2011–12 UEFA Europa League

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]

2011–12 UEFA Europa League
The Arena Națională in Bucharest hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates30 June – 25 August 2011 (qualifying)
15 September 2011 – 9 May 2012 (competition proper)
Teams48+8 (competition proper)
161+33 (total) (from 53 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Atlético Madrid (2nd title)
Runners-upSpain Athletic Bilbao
Tournament statistics
Matches played205
Goals scored585 (2.85 per match)
Top scorer(s)Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid)
12 goals
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

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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

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Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
1   England 81.856 3 +1(FP)
+2(UCL)
2   Spain 79.757 +1(UCL)
3   Italy 64.338 +1(UCL)
4   Germany 64.207
5   France 53.740
6   Russia 43.791 +1(UCL)
7   Ukraine 39.550 4 +1(UCL)
8   Romania 39.491 +1(UCL)
9   Portugal 38.296 +1(UCL)
10   Netherlands 36.546 3 +2(UCL)
11   Turkey 34.450 +2(UCL)
12   Greece 29.899 +2(UCL)
13   Switzerland 28.375 +1(UCL)
14   Belgium 27.900 +1(UCL)
15   Denmark 27.350 +2(UCL)
16   Scotland 25.791 +1(UCL)
17   Bulgaria 22.000 +1(UCL)
18   Czech Republic 21.975 +1(UCL)
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
19   Austria 19.575 3 +1(UCL)
20   Israel 18.875 +1(UCL)
21   Cyprus 17.999
22   Norway 17.400 +1(FP)
+1(UCL)
23   Slovakia 15.832 +1(UCL)
24   Sweden 14.191 +1(FP)
+1(UCL)
25   Serbia 14.000 +1(UCL)
26   Poland 12.541 +1(UCL)
27   Croatia 12.332
28   Belarus 11.541
29   Republic of Ireland 9.541 +1(UCL)
30   Finland 9.499 +1(UCL)
31   Bosnia and Herzegovina 8.749
32   Lithuania 8.416 +1(UCL)
33   Latvia 8.248
34   Moldova 7.290
35   Slovenia 6.957 +1(UCL)
36   Hungary 6.750
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
37   Georgia 5.748 3 +1(UCL)
38   Azerbaijan 5.498
39   Iceland 5.415
40   Macedonia 5.332
41   Liechtenstein 4.500 1
42   Kazakhstan 4.499 3
43   Estonia 4.374
44   Albania 3.999
45   Armenia 2.999
46   Wales 2.581
47   Montenegro 2.125
48   Faroe Islands 1.832
49   Northern Ireland 1.624
50   Luxembourg 1.249
51   Andorra 1.000
52   Malta 0.916 2
53   San Marino 0.750
Notes
  • (FP): Additional fair play berth (Norway, England, Sweden)[7]
  • (UCL): Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League

Distribution

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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.
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round Teams transferred from Champions League
First qualifying round
(50 teams)
  • 18 domestic league runners-up from associations 35–53 (except Liechtenstein)
  • 29 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)
  • 3 teams which qualified via Fair Play rankings
Second qualifying round
(80 teams)
  • 24 domestic cup winners from associations 30–53
  • 16 domestic league runners-up from associations 19–34
  • 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–21
  • 6 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 10–15
  • 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 7–9
  • 25 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
(70 teams)
  • 12 domestic cup winners from associations 18–29
  • 3 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–18
  • 6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 10–15
  • 3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–9
  • 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 4–6 (League Cup winners for France)
  • 3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–3 (League Cup winners for England)
  • 40 winners from the second qualifying round
Play-off round
(76 teams)
  • 17 domestic cup winners from associations 1–17
  • 3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–9
  • 3 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 4–6
  • 3 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–3
  • 35 winners from the third qualifying round
  • 15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round
Group stage
(48 teams)
  • 38 winners from the play-off round
  • 10 losers from the Champions League play-off round
Knockout phase
(32 teams)
  • 12 group winners from the group stage
  • 12 group runners-up from the group stage
  • 8 third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage

