This article addresses 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, a topic of great relevance and interest today. 2011–12 UEFA Europa League is a topic that has generated debate and discussion in different areas, awakening the interest of experts, academics and people in general. Throughout history, 2011–12 UEFA Europa League has played a determining role in society, and its importance continues in the contemporary world. In this sense, it is essential to deepen the knowledge and understanding of 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, analyzing its implications, challenges and opportunities. Through this article, we seek to offer a complete and revealing vision of 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, enriching the debate and understanding of this very relevant topic.
Tournament details | |
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Dates | 30 June – 25 August 2011 (qualifying) 15 September 2011 – 9 May 2012 (competition proper) |
Teams | 48+8 (competition proper) 161+33 (total) (from 53 associations) |
Final positions | |
Champions | Atlético Madrid (2nd title) |
Runners-up | Athletic Bilbao |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 205 |
Goals scored | 585 (2.85 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) 12 goals |
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. 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. 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.
Atlético Madrid won the title, defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in an all-Spanish final. Porto were the defending champions, but they were beaten by Manchester City in the Round of 32.
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.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League:
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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:
Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League | |
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First qualifying round (50 teams) |
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Second qualifying round (80 teams) |
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Third qualifying round (70 teams) |
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Play-off round (76 teams) |
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Group stage (48 teams) |
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Knockout phase (32 teams) |
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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:
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.
Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
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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.
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 30 June, and the second legs were played on 7 July 2011.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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ÍF Fuglafjørður | 2–81 | KR | 1–3 | 1–5 |
Daugava Daugavpils | 1–7 | Tromsø | 0–5 | 1–2 |
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 | 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 |
The first legs were played on 14 July, and the second legs were played on 21 July 2011.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2011. The first legs were played on 26 and 28 July, and the second legs were played on 4 August 2011.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2011. The first legs were played on 18 August, and the second legs were played on 25 August 2011.
The group stage features 48 teams, which were allocated into pots based on their 2011 UEFA club coefficients, 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.
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):
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. This was also the first time Irish side were represented in the group stage.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PAOK | RK | TH | SR | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SL | HAN | COP | VP | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PSV | LW | HTA | RB | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SCP | LAZ | VAS | ZÜR | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BEŞ | SC | DK | MTA | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AB | RBS | PSG | SB | |
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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 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | ||
3 | Paris Saint-Germain | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 10 | 4–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | ||
4 | Slovan Bratislava | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MK | AZ | AW | MFF | |
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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 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 4–1 | ||
3 | Austria Wien | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 8 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | ||
4 | Malmö FF | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CB | BRA | BC | MAR | |
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1 | Club Brugge | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | |
2 | Braga | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 11 | 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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AM | UDI | CEL | REN | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SCH | SB | MHA | AEK | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | TWE | WK | FUL | OB | |
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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 | — |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AND | LM | AEK | SG | |
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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 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–2 | ||
4 | Sturm Graz | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — |
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. The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine the "home" team) were held on 16 March 2012. 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.
The first legs were played on 14 and 16 February, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 February 2012.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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Porto | 1–6 | Manchester City | 1–2 | 0–4 |
Ajax | 2–3 | Manchester United | 0–2 | 2–1 |
Lokomotiv Moscow | 2–2 (a) | Athletic Bilbao | 2–1 | 0–1 |
Red Bull Salzburg | 1–8 | Metalist Kharkiv | 0–4 | 1–4 |
Stoke City | 0–2 | Valencia | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Rubin Kazan | 0–2 | Olympiacos | 0–1 | 0–1 |
AZ | 2–0 | Anderlecht | 1–0 | 1–0 |
Lazio | 1–4 | Atlético Madrid | 1–3 | 0–1 |
Steaua București | 0–2 | Twente | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Viktoria Plzeň | 2–4 | Schalke 04 | 1–1 | 1–3 (aet) |
Wisła Kraków | 1–1 (a) | Standard Liège | 1–1 | 0–0 |
Braga | 1–2 | Beşiktaş | 0–2 | 1–0 |
Udinese | 3–0 | PAOK | 0–0 | 3–0 |
Trabzonspor | 2–6 | PSV Eindhoven | 1–2 | 1–4 |
Hannover 96 | 3–1 | Club Brugge | 2–1 | 1–0 |
Legia Warsaw | 2–3 | Sporting CP | 2–2 | 0–1 |
The first legs were played on 8 March, and the second legs were played on 15 March 2012.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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Metalist Kharkiv | 2–2 (a) | Olympiacos | 0–1 | 2–1 |
Sporting CP | 3–3 (a) | Manchester City | 1–0 | 2–3 |
Twente | 2–4 | Schalke 04 | 1–0 | 1–4 |
Standard Liège | 2–6 | Hannover 96 | 2–2 | 0–4 |
Valencia | 5–3 | PSV Eindhoven | 4–2 | 1–1 |
AZ | 3–2 | Udinese | 2–0 | 1–2 |
Atlético Madrid | 6–1 | Beşiktaş | 3–1 | 3–0 |
Manchester United | 3–5 | Athletic Bilbao | 2–3 | 1–2 |
The first legs were played on 29 March, and the second legs on 5 April 2012.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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AZ | 2–5 | Valencia | 2–1 | 0–4 |
Schalke 04 | 4–6 | Athletic Bilbao | 2–4 | 2–2 |
Sporting CP | 3–2 | Metalist Kharkiv | 2–1 | 1–1 |
Atlético Madrid | 4–2 | Hannover 96 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
The first legs were played on 19 April, and the second legs were played on 26 April 2012.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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Atlético Madrid | 5–2 | Valencia | 4–2 | 1–0 |
Sporting CP | 3–4 | Athletic Bilbao | 2–1 | 1–3 |
The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final was played on 9 May 2012 at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania.
Atlético Madrid | 3–0 | Athletic Bilbao |
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Falcao 7', 34' Diego 85' |
Report |
Excluding qualifying rounds and play-off round.