[1] The draw took place on 7 October 2008 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
[2] Group stage matches began on 23 October 2008 and concluded on 18 December 2008.
Lech Poznań and Žilina had also beaten higher-ranked teams in the Second Qualifying Round.
In contrast, only five of the eight teams in Pot 1 managed to do the same, as Sevilla, Benfica and Schalke 04 were eliminated.
Based on paragraph 6.06 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:[1] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).