Redistribution rules

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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

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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
Round of 32
  Manchester City (UCL GS)   Trabzonspor (UCL GS)Note TUR   Manchester United (UCL GS)   Ajax (UCL GS)
  Valencia (UCL GS)   Olympiacos (UCL GS)   PortoTH (UCL GS)   Viktoria Plzeň (UCL GS)
Group stage
  Zürich (UCL PO)   Odense (UCL PO)   Maccabi Haifa (UCL PO)   Wisła Kraków (UCL PO)
  Malmö FF (UCL PO)   Rubin Kazan (UCL PO)   Copenhagen (UCL PO)   Twente (UCL PO)
  Udinese (UCL PO)   Sturm Graz (UCL PO)
Play-off round
  Tottenham Hotspur (5th)   Lokomotiv Moscow (5th)   Anderlecht (3rd)   Standard Liège (UCL Q3)
  Birmingham City (LC)   Metalist Kharkiv (3rd)   Nordsjælland (CW)   Slovan Bratislava (UCL Q3)
  Sevilla (5th)   Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (4th)   Celtic (CW)   Zestaponi (UCL Q3)
  Athletic Bilbao (6th)   Steaua București (CW)   CSKA Sofia (CW)   Litex Lovech (UCL Q3)
  Lazio (5th)   Rapid București (4th)Note ROU   Ekranas (UCL Q3)   Trabzonspor (UCL Q3)Note TUR
  Roma (6th)   Sporting CP (3rd)   Shamrock Rovers (UCL Q3)   Partizan (UCL Q3)
  Schalke 04 (CW)   Braga (4th)   Panathinaikos (UCL Q3)   Maribor (UCL Q3)
  Hannover 96 (4th)   PSV Eindhoven (3rd)   Dynamo Kyiv (UCL Q3)   HJK Helsinki (UCL Q3)
  Paris Saint-Germain (4th)   Beşiktaş (CW)   Rangers (UCL Q3)
  Sochaux (5th)   AEK Athens (CW)   Vaslui (UCL Q3)
  Spartak Moscow (4th)   Sion (CW)   Rosenborg (UCL Q3)
Third qualifying round
  Stoke City (CR)   Vitória Guimarães (5th)   Levski Sofia (2nd)   Helsingborgs IF (CW)
  Atlético Madrid (7th)   AZ (4th)   Mladá Boleslav (CW)   Red Star Belgrade (2nd)
  Palermo (CR)   Bursaspor (3rd)   Sparta Prague (2nd)   Legia Warsaw (CW)
  Mainz 05 (5th)   PAOK (3rd)   Ried (CW)   Hajduk Split (2nd)
  Rennes (6th)   Young Boys (3rd)   Hapoel Tel Aviv (CW)   Gomel (CW)
  Alania Vladikavkaz (CR)   Club Brugge (4th)   Omonia (CW)   Sligo Rovers (CW)
  Karpaty Lviv (5th)   Brøndby (3rd)   Strømsgodset (CW)
  Dinamo București (6th)Note ROU   Heart of Midlothian (3rd)   Senica (2nd)
