2012–13 UEFA Champions League

The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League will be the 58th season of the UEFA Champions League, Europe's premier football tournament, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the "European Cup".

The final will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This is the seventh occasion Wembley Stadium (new and old) has hosted the Champions League final.^[1][2]

Association team allocation

A total of 76 or 77 teams will participate in the 2012–13 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organizes no domestic league competition). Associations are allocated places according to their 2011 UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2006–07 to 2010–11.^[3]

Below is the qualification scheme for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League:

• 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 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, i.e., the title holder, are given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the tournament through their domestic performance; however, because of the restriction that no association can have more than four teams playing in the Champions League, if the title holder is from the top three associations, this additional entry will come at the expense of the fourth-placed team of their association

Association ranking

Distribution

If the title holder also qualifies for the Champions League through domestic performance, the following changes to the default allocation system above will be made.

If the title holder qualifies for the group stage

• The champion of association 13 (Belgium) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
• The champion of association 16 (Switzerland) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
• The champions of associations 48 (Malta) and 49 (Northern Ireland) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.

If the title holder qualifies for the play-off round (non-champions)

• The third-placed team of association 6 (Portugal) and the runners-up of association 7 (Russia) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round

Because of the restriction that no association can have more than four teams playing in the Champions League, if the title holder is from the top three associations (England, Spain, Germany) and finishes outside the top four in their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association, which would have entered in the Champions League play-off round, will be moved from the Champions League to the Europa League. In this case, the allocation system for the Champions League will be changed in the same way.

If the title holder qualifies for the third qualifying round (champions)

• The champion of association 16 (Switzerland) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
• The champions of associations 48 (Malta) and 49 (Northern Ireland) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.

If the title holder qualifies for the third qualifying round (non-champions)

• The third-placed team of association 6 (Portugal) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round
  • If the title holder is the third-placed team of association 6, the runners-up of association 7 (Russia) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round

If the title holder qualifies for the second qualifying round

• The champions of associations 48 (Malta) and 49 (Northern Ireland) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.

Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses.
(P-1st indicates end-of-season play-off winners)

^TH Title Holder

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

The following six teams are expected to enter in the first qualifying round.

Second qualifying round

34 teams will play in the second qualifying round: the 3 winners from the first qualifying round, and the following 31 teams which are expected to enter in this round.

Third qualifying round

The third qualifying round will be split into two separate sections: one for champions and one for non-champions. The losing teams in both sections will enter the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

Champions

20 teams will play in the third qualifying round for champions: the 17 winners from the second qualifying round, and the following 3 teams which are expected to enter in this round.

• Champions of 2011–12 Belgian Pro League
• Champions of 2011–12 Romanian Liga I
• Champions of 2011–12 Scottish Premier League

Non-champions

The following 10 teams are expected to enter in the third qualifying round for non-champions.

Play-off round

The play-off round will be split into two separate sections: one for champions and one for non-champions. The losing teams in both sections will enter the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

Champions

The 10 winners from the third qualifying round for champions will play in the play-off round for champions.

Non-champions

10 teams will play in the play-off round for non-champions: the 5 winners from the third qualifying round for non-champions, and the following 5 teams which are expected to enter in this round.

Group stage

32 teams will play in the group stage: the 10 winners from the play-off round (5 champions and 5 non-champions), and the following 22 teams which are expected to enter in this stage.

The 32 teams will be drawn into eight groups of four. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams will enter the round of 32 of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

See also

• 2012–13 UEFA Europa League
• 2013 UEFA Super Cup
• 2013 FIFA Club World Cup

References

External links

• UEFA Champions League (official website)