2011-12_Europa_League

2011–12 UEFA Europa League

2011–12 UEFA Europa League

41st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA


The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup.[1] It began on 30 June 2011 with the first legs of the first qualifying round, and ended on 9 May 2012 with the final held at Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.[2] As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials – one on each goal line – were used in all matches of the competition from the group stage.[3]

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...
Teams by country in 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group stage

Atlético Madrid won the title, defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in an all-Spanish final.[4] Porto were the defending champions, but they were beaten by Manchester City in the Round of 32.

Association team allocation

A total of 194 teams from 53 UEFA associations participated in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Associations are allocated places according to their 2010 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2005–06 to 2009–10.[5]

Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League:[6]

  • Associations 1–6 each have three teams qualify
  • Associations 7–9 each have four teams qualify
  • Associations 10–51 each have three teams qualify, except Liechtenstein, which have one team qualify (as Liechtenstein only have a domestic cup and no domestic league)
  • Associations 52–53 each have two teams qualify
  • The top three associations of the 2010–11 UEFA Fair Play ranking each gain an additional berth
  • Moreover, 33 teams eliminated from the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League are transferred to the Europa League

Association ranking

More information Rank, Association ...
Notes
  • (FP): Additional fair play berth (Norway, England, Sweden)[7]
  • (UCL): Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League

Distribution

Since the winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, Porto, qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League through domestic performance, the title holder spot reserved for them in the group stage was vacated. As a result, the following changes to the default allocation system were made to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage:[8]

  • The domestic cup winners of associations 16 and 17 (Scotland and Bulgaria) were promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round.
  • The domestic cup winners of associations 28 and 29 (Belarus and Republic of Ireland) were promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
  • The domestic cup winners of associations 52 and 53 (Malta and San Marino) and the domestic league runners-up of associations 33 and 34 (Latvia and Moldova) were promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
More information Teams entering in this round, Teams advancing from previous round ...

Redistribution rules

A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules:[6]

  • When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifiers within the national association) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated, and the remaining Europa League qualifiers are moved up one place, with the final place (with the earliest starting round) taken by the domestic cup runners-up, provided they do not already qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League. Otherwise, this place is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.
  • When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated, and the Europa League qualifiers that finish lower in the league are moved up one place, with the final place taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.
  • A place vacated by the League Cup winners is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.
  • A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table that has not yet qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League.

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[9][10]

  • TH: Title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • CR: Cup runners-up
  • LC: League Cup winners
  • Nth: League position
  • P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
  • FP: Fair play
  • UCL: Relegated from the Champions League
    • GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage
    • PO: Losers from the play-off round
    • Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round
More information Round of 32, Group stage ...
Notes

Round and draw dates

All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless stated otherwise.[8]

More information Phase, Round ...

Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients,[21][22] and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round

The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 20 June 2011.[23] The first legs were played on 30 June, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2011.

Notes
  • Note 1: Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second qualifying round

The first legs were played on 14 July, and the second legs were played on 21 July 2011.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Notes
  • Note 2: Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2011.[24] The first legs were played on 26 and 28 July, and the second legs were played on 4 August 2011.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Notes
  • Note 3: Order of legs reversed after original draw.
  • Note 4: Greek club Olympiacos Volos, who had reached the play-off round, were excluded from the competition by UEFA on 11 August 2011 for their involvement in the Koriopolis match-fixing scandal.[25] UEFA decided to replace them in the play-off round with Differdange 03 from Luxembourg, who had lost to Olympiakos Volou in the previous round.[26]

Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2011.[27] The first legs were played on 18 August, and the second legs were played on 25 August 2011.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Notes
  • Note 5: Order of legs reversed after original draw.
  • Note 6: As a result of match-fixing allegations, Turkish club Fenerbahçe were removed from the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and were replaced with Trabzonspor on 24 August 2011. As a result, Trabzonspor's second leg against Athletic Bilbao was cancelled, and Athletic Bilbao qualified for the group stage.[20]
  • Note 7: Celtic lodged protests over the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated in the two legs of the play-off round, which Sion won 3–1 aggregate (first leg: 0–0; second leg: 3–1). The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body accepted the protests and decided to award both matches to Celtic by forfeit (3–0). As a consequence, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage.[28]

Group stage

Location of teams of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Red: Group A; Yellow: Group B; Green: Group C; Dark green: Group D;
Purple: Group E; Pink: Group F; Blue: Group G; Orange: Group H;
Brown: Group I; Deep pink: Group J; Cyan: Group K; Spring green: Group L.

The group stage features 48 teams, which were allocated into pots based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients,[21][22] and then drawn into twelve groups of four. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. The draw was held on 26 August 2011 in Monaco.[29]

In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 15 September, 29 September, 20 October, 3 November, 30 November – 1 December, and 14–15 December 2011. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions 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):[6]

  1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
  3. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  4. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
  5. If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams;
  6. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
  7. higher number of goals scored from all group matches played;
  8. higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.