Second qualifying round
  Vorskla Poltava (6th)   Maccabi Tel Aviv (3rd)   Željezničar (CW)   Vaduz (CW)
  Gaz Metan Mediaș (7th)Note ROU   Bnei Yehuda (4th)   Sarajevo (2nd)   Aktobe (2nd)Note KAZ
  Nacional (6th)   Anorthosis (3rd)   Sūduva Marijampolė (2nd)   Levadia Tallinn (2nd)
  ADO Den Haag (P-W)   AEK Larnaca (4th)   Tauras Tauragė (4th)Note LTU   Tirana (CW)
  Gaziantepspor (4th)   Vålerenga (2nd)   Ventspils (CW)   Mika (CW)
  Olympiacos Volos (5th)   Žilina (3rd)   Liepājas Metalurgs (3rd)   Llanelli (CW)
  Thun (5th)   Örebro SK (3rd)   Iskra-Stal (CW)   Rudar Pljevlja (CW)
  Westerlo (CR)   Vojvodina (3rd)   Sheriff Tiraspol (2nd)   EB/Streymur (CW)
  Midtjylland (4th)   Śląsk Wrocław (2nd)   Domžale (CW)   Crusaders (2nd)
  Dundee United (4th)   RNK Split (3rd)   Kecskemét (CW)   Differdange 03 (CW)
  Lokomotiv Sofia (4th)   Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2nd)   Gagra (CW)   Sant Julià (CW)
  Jablonec (3rd)   Bohemians (2nd)   Khazar Lankaran (CW)   Floriana (CW)
  Red Bull Salzburg (2nd)   TPS (CW)   FH (CW)   Juvenes/Dogana (CW)
  Austria Wien (3rd)   KuPS (2nd)   Metalurg Skopje (CW)
First qualifying round
  Tromsø (3rd)   Koper (3rd)   Shakhter Karagandy (CR)Note KAZ   Glentoran (3rd)
  Spartak Trnava (4th)   Olimpija Ljubljana (4th)   Narva Trans (3rd)   Cliftonville (4th)
  IF Elfsborg (4th)   Paks (2nd)   Nõmme Kalju (4th)   Fola Esch (2nd)
  Rad (4th)   Ferencváros (3rd)   Flamurtari (2nd)   Käerjéng 97 (3rd)
  Jagiellonia Białystok (4th)   Dinamo Tbilisi (2nd)   Vllaznia (3rd)   Lusitanos (3rd)
  Varaždin (CR)   Metalurgi Rustavi (3rd)   Banants (2nd)   UE Santa Coloma (4th)
  Minsk (3rd)   Qarabağ (3rd)   Ulisses (3rd)   Birkirkara (3rd)
  St Patrick's Athletic (5th)Note IRL   AZAL Baku (4th)   The New Saints (2nd)   Tre Penne (2nd)
  Honka (4th)   ÍBV (3rd)   Neath (P-W)   Aalesund (FP)[11]
  Široki Brijeg (4th)   KR (4th)   Budućnost Podgorica (2nd)   Fulham (FP)[12]
  Banga Gargždai (CR)   Renova (3rd)   Zeta (4th)   BK Häcken (FP)[13]
  Daugava Daugavpils (4th)   Rabotnički (4th)   NSÍ Runavík (3rd)
  Milsami Orhei (3rd)   Irtysh Pavlodar (3rd)   ÍF Fuglafjørður (4th)
Notes

