| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 June 2010–28 May 2011 |
| Teams | 76 |
The 2010–11 UEFA Champions League will be the 56th edition of the European Club Championship football tournament and the second edition under the latest qualifying format. The final venue will be Wembley Stadium in London, England.[1]
Association team allocation edit
A total of 76 teams will participate in the 2010–11 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organizes no domestic league competition). Countries are allocated places according to their UEFA league co-efficient.
The Champions League title holder from the 2009–10 season will be guaranteed a place in the group stage, even if they do not obtain a qualifying place through their domestic league.
The allocation system may change slightly depending on the title holder's domestic placing.
The UEFA ranking 2009[2] determines the allocation of places for the 2010–11 Champions League. Below is the qualification scheme:
- 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)
Distribution edit
First qualifying round
- Six champions from associations 48–53
Second qualifying round
- Three winners from the first qualifying round
- 31 champions from associations 16–47 (excluding Liechtenstein)
Third qualifying round for champions
- 17 winners from the second qualifying round
- Three champions from associations 13–15
Play-off round for champions
- 10 winners from the third qualifying round for champions
Third qualifying round for non-champions
- Runners-up from associations 7–15
- Third-placed team from association 6
Play-off round for non-champions
- Five winners from the third qualifying round for non-champions
- Third-placed teams from associations 4 and 5
- Fourth-placed teams from associations 1–3
Group stage (32 teams)
- Five winners from the play-off round for champions
- Five winners from the play-off round for non-champions
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed teams from associations 1–3
- First- and second-placed teams from associations 4–6
- First-placed teams from associations 7–12
- Title holder
Teams edit
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses.
TH Title Holder
The Title-Holder edit
The winner of the 2009-10 Champions League is guaranteed an entry into the group stage of the 2010-11 competition. The default team allocation system is constructed under the assumption that the Title Holder has not already qualified for the Champions League by other means and does not come from an association which has the maximum 4 Champions League places. However, this is frequently not the case. The allocation of teams across the qualification rounds may have to be adjusted accordingly.
The 2009-10 Champions League is currently at the semi-final stage. Given the remaining teams' nationalities and current positions in their domestic leagues, there are three possibilities concerning the use of the Title Holder spot in the 2010-11 season:
- The Title Holder does not qualify for the Champions League domestically and comes from an association with 3 or fewer Champions League entries
- The Title Holder is entered into the group stage, and no changes to the allocation of teams is necessary.
- The Title Holder also qualifies for the Best-placed team Play-off round
- The Title Holder club is entered directly into the group stage,
- To compensate:
Zenit St. Petersburg and 
Runners-up of 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League are entered into the Best-placed team Play-off round
- The Title Holder already qualifies for the group stage through their domestic league placing
- The Title Holder club remains in the group stage.
- To compensate:
Champions of 2009–10 Scottish Premier League are entered into the group stage, 
Champions of 2009–10 Danish Superliga are entered into the third qualifying round for champions, 
HB Tórshavn and 
Champions of 2009–10 Luxembourg National Division are entered into the second qualifying round
Round and draw dates edit
All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless stated otherwise.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 21 June 2010 | 29–30 June 2010 | 6–7 July 2010 |
| Second qualifying round | 13–14 July 2010 | 20–21 July 2010 | ||
| Third qualifying round | 16 July 2010 | 27–28 July 2010 | 3–4 August 2010 | |
| Play-off | Play-off round | 6 August 2010 | 17–18 August 2010 | 24–25 August 2010 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 26 August 2010 (Monaco) |
14–15 September 2010 | |
| Matchday 2 | 28–29 September 2010 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 19–20 October 2010 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 2–3 November 2010 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 23–24 November 2010 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 7–8 December 2010 | |||
| Knockout phase | Round of 16 | 17 December 2010 | 15–16 & 22–23 February 2011 | 8–9 & 15–16 March 2011 |
| Quarter-finals | 18 March 2011 | 5–6 April 2011 | 12–13 April 2011 | |
| Semi-finals | 26–27 April 2011 | 3–4 May 2011 | ||
| Final | 28 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium, London | |||
Qualifying rounds edit
There will be two separate qualifying tournaments. One will be for the champion clubs who did not automatically qualify for the group stage. The other will be for teams who did not win their domestic league and did not automatically qualify for the group stage.
See also edit
Notes edit
1. Rangers will play at some stage of the Champions League.
2. Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk will play at some stage of the Champions League.
3. Twente and Ajax will play at some stage of the Champions League.
4. Manchester United will play at some stage of the Champions League.
5. Roma will play at some stage of the Champions League.
References edit
- ^ Wembley to host 2011 Euro final BBC Sport
- ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2009 Bert Kassies' Site
| Global |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| North, Central America and the Caribbean | ||
| Oceania | ||
| South America | ||
See also: International women's club football | ||