UEFA Champions League 2006–07

Infobox International Football Competition
year = 2006-07
dates = September 12 2006 - May 23 2007
num_teams = 32
confederations = UEFA
champion_other = flagicon|ITA A.C. Milan
count = 7
second_other = flagicon|ENG Liverpool F.C.
matches = 125
goals = 311
attendance =
top_scorer = flagicon|BRA Kaká (10 goals)

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.

Early issues

Italian Serie A scandal

The Italian qualifiers should have been, according to the results of the 2005–06 Serie A campaign, Juventus, Milan, Internazionale, and Fiorentina. After the match-fixing scandal, the four teams were decided on 25 July.

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, 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.cite news |title=Punishments cut for Italian clubs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/5215178.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-07-26 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] This move by the Italian FA has proved to be a point of contention, since Milan went on to win the competition.

uspension 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.cite news |title=FIFA suspends the Hellenic Football Federation |url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/releases/newsid=104401.html |publisher=FIFA.com |date=2006-07-03 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] [cite news |title=Greece suspended by FIFA |url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=433810.html |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2006-07-03 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] 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.cite news |title=FIFA lifts suspension on Hellenic Football Federation |url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/releases/newsid=104439.html |publisher=FIFA.com |date=2006-07-12 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ]

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, [ [http://www.jadransport.org/articles/3942.html Crvena Zvezda offer Marakana to Inter] by JadranSport] [cite news |title=Newcastle offer to stage AC Milan v Celtic |url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0208/italy2.html |publisher=RTÉ Sport |date=2007-02-08 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] 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. [cite news |title=San Siro back to capacity for Celtic |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=512309.html |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2007-03-02 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ]

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

The first legs were played on 11 July and 12 July 2006, with the second legs on 18 July and 19 July.

econd qualifying round

The first legs were played on 25 July and 26 July 2006, with the second legs on 1 August and 2 August.

Third qualifying round

The first legs were played on 8 August and 9 August 2006, with the second legs on 22 August and 23 August.

The teams eliminated in this round qualified for the first round of the UEFA Cup.

¹ 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. [cite news |author=Aleksandar Bošković |title=Farewell to Yugoslavia |url=http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=4194304/newsId=433131.html |work=Magazine |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2006-06-30 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ]

² Due to the armed conflict going on in Israel, UEFA decided that no European matches could be staged in the country until further notice. [cite news |title=UEFA decision on Israel |url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=442693.html |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2006-08-07 |accessdate=2006-08-08 ] The match was played at Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine. [cite news |title=Liverpool to play Haifa in Kiev |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4791507.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-08-14 |accessdate=2006-08-08 ]

Group stage

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.

Tie-breaking criteria

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.

Group C

Group F

"(KEY: Pts= Points; Pld= Matches Played; W= Matches Won; D= Matches Drawn; L= Matches Lost; GF= Goals For; GA= Goals Against; GD= Goal Difference)"

Knockout stage

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.

Bracket

CLBracket
RD1=First knockout round
RD2=Quarter-finals
RD3=Semi-finals
RD4=Final

RD1-team01 = flagicon|ITA Roma
RD1-team02 = flagicon|FRA Lyon
RD1-score01-1 = 0
RD1-score02-1 = 0
RD1-score01-2 = 2
RD1-score02-2 = 0
RD1-score01-agg = 2
RD1-score02-agg = 0

RD1-team03 = flagicon|FRA Lille
RD1-team04 = flagicon|ENG Manchester United
RD1-score03-1 = 0
RD1-score04-1 = 1
RD1-score03-2 = 0
RD1-score04-2 = 1
RD1-score03-agg = 0
RD1-score04-agg = 2

RD1-team05 = flagicon|SCO Celtic
RD1-team06 = flagicon|ITA Milan (a.e.t.)
RD1-score05-1 = 0
RD1-score06-1 = 0
RD1-score05-2 = 0
RD1-score06-2 = 1
RD1-score05-agg = 0
RD1-score06-agg = 1

RD1-team07 = flagicon|ESP Real Madrid
RD1-team08 = flagicon|GER Bayern (a)
RD1-score07-1 = 3
RD1-score08-1 = 2
RD1-score07-2 = 1
RD1-score08-2 = 2
RD1-score07-agg = 4
RD1-score08-agg = 4

RD1-team09 = flagicon|POR Porto
RD1-team10 = flagicon|ENG Chelsea
RD1-score09-1 = 1
RD1-score10-1 = 1
RD1-score09-2 = 1
RD1-score10-2 = 2
RD1-score09-agg = 2
RD1-score10-agg = 3