Round and draw dates

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

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying First qualifying round 20 June 2011 30 June 2011 7 July 2011
Second qualifying round 14 July 2011 21 July 2011
Third qualifying round 15 July 2011 28 July 2011 4 August 2011
Play-off Play-off round 5 August 2011 18 August 2011 25 August 2011
Group stage Matchday 1 26 August 2011
(Monaco)
15 September 2011
Matchday 2 29 September 2011
Matchday 3 20 October 2011
Matchday 4 3 November 2011
Matchday 5 30 November – 1 December 2011
Matchday 6 14–15 December 2011
Knockout phase Round of 32 16 December 2011 16 February 2012 23 February 2012
Round of 16 8 March 2012 15 March 2012
Quarter-finals 16 March 2012 29 March 2012 5 April 2012
Semi-finals 19 April 2012 26 April 2012
Final 9 May 2012 at Arena Națională, Bucharest

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

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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

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The draw for the first qualifying round 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.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ÍF Fuglafjørður   2–81   KR 1–3 1–5
Daugava Daugavpils   1–7   Tromsø 0–5 1–2
IF Elfsborg   5–1   Fola Esch 4–0 1–1
The New Saints   2–1   Cliftonville 1–1 1–0
Honka   2–0   Nõmme Kalju 0–0 2–0
Fulham   3–0   NSÍ Runavík 3–0 0–0
ÍBV   1–2   St Patrick's Athletic 1–0 0–2
Käerjéng 97   2–61   BK Häcken 1–1 1–5
Aalesund   6–1   Neath 4–1 2–0
Renova   3–3 (2–3 p)   Glentoran 2–1 1–2 (aet)
Koper   2–3   Shakhter Karagandy 1–1 1–2
Banga Gargždai   0–7   Qarabağ 0–4 0–3
UE Santa Coloma   0–51   Paks 0–1 0–4
Narva Trans   1–71   Rabotnički 1–4 0–3
Rad   9–1   Tre Penne 6–0 3–1
Budućnost Podgorica   3–4   Flamurtari 1–3 2–1
Ferencváros   5–01   Ulisses 3–0 2–0
Jagiellonia Białystok   1–2   Irtysh Pavlodar 1–0 0–2
AZAL Baku   2–31   Minsk 1–1 1–2
Dinamo Tbilisi   5–1   Milsami Orhei 2–0 3–1
Varaždin   6–1   Lusitanos 5–1 1–0
Banants   1–2   Metalurgi Rustavi 0–1 1–1
Birkirkara   1–2   Vllaznia 0–1 1–1
Široki Brijeg   0–3   Olimpija Ljubljana 0–0 0–3
Spartak Trnava   4–2   Zeta 3–0 1–2
Notes
  • Note 1: Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second qualifying round

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The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 20 June 2011, immediately after the first qualifying round draw.[23] The first legs were played on 14 July, and the second legs were played on 21 July 2011.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Metalurgi Rustavi   3–1   Irtysh Pavlodar 1–1 2–0
Sūduva Marijampolė   1–4   IF Elfsborg 1–1 0–3
Metalurg Skopje   2–3   Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0 2–3
Sant Julià   0–4   Bnei Yehuda 0–2 0–2
Željezničar   1–0   Sheriff Tiraspol 1–0 0–0
KuPS   1–2   Gaz Metan Mediaș 1–0 0–2
Minsk   2–5   Gaziantepspor 1–1 1–4
Iskra-Stal   2–4   Varaždin 1–1 1–3
Tauras Tauragė   2–5   ADO Den Haag 2–3 0–2
Glentoran   0–5   Vorskla Poltava 0–2 0–3
Juvenes/Dogana   0–4   Rabotnički 0–1 0–3
Örebro SK   0–2   Sarajevo 0–0 0–2
Crusaders   1–7   Fulham 1–3 0–4
Llanelli   2–6   Dinamo Tbilisi 2–1 0–5
Floriana   0–9   AEK Larnaca 0–8 0–1
Shakhtyor Soligorsk   2–4   Ventspils 0–1 2–3
Flamurtari   1–7   Jablonec 0–2 1–5
KR   3–2   Žilina 3–0 0–2
Vålerenga   2–02   Mika 1–0 1–0
Olimpija Ljubljana   3–1   Bohemians 2–0 1–1
Domžale   2–5   Split 1–2 1–3
Differdange 03   1–0   Levadia Tallinn 0–0 1–0
Tirana   1–3   Spartak Trnava 0–0 1–3
Ferencváros   3–4   Aalesund 2–1 1–3 (aet)
Liepājas Metalurgs   1–4   Red Bull Salzburg 1–4 0–0
Rad   1–2   Olympiacos Volos 0–1 1–1
The New Saints   3–8   Midtjylland 1–3 2–5
Kecskemét   1–1 (a)   Aktobe 1–1 0–0
BK Häcken   3–0   Honka 1–0 2–0
Anorthosis   3–22   Gagra 3–0 0–2
Vaduz   3–3 (a)   Vojvodina 0–2 3–1
Rudar Pljevlja   0–5   Austria Wien 0–3 0–2
Śląsk Wrocław   3–3 (a)   Dundee United 1–0 2–3
Shakhter Karagandy   2–3   St Patrick's Athletic 2–1 0–2
EB/Streymur   1–1 (a)   Qarabağ 1–1 0–0
FH   1–3   Nacional 1–1 0–2
Paks   4–1   Tromsø 1–1 3–0
TPS   0–1   Westerlo 0–1 0–0
Maccabi Tel Aviv   3–12   Khazar Lankaran 3–1 0–0
Vllaznia   1–2   Thun 0–0 1–2
Notes
  • Note 2: Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Third qualifying round

