th-minute opener. In the other game, Chelsea beat Juventus at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a 12th-minute strike from Didier Drogba.

In the four second leg ties played on 10 March, the two English clubs in action both progressed along with Bayern Munich and Villarreal. Liverpool eliminated the nine-time European Cup winners Real Madrid with a 4–0 home victory. Fernando Torres doubled Liverpool's aggregate lead in the 16th minute, and Steven Gerrard made it 2–0 on the night with a 28th-minute penalty. Gerrard further extended Liverpool's lead two minutes after half-time and Andrea Dossena made it 5–0 on aggregate with two minutes left. Chelsea also made it through to the quarter-finals with a 2–2 draw, having won the first leg at Stamford Bridge 1–0. They fell behind to a goal from Vincenzo Iaquinta in the 19th minute but equalised through Michael Essien on the stroke of half-time. Juventus went back in front through an Alessandro Del Piero penalty, although Chelsea were heading through on the away goals ruling. Chelsea sealed their passage to the last eight when Didier Drogba equalised in the 83rd minute to win 3–2 on aggregate.

In the other games, Sporting CP departed the competition after setting a new Champions League record aggregate defeat of 12–1 to Bayern Munich. An early goal from Lukas Podolski extended Bayern's lead to 6–0 on aggregate and this was followed up by further strikes before half-time from Podolski again, Ânderson Polga (own goal) and Bastian Schweinsteiger, sandwiched by a consolation from Sporting's João Moutinho. Bayern were not finished at 4–1 as Mark van Bommel, Miroslav Klose and Thomas Müller further added to the scoreline. Villarreal were the fourth side to make it into the quarter-finals by beating Panathinaikos 3–2 overall. Ariel Ibagaza put Villarreal 2–1 up on aggregate in the 49th minute, Evangelos Mantzios equalised six minutes later, but Joseba Llorente turned the tie in Villarreal's favour in the 70th minute and the match finished 2–1 to Villarreal.

The remaining two English sides both reached the quarter-finals on 11 March and they were joined by Porto and Barcelona. Manchester United defeated Internazionale 2–0 on aggregate at Old Trafford. After a 0–0 draw at the San Siro in the first leg, United were aware that an away goal for Inter would make it difficult, but they made the perfect start with centre back Nemanja Vidić scoring with a header after four minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead just after half-time and the match finished 2–0. Porto and Atlético Madrid played out a 0–0 draw at the Estádio do Dragão in Portugal, but Porto went through on the away goals rule, having scored twice in a 2–2 draw in Spain. Barcelona beat Lyon 6–3 on aggregate with a 5–2 win at the Camp Nou. Thierry Henry scored twice in the space of a couple of minutes shortly before the half-hour mark to put Barcelona 3–1 up on aggregate before Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o made it 4–0 just before half-time on the night. Lyon scored two consolation goals through Jean Makoun on the stroke of half-time and Juninho just after the break, but Barcelona added a fifth in the final minute. In the last game to finish, Roma defeated Arsenal 1–0 at the Stadio Olimpico with Juan scoring in the ninth minute. The first match had finished 1–0 to Arsenal so the match headed into extra-time and, eventually, penalties. Arsenal emerged victorious in the shootout, winning 7–6 after Max Tonetto missed Roma's final spotkick.

Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate.

Villarreal won 3–2 on aggregate.

Bayern Munich won 12–1 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate; Porto won on away goals.

Barcelona won 6–3 on aggregate.

Liverpool won 5–0 on aggregate.

1–1 on aggregate; Arsenal won 7–6 on penalties.

Manchester United won 2–0 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals took place in Nyon, Switzerland, on 20 March 2009.

Summary

The first legs were played on 7 and 8 April while the second legs were played on 14 and 15 April. Due to the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough Disaster, Liverpool were granted their request that their return leg not be played on 15 April; the match was played on 14 April.

Porto's 1–0 loss to Manchester United in the second leg of the quarter-finals was the club's first ever home defeat to English opposition.

Matches English sides Manchester United and Arsenal were involved in the first two quarter-final matches on 7 April. Arsenal were playing the first leg away against Villarreal from Spain, their second encounter in three years following on from a meeting in the semi-finals three years earlier. Villarreal went in front in the 10th minute thanks to a long-range effort from Marcos Senna. The Yellow Submarine went on to dominate the first half, but Arsenal did not concede again and their defensive work was rewarded in the 66th minute as a clipped ball from Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas was controlled on the chest by Emmanuel Adebayor and volleyed acrobatically with an overhead kick into the bottom corner. The match eventually finished 1–1, with Arsenal taking an away goal into the second leg.

Manchester United played their first leg at home at Old Trafford against Porto, the team who had knocked them out in the first knockout round five years before. Porto took an early lead, in the fourth minute, when Cristian Rodríguez netted past Edwin van der Sar. The advantage lasted only 11 minutes, however, at which point Wayne Rooney scored the equaliser, chipping the ball over the advancing Helton following a careless back-pass from Bruno Alves. In an open game, in which Porto dominated, another goal appeared certain but did not come until the 85th minute. Carlos Tevez saw off his marker to score from a Rooney flick from a couple of yards out. The action had not finished however and Mariano González equalised in the final minute to hand Porto a second away goal.

Liverpool and Chelsea faced each other in an all-English tie at Anfield on 8 April. The sides were meeting in the Champions League for the fifth straight season, having last faced each other in the competition in the 2008 semi-final, when Chelsea advanced to the final. Fernando Torres handed an early advantage to Liverpool, scoring in the sixth minute. However, their lead only lasted until the 39th minute when the Liverpool defence allowed Branislav Ivanović too much space at a corner and he was able to power a header past Pepe Reina. Chelsea took the lead in the 62nd minute from an almost identical situation as Ivanović scored his second headed goal. Didier Drogba added a final goal to make it 3–1 to the away side with a side-footed finish.

In the final game, played on the same evening, two of the most successful European clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich met at the Camp Nou in Spain. It was their first meeting since the group stage of the 1998–99 tournament. Bayern had beaten Sporting CP 12–1 in the previous round, but Barcelona posed a far tougher proposition and it showed. Lionel Messi put Barcelona in front in the ninth minute and Samuel Eto'o doubled the lead three minutes later. Messi scored his second goal in the 38th minute and Thierry Henry made it 4–0 in the 43rd minute. The score remained at 4–0 throughout the second half, leaving Barcelona as favourites to progress.