A total of 24 national associations are represented in this group stage (including Scotland after Celtic were reinstated into the Europa League over Sion), with England having the most teams, with four.[30] This was also the first time Irish side were represented in the group stage.

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group I

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group J

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group K

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Group L

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Soccerway

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The draw for the round of 32 and round of 16 was held on 16 December 2011.[31] The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team) were held on 16 March 2012.[32] Both draws were assisted by Romanian footballer Miodrag Belodedici, the ambassador for the 2012 final.

In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four better third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage (based on their match record in the group stage) are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn with each other.

Bracket

Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                  
Italy Lazio 1 0 1
Spain Atlético Madrid 3 1 4
Spain Atlético Madrid 3 3 6
Turkey Beşiktaş 1 0 1
Portugal Braga 0 1 1
Turkey Beşiktaş 2 0 2
Spain Atlético Madrid 2 2 4
Germany Hannover 96 1 1 2
Poland Wisła Kraków 1 0 1
Belgium Standard Liège (a) 1 0 1
Belgium Standard Liège 2 0 2
Germany Hannover 96 2 4 6
Germany Hannover 96 2 1 3
Belgium Club Brugge 1 0 1
Spain Atlético Madrid 4 1 5
Spain Valencia 2 0 2
Netherlands AZ 1 1 2
Belgium Anderlecht 0 0 0
Netherlands AZ 2 1 3
Italy Udinese 0 2 2
Italy Udinese 0 3 3
Greece PAOK 0 0 0
Netherlands AZ 2 0 2
Spain Valencia 1 4 5
England Stoke City 0 0 0
Spain Valencia 1 1 2
Spain Valencia 4 1 5
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 2 1 3
Turkey Trabzonspor 1 1 2
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 2 4 6
Spain Atlético Madrid 3
Spain Athletic Bilbao 0
Poland Legia Warsaw 2 0 2
Portugal Sporting CP 2 1 3
Portugal Sporting CP (a) 1 2 3
England Manchester City 0 3 3
Portugal Porto 1 0 1
England Manchester City 2 4 6
Portugal Sporting CP 2 1 3
Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1 1 2
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 0 1 1
Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 4 4 8
Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv (a) 0 2 2
Greece Olympiacos 1 1 2
Russia Rubin Kazan 0 0 0
Greece Olympiacos 1 1 2
Portugal Sporting CP 2 1 3
Spain Athletic Bilbao 1 3 4
Romania Steaua București 0 0 0
Netherlands Twente 1 1 2
Netherlands Twente 1 1 2
Germany Schalke 04 0 4 4
Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň 1 1 2
Germany Schalke 04 (a.e.t.) 1 3 4
Germany Schalke 04 2 2 4
Spain Athletic Bilbao 4 2 6
Netherlands Ajax 0 2 2
England Manchester United 2 1 3
England Manchester United 2 1 3
Spain Athletic Bilbao 3 2 5
Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 2 0 2
Spain Athletic Bilbao (a) 1 1 2

Round of 32

The first legs were played on 14 and 16 February, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 February 2012.

Round of 16

The first legs were played on 8 March, and the second legs were played on 15 March 2012.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 29 March, and the second legs on 5 April 2012.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Semi-finals

The first legs were played on 19 April, and the second legs were played on 26 April 2012.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Final

The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final was played on 9 May 2012 at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.

More information Atlético Madrid, 3–0 ...
Attendance: 52,347

Statistics

Excluding qualifying rounds and play-off round.

See also


References

  1. "UEFA Cup to become UEFA Europa League". UEFA. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  2. "UEFA unveil 2011 and 2012 final venues". UEFA. 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  3. "UEFA welcomes IFAB referee trial decision". UEFA. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  4. "Atl Madrid 3–0 Athletic Bilbao". BBC Sport. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2011/12" (PDF). Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. March 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  6. "Qualification for European Cup Football 2011/2012". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  7. "AaFK får plass i Europa League". fotball.no. 13 May 2011.
  8. "Fulham handed Europa League place". official website. Premier League. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  9. "BK Häcken till Europa League". svenskfotboll.se. 13 May 2011.
  10. "League in new crisis as Fingal go to wall". independent.ie. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  11. "EFA nesuteikė "Žalgiriui" išimties dėl žaidimo Europos lygoje". lff.lt. 31 March 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  12. "Timișoara si Bistrita nu au primit licenta si sunt retrogradate" (in Romanian). Onlinesport.ro. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  13. "Fenerbahce withdrawn from Europe because of match-fix probe". BBC. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  14. "Fenerbahçe is out from UEFA Champions League for this season". Turkish Football Federation. 24 August 2011.
  15. "Fenerbahçe replaced in UEFA Champions League". UEFA. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011.
  16. "Seeding in the Europa League 2011/2012". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015.
  17. "Olympiakos Volou excluded from Europa League". UEFA. 11 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.
  18. "Celtic protests over Sion matches accepted". UEFA. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2011-12_Europa_League, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.