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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.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Atlético Madrid   4–1   Strømsgodset 2–1 2–0
Young Boys   5–1   Westerlo 3–1 2–0
Ventspils   1–9   Red Star Belgrade 1–2 0–7
Alania Vladikavkaz   2–2 (4–2 p)   Aktobe 1–1 1–1 (aet)
AEK Larnaca   5–2   Mladá Boleslav 3–0 2–2
Željezničar   0–8   Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–2 0–6
AZ   3–1   Jablonec 2–0 1–1
Olimpija Ljubljana   3–4   Austria Wien 1–1 2–3
Bursaspor   5–2   Gomel 2–1 3–1
Aalesund   5–1   IF Elfsborg 4–0 1–1
Gaziantepspor   0–1   Legia Warsaw 0–1 0–0
Hapoel Tel Aviv   5–2   Vaduz 4–0 1–2
Metalurgi Rustavi   2–7   Rennes 2–5 0–2
Levski Sofia   3–3 (4–5 p)   Spartak Trnava 2–1 1–2 (aet)
Midtjylland   1–2   Vitória Guimarães 0–0 1–2
Dinamo București   4–3   Varaždin 2–2 2–1
Karpaty Lviv   5–1   St Patrick's Athletic 2–0 3–1
Palermo   3–3 (a)3   Thun 2–2 1–1
KR   1–6   Dinamo Tbilisi 1–4 0–2
Omonia   3–1   ADO Den Haag 3–0 0–1
Red Bull Salzburg   4–0   Senica 1–0 3–0
Club Brugge   4–2   Qarabağ 4–1 0–1
Differdange 03   0–64   Olympiacos Volos 0–3 0–3
Mainz 05   2–2 (3–4 p)   Gaz Metan Mediaș 1–1 1–1 (aet)
Bnei Yehuda   1–3   Helsingborgs IF 1–0 0–3
Stoke City   2–0   Hajduk Split 1–0 1–0
Anorthosis   2–3   Rabotnički 0–2 2–1
Sparta Prague   7–03   Sarajevo 5–0 2–0
Vorskla Poltava   2–0   Sligo Rovers 0–0 2–0
Paks   2–5   Heart of Midlothian 1–1 1–4
Śląsk Wrocław   0–0 (4–3 p)3   Lokomotiv Sofia 0–0 0–0 (aet)
Nacional   4–2   BK Häcken 3–0 1–2
Ried   4–4 (a)   Brøndby 2–0 2–4
Vålerenga   0–53   PAOK 0–2 0–3
Split   0–2   Fulham 0–0 0–2
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

