Round of 16 1st leg and 2nd leg dates
14/02/2012 – 07/03/2012
| Lyon |  |
20:45 |  |
APOEL |
| Leverkusen |  |
20:45 |  |
Barcelona |
15/02/2012 – 06/03/2012
| Zenit |  |
18:00 |  |
Benfica |
| Milan |  |
20:45 |  |
Arsenal |
21/02/2012 – 14/03/2012
| CSKA Moskva |  |
18:00 |  |
Real Madrid |
| Napoli |  |
20:45 |  |
Chelsea |
22/02/2012 – 13/03/2012
| Marseille |  |
20:45 |  |
Internazionale |
| Basel |  |
20:45 |  |
Bayern |
The UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw in Nyon will be streamed live on UEFA.com from 12.00CET on Friday 16 December – and will feature seven former title holders.
The lineup for the draw contains seven past winners of Europe’s premier club competition as well as four teams new to the knockout stage. Though FC Basel 1893 have previously appeared in a second group stage, this is the first time the Swiss outfit have reached the round of 16, while SSC Napoli, FC Zenit St Petersburg and APOEL FC – the first Cypriot representatives to have come so far – are also in uncharted territory.
Two seeding pots have been formed: one consisting of group winners and the other of runners-up.
Group winners: FC Bayern München, FC Internazionale Milano, SL Benfica, Real Madrid CF, Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC, APOEL FC, FC Barcelona
Group runners-up: SSC Napoli, PFC CSKA Moskva, FC Basel 1893, Olympique Lyonnais, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Olympique de Marseille, FC Zenit St Petersburg, AC Milan
Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 14/15 and 21/22 February and at home in the return matches on 6/7 and 13/14 March. No team can play a club from their group or any side from the same association.
The draw for the remainder of the competition will be held on 16 March and the tournament concludes at the Fußball Arena München on 19 May. Bayern are looking to become the first team to play a European Cup final in their own stadium since AS Roma in 1984.
Group winners
A: FC Bayern München (GER)
Can play: CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Marseille, Zenit, Milan.
Qualified as: third place, Germany
Last season: round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 14
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (four times)
B: FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
Can play: Basel, Lyon, Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit
Qualified as: runners-up, Italy
Last season: quarter-finals
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 10
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (three times)
C: SL Benfica (POR)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Lyon, Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit, Milan
Last season: UEFA Europa League semi-finals
Qualified as: runners-up, Portugal
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 6
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (twice)
D: Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit, Milan
Qualified as: runners-up, Spain
Last season: semi-finals
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 15
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (nine times)
E: Chelsea FC (ENG)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Marseille, Zenit, Milan
Qualified as: runners-up, England
Last season: quarter-finals
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 9
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: runners-up
F: Arsenal FC (ENG)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Leverkusen, Zenit, Milan
Qualified as: fourth place, England
Last season: round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 13
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: runners-up
G: APOEL FC (CYP)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Leverkusen, Marseille, Milan
Qualified as: champions, Cyprus
Last season: UEFA Europa League play-offs
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 1
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: group stage
H: FC Barcelona (ESP, holders)
Can play: Napoli, CSKA, Basel, Lyon, Leverkusen, Marseille, Zenit
Qualified as: holders / champions, Spain
Last season: winners
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 15
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (four times)
Runners-up
A: SSC Napoli (ITA)
Can play: Benfica, Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL, Barcelona
Qualified as: third place, Italy
Last season: UEFA Europa League round of 32
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 0
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: second round
B: PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Can play: Bayern, Benfica, Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL, Barcelona
Qualified as: runners-up, Russia
Last season: UEFA Europa League round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 5
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: quarter-finals
C: FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
Can play: Bayern, Inter, Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL, Barcelona
Last season: UEFA Europa League round of 32
Qualified as: champions, Switzerland
Seasons in UEFA Champions League: 3
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: second group stage
D: Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Can play: Bayern, Inter, Benfica, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL, Barcelona
Qualified as: third place, France
Last season: round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 11
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: semi-finals
E: Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Can play: Inter, Benfica, Real Madrid, Arsenal, APOEL, Barcelona
Qualified as: runners-up, Germany
Last season: UEFA Europa League round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 6
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: runners-up
F: Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Can play: Bayern, Inter, Benfica, Madrid, Chelsea, APOEL, Barcelona
Qualified as: runners-up, France
Last season: round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 7
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (once)
G: FC Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
Can play: Bayern, Inter, Benfica, Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona
Qualified as: champions, Russia
Last season: UEFA Europa League round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 1
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: group stage
H: AC Milan (ITA)
Can play: Bayern, Benfica, Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, APOEL
Qualified as: champions, Italy
Last season: round of 16
Previous seasons in UEFA Champions League: 14
Previous European Champion Clubs’ Cup best: winners (seven times)
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1732005.html
The UEFA Champions League group stage provided excitement in abundance, right down to the last whistle on matchday six. A number of records were broken, landmarks reached and eyebrows raised, as UEFA.com recaps.
