The 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009âÂÂ10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials â one behind each goal â were used in all matches of the competition from the play-off round.
The final was held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. Chelsea's caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo led the club to win their first Champions League title after beating Bayern Munich 4âÂÂ3 on penalties in the final. As tenants of the Allianz Arena (known as FuÃÂball Arena München for the final), Bayern were the first finalists to have home advantage since 1984. By winning the tournament, Chelsea earned a berth at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup and 2012 UEFA Super Cup. Barcelona were the defending champions, but were eliminated by the eventual winners Chelsea in the semi-finals.
A total of 76 teams participated in the 2011âÂÂ12 Champions League from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organises no domestic league competition). Associations are allocated places according to their 2010 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2005âÂÂ06 to 2009âÂÂ10.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League:
Since the winners of the 2010âÂÂ11 UEFA Champions League, Barcelona, obtained a place in the group stage through their domestic league placing, the reserved title holder spot in the group stage was effectively vacated. To compensate:
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless stated otherwise.
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 20 June 2011. The first legs were played on 28 June, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 July 2011.
The first legs were played on 12 and 13 July, and the second legs were played on 19 and 20 July 2011.
HJK's 10âÂÂ0 win over Bangor City in the second leg broke the record for the largest margin of victory in the current Champions League format.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2011. The first legs were played on 26 and 27 July, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 August 2011.
The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (called the Champions Route) and one for non-champions (called the League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the play-off round of the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Europa League.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2011. The first legs were played on 16 and 17 August, and the second legs were played on 23 and 24 August 2011.
The play-off round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (called the Champions Route) and one for non-champions (called the League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the group stage of the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Europa League.
The group stage features 32 teams, which were allocated into pots based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients (except the title holders, Barcelona, who were placed in Pot 1 automatically), and then drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. The draw was held on 25 August 2011 in Monaco.
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 13âÂÂ14 September, 27âÂÂ28 September, 18âÂÂ19 October, 1âÂÂ2 November, 22âÂÂ23 November, and 6âÂÂ7 December 2011. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the round of 32 of the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Europa League.
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):
Manchester City, Napoli, OÃÂelul GalaÃÂi, Trabzonspor and Viktoria Plzeà  made their debut appearances in the group stage.
In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other. In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn with each other.
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
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