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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.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Maccabi Tel Aviv   4–2   Panathinaikos 3–0 1–2
Atlético Madrid   6–0   Vitória de Guimarães 2–0 4–0
Shamrock Rovers   3–2   Partizan 1–1 2–1 (aet)
Metalist Kharkiv   4–0   Sochaux 0–0 4–0
Beşiktaş   3–2   Alania Vladikavkaz 3–0 0–2
Rosenborg   1–2   AEK Larnaca 0–0 1–2
Vorskla Poltava   5–3   Dinamo București 2–1 3–2
Bursaspor   3–4   Anderlecht 1–2 2–2
Slovan Bratislava   2–15   Roma 1–0 1–1
Differdange 03   0–6   Paris Saint-Germain 0–4 0–2
Legia Warsaw   5–4   Spartak Moscow 2–2 3–2
Ekranas   1–4   Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–0 0–4
PAOK   3–1   Karpaty Lviv 2–0 1–1
Athletic Bilbao   w/o5, 6   Trabzonspor 0–0 Cancelled6
Heart of Midlothian   0–5   Tottenham Hotspur 0–5 0–0
Maribor   3–2   Rangers 2–1 1–1
Steaua București   3–1   CSKA Sofia 2–0 1–1
Nordsjælland   1–2   Sporting CP 0–0 1–2
Fulham   3–15   Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–0 0–1
Lokomotiv Moscow   3–1   Spartak Trnava 2–0 1–1
Celtic   6–05, 7   Sion 3–07 3–07
Śląsk Wrocław   2–4   Rapid București 1–3 1–1
Litex Lovech   1–3   Dynamo Kyiv 1–2 0–1
Lazio   9–1   Rabotnički 6–0 3–1
Nacional   0–3   Birmingham City 0–0 0–3
Ried   0–5   PSV Eindhoven 0–0 0–5
Thun   1–5   Stoke City 0–1 1–4
Aalesund   2–7   AZ 2–1 0–6
Vaslui   2–1   Sparta Prague 2–0 0–1
Omonia   2–2 (a)   Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 0–1
Zestaponi   3–5   Club Brugge 3–3 0–2
Hannover 96   3–2   Sevilla 2–1 1–1
HJK Helsinki   3–6   Schalke 04 2–0 1–6
AEK Athens   2–15   Dinamo Tbilisi 1–0 1–1 (aet)
Red Star Belgrade   1–6   Rennes 1–2 0–4
Austria Wien   3–25   Gaz Metan Mediaș 3–1 0–1
Braga   2–2 (a)   Young Boys 0–0 2–2
Standard Liège   4–1   Helsingborgs IF 1–0 3–1
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

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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 an Irish side were represented in the group stage.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAOK RK TH SR
1   PAOK 6 3 3 0 10 6 +4 12 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 0–0 2–1
2   Rubin Kazan 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11 2–2 1–0 4–1
3   Tottenham Hotspur 6 3 1 2 9 4 +5 10 1–2 1–0 3–1
4   Shamrock Rovers 6 0 0 6 4 19 −15 0 1–3 0–3 0–4
Source: Soccerway

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SL HAN COP VP
1   Standard Liège 6 4 2 0 9 1 +8 14 Advance to knockout phase 2–0 3–0 0–0
2   Hannover 96 6 3 2 1 9 7 +2 11 0–0 2–2 3–1
3   Copenhagen 6 1 2 3 5 9 −4 5 0–1 1–2 1–0
4   Vorskla Poltava 6 0 2 4 4 10 −6 2 1–3 1–2 1–1
Source: Soccerway

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PSV LW HTA RB
1   PSV Eindhoven 6 5 1 0 13 5 +8 16 Advance to knockout phase 1–0 3–3 2–1
2   Legia Warsaw 6 3 0 3 7 9 −2 9 0–3 3–2 3–1
3   Hapoel Tel Aviv 6 2 1 3 10 9 +1 7 0–1 2–0 0–1
4   Rapid București 6 1 0 5 5 12 −7 3 1–3 0–1 1–3
Source: Soccerway

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SCP LAZ VAS ZÜR
1   Sporting CP 6 4 0 2 8 4 +4 12 Advance to knockout phase 2–1 2–0 2–0
2   Lazio 6 2 3 1 7 5 +2 9 2–0 2–2 1–0
3   Vaslui 6 1 3 2 5 8 −3 6 1–0 0–0 2–2
4   Zürich 6 1 2 3 5 8 −3 5 0–2 1–1 2–0
Source: Soccerway

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BEŞ SC DK MTA
1   Beşiktaş 6 4 0 2 13 7 +6 12 Advance to knockout phase 3–1 1–0 5–1
2   Stoke City 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11 2–1 1–1 3–0
3   Dynamo Kyiv 6 1 4 1 7 7 0 7 1–0 1–1 3–3
4   Maccabi Tel Aviv 6 0 2 4 8 17 −9 2 2–3 1–2 1–1
Source: Soccerway

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AB RBS PSG SB
1   Athletic Bilbao 6 4 1 1 11 8 +3 13 Advance to knockout phase 2–2 2–0 2–1
2   Red Bull Salzburg 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10[a] 0–1 2–0 3–0
3   Paris Saint-Germain 6 3 1 2 8 7 +1 10[a] 4–2 3–1 1–0
4   Slovan Bratislava 6 0 1 5 4 11 −7 1 1–2 2–3 0–0
Source: Soccerway
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (3) and head-to-head goal difference (0). Head-to-head away goals: Red Bull Salzburg 1, Paris Saint-Germain 0.

