The
2011–12 UEFA Champions League is the 57th season of the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier football tournament, and the 20th season since it was renamed from the "European Cup". The final venue will be the Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, in Munich, Germany,
[1] although the stadium will be referred to as "Fußball-Arena München" for the match as UEFA does not allow sponsorship by companies that are not among its partner organisations. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials – one behind each goal – are being used in all matches of the competition.
[2] Barcelona are the defending champions. The winner earns a berth to the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.
A total of 76 teams are participating in the 2011–12 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organizes no domestic league competition). Associations are allocated places according to their 2010 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2005–06 to 2009–10.
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Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League:
[4]
- Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify
- Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify
- Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify
- Associations 16–53 each have one team qualify (excluding Liechtenstein)
The winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League would have been given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the tournament through their domestic performance; however, this additional entry will not be necessary as Barcelona, winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, qualified for the Champions League through domestic performance.