RD1-team11 = flagicon|ITA Internazionale
RD1-team12 = flagicon|ESP Valencia (a)
RD1-score11-1 = 2
RD1-score12-1 = 2
RD1-score11-2 = 0
RD1-score12-2 = 0
RD1-score11-agg = 2
RD1-score12-agg = 2

RD1-team13 = flagicon|NED PSV Eindhoven
RD1-team14 = flagicon|ENG Arsenal
RD1-score13-1 = 1
RD1-score14-1 = 0
RD1-score13-2 = 1
RD1-score14-2 = 1
RD1-score13-agg = 2
RD1-score14-agg = 1

RD1-team15 = flagicon|ESP Barcelona
RD1-team16 = flagicon|ENG Liverpool (a)
RD1-score15-1 = 1
RD1-score16-1 = 2
RD1-score15-2 = 1
RD1-score16-2 = 0
RD1-score15-agg = 2
RD1-score16-agg = 2

RD2-team01 = flagicon|ITA Roma
RD2-team02 = flagicon|ENG Manchester United
RD2-score01-1 = 2
RD2-score02-1 = 1
RD2-score01-2 = 1
RD2-score02-2 = 7
RD2-score01-agg = 3
RD2-score02-agg = 8

RD2-team03 = flagicon|ITA Milan
RD2-team04 = flagicon|GER Bayern
RD2-score03-1 = 2
RD2-score04-1 = 2
RD2-score03-2 = 2
RD2-score04-2 = 0
RD2-score03-agg = 4
RD2-score04-agg = 2

RD2-team05 = flagicon|ENG Chelsea
RD2-team06 = flagicon|ESP Valencia
RD2-score05-1 = 1
RD2-score06-1 = 1
RD2-score05-2 = 2
RD2-score06-2 = 1
RD2-score05-agg = 3
RD2-score06-agg = 2

RD2-team07 = flagicon|NED PSV Eindhoven
RD2-team08 = flagicon|ENG Liverpool
RD2-score07-1 = 0
RD2-score08-1 = 3
RD2-score07-2 = 0
RD2-score08-2 = 1
RD2-score07-agg = 0
RD2-score08-agg = 4

RD3-team01 = flagicon|ENG Manchester United
RD3-team02 = flagicon|ITA Milan
RD3-score01-1 = 3
RD3-score02-1 = 2
RD3-score01-2 = 0
RD3-score02-2 = 3
RD3-score01-agg = 3
RD3-score02-agg = 5

RD3-team03 = flagicon|ENG Chelsea
RD3-team04 = flagicon|ENG Liverpool (p)
RD3-score03-1 = 1
RD3-score04-1 = 0
RD3-score03-2 = 0
RD3-score04-2 = 1
RD3-score03-agg = 1(1)
RD3-score04-agg = 1(4)

RD4-team01 = flagicon|ITA Milan
RD4-team02 = flagicon|ENG Liverpool
RD4-score01 = 2
RD4-score02 = 1

First knockout round

The draw for the first knockout round of the competition took place on 15 December 2006 in Nyon, Switzerland. [cite web |url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=425702.html |title=2006/07 Draw and match calendar |accessdate=2007-12-21 |date=2006-06-30 |publisher=UEFA.com ] 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.

Quarter-finals

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.

emi-finals

The first legs were played on 24 April and 25 April, with the second legs on 1 May and 2 May 2007.

Final

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.

Milan went on to represent Europe at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.

footballbox
date=2007-05-23
time=20:45 CEST
team1=Milan flagicon|ITA
score=2 – 1
report= [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=2006/round=2361/match=300099/report=rp.html (Report)]
team2=flagicon|ENG Liverpool
goals1=Inzaghi goal|45 goal|82
goals2=Kuyt goal|89
stadium=Olympic Stadium, Athens
attendance=74,000
referee=Herbert Fandel (Germany) [cite news |title=Fandel to keep order in Athens |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=540619.html |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2007-05-21 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ]

=2006–07 UEFA Club Football Player Awards=

*Club Goalkeeper of the Year — Petr Čech
*Club Defender of the Year — Paolo Maldini
*Club Midfielder of the Year — Clarence Seedorf
*Club Forward of the Year — Kaká
*Club Footballer of the Year — Kaká

Top scorers

The top scorers from the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League (group stage and knockout stage only) are as follows:

Trivia

*Levski Sofia were the first Bulgarian team to compete in the UEFA Champions League group stage, but they were also one of the few clubs in the history of the competition not to gain a single point in the group stage. The others were Košice (1997–98), Fenerbahçe (2001–02), Spartak Moscow (2002–03), Anderlecht (2004–05) and Rapid Wien (2005–06).
**The only team to have failed to gain a single point in the second group stage in the history of the competition was Bayer Leverkusen (2002–03).
*Copenhagen also made their first appearance in the competition. They eliminated Ajax in the third qualifying round to enter the group stage. They gained 7 points in their debut, and won against both Manchester United and Celtic.
*AEK Athens won their first UEFA Champions League match when they beat Lille 1–0 in their fourth group game at the Olympic Stadium. They proceeded to win their next game against Milan as well, but fell one point short of advancing.
*All four English teams finished on top of their respective groups.
*Barcelona set a new record of 15 games without a Champions League loss, having gone undefeated from their first match in the 2005–06 group stage against Werder Bremen until they drew 1–1 with the same team in their second match of the 2006–07 group stage, before being beaten by Chelsea in the next match. Coincidently, the last team to defeat the Catalan giants was also Chelsea, who beat them in the first knockout round of the 2004–05 competition.
*Celtic qualified for the knockout stage for the first time since the tournament was restructured. After having no team progress from the group stage for the first thirteen Champions League seasons, Scotland now have had a team reach the knockout stage for three consecutive seasons, as Rangers finished second in their group the previous season, while Celtic reached the first knockout round in 2007–08.
*All three teams participating in the group stage from each of the Spanish and Italian leagues qualified for the first knockout round. However, the two top-placed teams at the time finished as runners-up in their respective leagues, while the lower ranked teams finished group winners. The lower ranked teams were Valencia and Milan in 9th and 15th places respectively at the time of the group stage.
*Milan reduced their ticket price for their final group match against Lille to €1 for Serie A season ticket holders in an attempt to avoid a low turnout at their 80,000 seater San Siro stadium. [cite news |author=Kevin McCarra |title=England's plutocrats set the gold standard in Europe |url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1967222,00.html |publisher=Guardian Unlimited |date=2006-12-08 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] Milan had already won the group and had nine first team players out injured for the match. Despite the reduced ticket prices, the match attracted a crowd of just 27,067. [cite web |url=http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/champions_league_2007/tabellini/137077.html |title=Match report |publisher=Gazzetta dello Sport]
* Referee Mike Riley broke the record for the most yellow cards in a single UEFA Champions League match this season which he officiated between Lyon and Roma in the first knockout round. A total of 11 yellow cards (8 to Roma and 3 to Lyon) were issued in that game. [cite web |url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,132270,00.html?comp=CWC&year=2007&articleid=132270|title=Dull draw for Roma and Lyon |publisher=FIFA.com ]
*In the first knockout phase match between Lille and Manchester United, an excess of Manchester United fans were allowed to enter one of the stands, creating safety fears. Lille objected strongly to the only goal of the game, scored by Ryan Giggs with a quick free kick in the 83rd minute, while the Lille defence were unready. At the restart, Lille's manager made his players leave the pitch in protest, but the game was played to its conclusion. Gary Neville of Manchester United was later hit by a missile thrown from the home crowd. Lille unsuccessfully complained about United's goal to UEFA, and have now dropped their appeal about the incident. UEFA then charged Lille with the improper behaviour of their players.
*Following their match with Internazionale, Valencia players fought with Inter players. Inter's Nicolas Burdisso sustained a nasal fracture following a punch from Valencia's David Navarro in the incidents which took place after the match. [cite web |url=http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=25750&L=en |title=Burdisso breaks nose in Valencia Brawl |publisher=Inter.it ] Navarro has since then issued an apology to Burdisso, UEFA and his club for his actions. [cite web |url=http://www.valenciacf.es/noticias/prelimin.asp?idnoticia=12478&idioma=2&IdBanner=Aleatorio |title=DAVID NAVARRO: “I apologise to the club, UEFA and Burdisso. I'm trying to find him to apologise and if I have to go to Italy and apologise personally, I'll do it”. |publisher=Valenciacf.es] After looking into the matter, UEFA suspended Navarro for seven months, which includes domestic and international matches. Burdisso and Inter defender Maicon were each suspended for six matches, Carlos Marchena for four, Iván Córdoba for three matches and Julio Ricardo Cruz for two. Both clubs have also been handed a €155,772 (CHF250,000/£106,217) fine. [cite web |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=516388.html |title=Navarro banned for seven months|publisher=UEFA.com] Valencia advanced on the away goals rule following the scoreless draw. Navarro's ban was reduced from seven months to six on 28 March 2007. Marchena's ban was also reduced from four games to two, Córdoba's was reduced from three games to two and Maicon's was reduced from six games to three. Meanwhile, Burdisso and Cruz had their bans upheld. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6504535.stm |title=UEFA reduces Navarro suspension |publisher=BBC Sport ]
