Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Δ (talk | contribs) at 02:11, 18 July 2011 (Cleanup). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan and Liverpool on 23 May 2007. Beforehand, the match was billed as a repeat of the 2005 final, the only difference being that the 2007 final was to be played at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Milan won the match 2–1 to claim their seventh European Cup, with both goals coming from Filippo Inzaghi. Dirk Kuyt scored for Liverpool.
Barcelona were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Liverpool in the first knockout round.
Internazionale and Roma were confirmed as the direct entrants to the group stage. Milan and Chievo were confirmed as the entrants into the third qualifying round. Originally, Milan were barred from the Champions League for their role in the Italian match fixing scandal, but were restored to the competition on appeal, although instead of entering the group stage directly, they first had to negotiate a third qualifying round tie, in which they beat Red Star Belgrade 3–1 on aggregate. This move by the Italian FA has proved to be a point of contention, since Milan went on to win the competition.
Suspension of Hellenic Football Federation
The participation of Greek teams in this year's tournament was in doubt following FIFA's suspension of the Hellenic Football Federation from all international competition because of government interference in the running of the sport in Greece. FIFA suspended the Hellenic Football Federation from all international competitions on 3 July 2006 because of incompatibilities between Greek law and FIFA regulations. This would have prevented Greek teams from participating in the competition. However, the Greek parliament amended the draft sports law on the night of 11 July to satisfy FIFA's objections, and the suspension was lifted on 12 July.
Later issues
Doubt over matches to be played in Italy
On 8 February, the Italian Government announced that San Siro Stadium in Milan was unsafe for spectators in light of riots that took place during and following an Italian Serie A match in Sicily. As a result, the venues of the first leg of the Inter-Valencia tie scheduled for 21 February and the second leg of the Celtic-Milan tie scheduled for 7 March were thrown into doubt. Various proposals and offers of the use of stadia outside Italy were made, but it was finally agreed that the Inter-Valencia tie would be played at the San Siro with a reduced capacity of 36,000. After further work at the San Siro, Italian authorities and UEFA announced that the second leg of Celtic-Milan would go ahead at the stadium, at its full capacity of 85,700. 4,500 seats were reserved for Celtic supporters.
Qualification
Seventy-three teams participated in the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League from UEFA's 50 member associations. Each association enters a certain number of clubs to the Champions League based on its league coefficient; associations with a higher league coefficients may enter more clubs than associations with a lower league coefficient, but no association may enter more than four teams. All UEFA associations are guaranteed to have at least one team qualify, with the exception of Liechtenstein, which competes in the Swiss league system, but has no team in the Swiss Super League.
Associations 1–3 (Spain, England, and Italy): 4 teams
Associations 4–6 (France, Germany, and Portugal): 3 teams
Associations 7–15: 2 teams
Associations 16–50: 1 team
Andorra and San Marino do not submit a team for the UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round (24 teams)
24 champions from associations 26–50 (excluding Liechtenstein)
Second qualifying round (28 teams)
12 winners from the first qualifying round
10 champions from associations 16–25
6 runners-up from associations 10–15
Third qualifying round (32 teams)
14 winners from the second qualifying round
6 champions from associations 10–15 (Scotland, Turkey, Czech Republic, Russia, Austria, Ukraine)
3 runners-up from associations 7–9 (Netherlands, Greece, Belgium)
This club qualified for this season's UEFA competitions as a member of the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro during the 2005–06 season but is currently a member of the Football Association of Serbia which is the official successor of the previous football association.
The teams eliminated in this round qualified for the first round of the UEFA Cup.
Due to the armed conflict going on in Israel, UEFA decided that no European matches could be staged in the country until further notice. The match was played at Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.
The draw for this round was held on 24 August 2006 in Monaco. The first matches were played on 12 September 2006, and the stage concluded on 6 December.
The top two teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage, and the third-placed teams entered the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Based on paragraph 4.05 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superior goal difference from all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
All knockout rounds are two-legged, except for the final. In the event of aggregate scores being equal after normal time in the second leg, the winning team will be that which scored more goals on their away leg: if the scores in the two matches were identical, extra time is played. The away goals rule also applies if scores are equal at the end of extra time. If there are no goals scored in extra time, the tie is decided on a penalty shoot out.
The draw for the first knockout round of the competition took place on 15 December 2006 in Nyon, Switzerland. The team first out of the hat in each tie plays the first leg of their tie at home, and the second leg away. This team is denoted as "Team #1" below.
The first legs were played on 20 February and 21 February 2007, with the second legs on 6 March and 7 March.
The draw for the final stages, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, was held on Friday, 9 March 2007 in Athens, Greece. The draw was conducted by ad interim UEFA CEO Gianni Infantino, assisted by Friedrich Stickler, chairman of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. Theodoros Zagorakis, the captain of Greece in Euro 2004, was appointed ambassador for the final.
The first legs were played on 3 April and 4 April, and the second legs were played on 10 April and 11 April 2007.
The Final took place on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Unlike the other knockout rounds, the final was played over just one match, with extra time in case of a draw after 90 minutes. If the teams were still level following extra time, a penalty shootout would have determined the winner.
Milan scored first through Filippo Inzaghi just before half time. Inzaghi scored again in the 82nd minute, before Dirk Kuyt scored a late consolation goal a minute before full time.
Aleksandar Bošković (30 June 2006). "Farewell to Yugoslavia". Magazine. UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 21 December 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
"UEFA decision on Israel". UEFA.com. 7 August 2006. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Milan (7th title)
Liverpool
Kaká 
Ekranas
FH Hafnarfjörður
Aktobe
The New Saints
Apollon Limassol
Baku
Rabotnički
Široki Brijeg
B36
Gorica
Sheriff Tiraspol
Steaua Bucureşti
Red Bull Salzburg
Ružomberok
Red Star Belgrade
Vålerenga
Spartak Moscow
Dynamo Kyiv
Legia Warsaw
Dinamo Zagreb
Valencia
AEK Athens
Benfica
Ajax
Maccabi Haifa
45', 82'
Didier Drogba
Claudio Pizarro