0: Three clubs failed to earn a point: Villarreal CF, FC Oţelul Galaţi and GNK Dinamo Zagreb. The other 12 to have lost all six group matches are: MŠK Žilina and FK Partizan (2010/11), Maccabi Haifa FC and Debreceni VSC (2009/10), FC Dynamo Kyiv (2007/08), PFC Levski Sofia (2006/07), SK Rapid Wien (2005/06), RSC Anderlecht (2004/05), FC Spartak Moskva and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2002/03, first and second group stage respectively), Fenerbahçe SK (2001/02, first group stage) and 1. FC Košice (1997/98).
1: APOEL FC caused a stir when they became the first Cypriot team to reach the last 16. Ivan Jovanović’s squad defied expectations by not only emerging from a section containing three recent UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners in FC Zenit St Petersburg, FC Porto and FC Shakhtar Donetsk, but by also winning it. Like APOEL, Zenit also qualified in what is their second group stage campaign, while SSC Napoli progressed at the first attempt.
3: Assists provided by FC Barcelona winger Isaac Cuenca in 182 minutes of group stage action. Consider that the 20-year-old did not make his European debut until the closing stages of the holders’ 2-0 defeat of FC Viktoria Plzeň on matchday four and the statistic is all the more impressive.
5: Real Madrid CF became the fifth team to win all six games in a UEFA Champions League group stage, after AC Milan (1992/93), Paris Saint-Germain FC (1994/95), Spartak (1995/96) and Barcelona (2002/03, first group stage).
7: Minutes it took Bafétimbi Gomis to score three goals against Dinamo Zagreb in Olympique Lyonnais’s 7-1 away win on matchday six and break Mike Newell’s 16-year-old record for the fastest hat-trick in the competition. The France striker would add one more, with 20 minutes left, thereby becoming only the seventh player to score four goals in a UEFA Champions League fixture.
10.84: Any latecomers to Mestalla on matchday four would have missed Jonas scoring the second fastest UEFA Champions League goal. The Brazilian international calmly capitalised on a weak clearance from Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno to curl in a welcome confidence boost for Valencia CF as they went on to record a 3-1 Group E triumph.
16: When Ryan Giggs fired past Artur in Manchester United FC’s 1-1 draw with SL Benfica in September, not only did he beat the mark he established last term as the oldest UEFA Champions League scorer − now 37 years and 289 days − but the midfielder became the first man to score in 16 separate seasons of the competition.
20: The number of goals scored by Barcelona, matching the record set by United in 1998/99. Madrid found the net 19 times, equalling Barça’s total in the 1999/2000 first group stage.
22: Goals conceded by Dinamo Zagreb, more than any other team in UEFA Champions League history. The previous highest goals against total was 19, shared by Žilina (2010/11), Debrecen (2009/10), Dynamo (2007/08) and Ferencvárosi TC in 1995/96.
25: Wayne Rooney reached a significant European landmark on matchday three, with the first of his two penalties against Oţelul taking him to 25 UEFA Champions League efforts – more than any other English player has achieved in the competition.
162: Days until the final at the Fußball Arena München on 19 May 2012.
from: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1731760.html
Credits to Dp1ay for making the video
Home to FC Bayern München and TSV 1860 München, the Fußball Arena München will host the 2012 UEFA Champions League final following a decision made by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2009. The showpiece will take place on Saturday 19 May 2012.