*Roma progressed to the quarter-finals of the European Cup for the first time since 1984 (where they went all the way to the final before losing on penalties to Liverpool)
*Roy Makaay scored the fastest goal in the competition's history, hitting the back of the net just 10.03 seconds after the start of Bayern Munich's second leg match at home to Real Madrid. The Germans went on to win the leg 2–1 and the tie (4–4) on the away goals rule and won a place in the last eight.
*There is no country protection or protection for teams from the same group in the group stage from the quarter-finals onwards. Nevertheless, despite there being three English teams and two Italian teams, the draw did not result in any pair of English or Italian teams being drawn together. However, Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven were drawn together, after having been in the same group earlier in the tournament.
*The elimination of Barcelona by Liverpool means that no club has successfully defended their title in the Champions League era as yet.
*Manchester United's 7–1 victory over Roma at Old Trafford was the fourth highest-scoring Champions League match ever (excluding matches from preliminary and qualifying stages). It was also the biggest win in the quarter-finals of the European Champion Clubs' Cup since Real Madrid's wins in 1958 (8–0 against Sevilla) and in 1959 (7–1 against Wiener Sportclub). It was also the biggest win in the quarter-finals of any European major club competition since 1960 when Rangers won 8–0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Cup Winners' Cup (Borussia Mönchengladbach beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern 7–1 in the UEFA Cup 1972-73 quarter-final). The result was also the biggest defeat of an Italian club in European competition since 1958 when Juventus lost 0–7 to Wiener Sportclub in the Champions' Cup.
*Three out of the four teams in the semi-finals are from England. One country having three representatives in the semi-finals has occurred twice before — in 2000, when Spain was represented by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, and in 2003, when Italy was represented by Juventus, Milan and Internazionale. However, unlike those prior two occurrences, two English teams were eliminated in the semi-finals, and the remaining team was beaten in the final.
*The progress of three English teams into the semi-finals together with Milan raised some interesting possibilities. One possibility was a repeat of the 2005 final between Liverpool and Milan; another was the prospect of a Liverpool vs Manchester United final — two teams located only 50 km apart taking tens of thousands of fans across the continent, with a huge potential logistical problem as all would use the same two nearby airports; the problem is made more difficult by the huge rivalry between the two clubs and the mutual loathing of their supporters (no player has transferred directly between them since 1964). [cite news |title=Athens police prepare for all-English final |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=421344&cc=5739 |publisher=ESPNsoccernet |date=2007-04-13 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ] A final between Chelsea and Milan was expected to pit Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko against the club he left only nine months previously. There was the prospect of seeing Manchester United and Chelsea playing each other three times in a fortnight, in the FA Cup Final, a potential title-deciding Premier League match and the UEFA Champions League Final.
*As Milan won the competition this year, it became the first time a team has won the trophy twice in the same stadium since the beginning of the Champions League era, having also won the competition at the Olympic Stadium in Athens back in 1994. Liverpool have already achieved this feat in the pre-Champions League era, having won the European Cup in the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, in 1977 and 1984.
*Milan chose to wear their all-white strip for the final in Athens, despite being drawn as the "home" team for the match. This is due to the kit being their "maglia fortunata" (Italian: lucky kit), having won the European Cup/Champions League final in this kit on five out of the six times they have played it. However, they have lost finals in this kit once, most specifically against Liverpool in 2005. This decision by Milan meant that Liverpool played the final in their traditional home kit of red shirts, red shorts and red socks. Each of Liverpool's five European Cup titles have been won in their all-red strip, and two of these came when they were playing against Italian teams who played in all-white. [cite news |title=All white for Milan in Athens |url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=535523.html |publisher=UEFA.com |date=2007-05-04 |accessdate=2007-12-21 ]
*Italian sides are now equal with Spanish sides in terms of Champions League victories, both with four wins each since 1993. However Italian teams have made more final appearances, with Serie A sides having played in ten Champions League finals. There have been Spanish teams present in seven, and English teams present in four.

ee also

*2007 UEFA Champions League Final
*UEFA Cup 2006-07
*UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006
*FIFA Club World Cup 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/UCL/index.html UEFA Champions League] at [http://www.uefa.com/ uefa.com]
*cite web |title=Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006/07 |url=http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19071.pdf |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070312003915/http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19071.pdf |year=2006 |month=March |archivedate=2007-03-12 |accessdate=2008-07-16