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MK AZ AW MFF
1   Metalist Kharkiv 6 4 2 0 15 6 +9 14 Advance to knockout phase 1–1 4–1 3–1
2   AZ 6 1 5 0 10 7 +3 8[a] 1–1 2–2 4–1
3   Austria Wien 6 2 2 2 10 11 −1 8[a] 1–2 2–2 2–0
4   Malmö FF 6 0 1 5 4 15 −11 1 1–4 0–0 1–2
Source: Soccerway
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CB BRA BC MAR
1   Club Brugge 6 3 2 1 12 9 +3 11[a] Advance to knockout phase 1–1 1–2 2–0
2   Braga 6 3 2 1 12 6 +6 11[a] 1–2 1–0 5–1
3   Birmingham City 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 10 2–2 1–3 1–0
4   Maribor 6 0 1 5 6 15 −9 1 3–4 1–1 1–2
Source: Soccerway
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Club Brugge 4, Braga 1.

Group I

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AM UDI CEL REN
1   Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase 4–0 2–0 3–1
2   Udinese 6 2 3 1 6 7 −1 9 2–0 1–1 2–1
3   Celtic 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 6 0–1 1–1 3–1
4   Rennes 6 0 3 3 5 10 −5 3 1–1 0–0 1–1
Source: Soccerway

Group J

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SCH SB MHA AEK
1   Schalke 04 6 4 2 0 13 2 +11 14 Advance to knockout phase 2–1 3–1 0–0
2   Steaua București 6 2 2 2 9 11 −2 8 0–0 4–2 3–1
3   Maccabi Haifa 6 2 0 4 10 12 −2 6 0–3 5–0 1–0
4   AEK Larnaca 6 1 2 3 4 11 −7 5 0–5 1–1 2–1
Source: Soccerway

Group K

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TWE WK FUL OB
1   Twente 6 4 1 1 14 7 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase 4–1 1–0 3–2
2   Wisła Kraków 6 3 0 3 8 13 −5 9 2–1 1–0 1–3
3   Fulham 6 2 2 2 9 6 +3 8 1–1 4–1 2–2
4   Odense 6 1 1 4 9 14 −5 4 1–4 1–2 0–2
Source: Soccerway

Group L

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AND LM AEK SG
1   Anderlecht 6 6 0 0 18 5 +13 18 Advance to knockout phase 5–3 4–1 3–0
2   Lokomotiv Moscow 6 4 0 2 14 11 +3 12 0–2 3–1 3–1
3   AEK Athens 6 1 0 5 8 15 −7 3[a] 1–2 1–3 1–2
4   Sturm Graz 6 1 0 5 5 14 −9 3[a] 0–2 1–2 1–3
Source: Soccerway
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: AEK Athens +1, Sturm Graz −1.

Knockout phase

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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 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

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Round of 32Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
  Lazio101
  Atlético Madrid314   Atlético Madrid336
  Braga011  Beşiktaş101
  Beşiktaş202   Atlético Madrid224
  Wisła Kraków101  Hannover 96112
  Standard Liège (a)101   Standard Liège202
  Hannover 96213  Hannover 96246
  Club Brugge101   Atlético Madrid415
  AZ112  Valencia202
  Anderlecht000   AZ213
  Udinese033  Udinese022
  PAOK000   AZ202
  Stoke City000  Valencia145
  Valencia112   Valencia415
  Trabzonspor112  PSV Eindhoven213 9 May – Bucharest
  PSV Eindhoven246   Atlético Madrid3
  Legia Warsaw202  Athletic Bilbao0
  Sporting CP213   Sporting CP (a)123
  Porto101  Manchester City033
  Manchester City246   Sporting CP213
  Red Bull Salzburg011  Metalist Kharkiv112
  Metalist Kharkiv448