• The Fußball Arena München took less than three years to build from start to finish, and was completed on 30 April 2005. It was conceived following a referendum in October 2001 when 65.8% of Munich’s citizens voted to construct a new arena rather than regenerate the Olympiastadion, venue for the 1972 summer Olympic Games and previous home of Bayern and 1860 München.
• A year to the day after that vote, work commenced on the stadium, including the construction of the unique exterior. The Fußball Arena München’s transparent outer wall is comprised of foil panels which are lit from the inside and can change colour depending on who is playing; red for Bayern, blue for 1860 München and white for Germany.
• The arena opened its doors to competitive football on 5 August 2005 when a full house of 66,000 watched Bayern defeat VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0. In January 2006, city authorities approved a 3,901 increase in capacity which means the stadium can now house 69,901 supporters. Some of these reside in standing terraces which are created for domestic games by converting 10,400 seats in each of the north and south stands.
• Located on Werner-Heisenberg-Allee – named after famous German atomic physicist and 1932 Nobel Prize for Physics winner Werner Heisenberg – the Fußball Arena München played host to the opening game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany’s 4-2 victory against Costa Rica. A further five matches in the tournament were played at the arena, including France’s 1-0 semi-final win against Portugal.
• While some 106 VIP boxes, 400 media seats and 11,000 parking spaces cater for those attending the game, the players make do with two warm-up rooms, a nursery and four changing rooms – one each for Bayern, 1860 München and their respective opponents.
• The Olympiastadion hosted three European Champion Clubs’ Cup finals. Trevor Francis’s strike earned Nottingham Forest FC victory against Malmö FF in 1979 and there was also only one goal in it 24 years later when Olympique de Marseille beat AC Milan to claim the inaugural UEFA Champions League title. In 1997 two Karl-Heinz Riedle efforts set BV Borussia Dortmund on course for a 3-1 win against Juventus.
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/final/index.html
Following a night of honking horns, flag-waving fans and talk of “the greatest Cypriot team ever”, Nicosia woke up to the improbable truth of APOEL FC’s progress to the last 16.
A noted local pundit called APOEL FC “the greatest Cypriot team ever” as the island’s football fans took to the streets to celebrate Ivan Jovanović’s side’s progress to the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Cyprus came to a standstill yesterday evening while APOEL’s Group G game at FC Zenit St Petersburg was televised, and after the club earned the 0-0 draw needed to guarantee a top-two finish in the section, the streets of Nicosia teemed with flag-waving fans. Former APOEL player Costas Fasouliotis, now a leading commentator, shared a nation’s enthusiasm. “In my opinion, this is the greatest Cypriot team ever,” he said. “I believe they have what it takes to go beyond the round of 16, provided they finish top of the group
.”
The honking of car horns provided a deafening soundtrack to a night of pure joy across the country, with traffic virtually coming to a halt outside APOEL’s headquarters as hundreds of supporters gathered to mark what seemed an impossible achievement. Meanwhile, television coverage of the UEFA Champions League highlights show was interrupted as officials at Larnaca airport announced a change of procedure to allow for throngs of fans to greet the squad as they landed in the early hours of this morning.
“Due to growing reports that many supporters will arrive at the airport to welcome the team back, we would like to announce that APOEL and their delegation will exit the airport via a special gate situated next to the control tower,” said airport spokesman Adamos Aspris. “This is for safety reasons so we can give fans the chance to celebrate their side’s arrival without interrupting airport operations.”
When the late-night revellers finally took to their beds, a relief force was soon in operation with huge numbers of Cypriot children heading to school today wearing APOEL scarves and with playgrounds alive with talk of the club’s astonishing success.
The newspapers have kept the flame burning. Over a picture of captain Constantinos Charalambides embracing team-mate Marios Ilia, sports daily Goal splashed the headline: “Living a dream!” Goal wrote: “The architect of this great triumph, Ivan Jovanović, described this achievement as ‘something fantastic’ and added, ‘We may be a small team in Europe but we have a big heart and are deservedly in the last 16.'”
