The knockout phase of the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

began on 14 February 2012 with the round of 32, and concluded on 9 May 2012 with the

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at National Arena in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Times up to 24 March 2012 (round of 32 and round of 16) are

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( UTC+01:00), thereafter (quarter-finals and beyond) times are CEST ( UTC+02:00).

Round and draw dates

All draws held at UEFA headquarters in

Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.

Format

The knockout phase involves 32 teams: the 24 teams that finished in the top two in each group in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and the eight teams that finished in third place in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Each tie in the

knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, apart from the final, is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that has the higher aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round. In the event that aggregate scores finish level, the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

is applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progresses. If away goals are also equal, then 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

are played, divided into two 15-minute halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team qualifies by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In the final, the tie is played as a single match. If scores are level at the end of normal time in the final, extra time is played, followed by penalties if scores remain tied. In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four best third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage (based on their match record in the group stage) are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn against each other.

Qualified teams

Europa League group stage winners and runners-up

Champions League group stage third-placed teams

Bracket

Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 16 December 2011.

Summary

The first legs were played on 14 and 16 February, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 February 2012.

Matches

''Olympiacos won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Beşiktaş won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''2–2 on aggregate; Athletic Bilbao won on away goals.'' ---- ''Manchester United won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Metalist Kharkiv won 8–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''AZ won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atlético Madrid won 4–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Schalke 04 won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Sporting CP won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Manchester City won 6–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Valencia won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Twente won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''1–1 on aggregate; Standard Liège won on away goals.'' ---- ''Udinese won 3–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''PSV Eindhoven won 6–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Hannover 96 won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 16 December 2011, immediately after the round of 32 draw.

Summary

The first legs were played on 8 March, and the second legs were played on 15 March 2012.

Matches

''2–2 on aggregate; Metalist Kharkiv won on away goals.'' ---- ''3–3 on aggregate; Sporting CP won on away goals.'' ---- ''Schalke 04 won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atlético Madrid won 6–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Hannover 96 won 6–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Valencia won 5–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''AZ won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Athletic Bilbao won 5–3 on aggregate.''

Quarter-finals

The draws for the quarter-finals were held on 16 March 2012.

Summary

The first legs were played on 29 March, and the second legs on 5 April 2012.

Matches

''Valencia won 5–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Athletic Bilbao won 6–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Sporting CP won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atlético Madrid won 4–2 on aggregate.''

Semi-finals

The draws for the semi-finals were held on 16 March 2012, immediately after the quarter-final draw.

Summary

The first legs were played on 19 April, and the second legs were played on 26 April 2012.

Matches

''Atlético Madrid won 5–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Athletic Bilbao won 4–3 on aggregate.''

Final

The final was played on 9 May 2012 at the

Arena Națională The National Arena () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major football matches including h ...

, Romania. A draw was held on 16 March 2012, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.

Notes

References

External links

2011–12 UEFA Europa League
UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 UEFA Europa League knockout phase

Knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

UEFA Europa League knockout phases