With Cyprus’s economy closely linked with that of neighbouring Greece, the main news in recent months has been gloomy, so SportDay was happy for the opportunity to celebrate. “Forget about getting an EU bailout,” it beamed. “Here the Legend [APOEL’s nickname] is king!” The more serious Politis newspaper was emblazoned with a picture of the APOEL players over the simple words: “Thank you!”
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1721948.html
UEFA has today unveiled the new visual identity created specially for the UEFA Champions League Final Munich 2012. The final will take place at the Fußball Arena München on Saturday 19 May.
The final of the 2012 UEFA Champions League in Munich has been given a personality of its own with a complete design concept developed specially for the event. The design and logo will provide the 2012 final with a unique identity that will be applied across a wide range of promotional applications, with the objective to help promote the final and enhance the prestige of one of the world’s biggest sporting events. The 2011 final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC at Wembley was indeed watched by a global average audience of 179 million viewers worldwide.
The design concept created by The Works agency in Leeds is based on an amalgamation of style and energy derived from the German Expressionist movement and a diverse array of modern architecture based around the city of Munich. Blue and aqua tones in the design have been taken from strong influences of the reflection of modern architectural materials such as glass and metal.
The construction of the design adopts the diamond shape of the impressive stadium as its foundation whilst reflecting key moments of the tournament, paired with the iconic UEFA Champions League trophy designed in a style which creates a feeling of ultimate pride, quality and achievement associated with the UEFA Champions League final.
The initial idea that led to the creation of a new identity for each final was to develop a specific design with a distinctive flavour of the host city.
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1715843.html
Gustavo Manduca talked of a “great moment” in the APOEL FC camp following a 2-1 defeat of FC Porto which left Nuno Morais struggling to comprehend the Cypriot side’s status atop Group G.
Shock, joy and amazement were the prevailing emotions in the APOEL FC camp following a dramatic 2-1 Group G victory against FC Porto which places Ivan Jovanović’s men on the cusp of becoming the first Cypriot team to qualify for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
A victory against FC Zenit St Petersburg on matchday four will achieve that feat but for now APOEL are intent on enjoying the moment, with Portuguese midfielder Nuno Morais feeling “like this is a dream” and match-winner Gustavo Manduca reflecting on a “very special feeling” following his decisive 90th-minute strike.
Aílton, APOEL forward
It is a big moment for APOEL and Cyprus. We played great against a very good and big European team and APOEL deserve some credit for today’s victory. It is unbelievable and difficult to imagine we are in this position. We have done very well to get the points [we have] and we deserve to be here. We showed we have quality as a team. The fans are great, really great. I’ve also played against APOEL and these are the most amazing fans I have ever seen. Playing for them makes us feel really good on the pitch.
Gustavo Manduca, APOEL forward
It is a great moment in our lives, for our fans, our people, our team, our players, everybody. It is a very nice moment and one of the best of my life.
I felt a little bit of pain in my adductor muscle and I thought twice before I moved forward [for the goal] since I feared an injury. But took the chance, and that pass was a gift of God for me. They showed that they are among the best fans in the world. During the 90 minutes they pushed, sang and believed, and they made us feel it and showed how important they are for us.
Nuno Morais, APOEL midfielder
What we achieved today is amazing and it was a great performance. We really wanted to win and we showed that. We conceded a goal at the end but we fought back and won. We feel like this is a dream and we are very happy.
Athos Solomou, APOEL defender
When you have such a difficult task against such great players, you do not have a lot to think about, but you need to restrict your opponents and keep them away from your goal so they do not create chances. That is what we tried to do today and we succeeded.
Hulk, Porto forward
We fought until the end. We have to lift our heads. It is frustrating, but that effort is no use now. When you lose you always feel you could have done more, but unfortunately things did not go well for us. The situation is difficult but not impossible. We have to win the next game to see if we can go through the next stage.
João Moutinho, Porto midfielder
It is a sad moment, a moment of disappointment. We came here thinking about a different result; not a defeat and not even a draw – we only wanted a victory. Unfortunately we were not able to achieve that and now we need to think about the next two matches; two matches which we need to win to have hopes of getting through to the next stage of the UEFA Champions League.
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1669191.html
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