UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Last 16 Decided

By Sport Desk; published on December 8, 2011 at 12:21 pm

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The final round of Group Stage fixtures in UEFA Champions League 2011/12 took place on a night of high drama on the evening of Wednesday 7th December 2011, when the teams in groups A, B, C and D played-off to see who would be taking their place in the draw for the Last 16 of the tournament.

The shock of the night was surely Manchester United’s failure to reach the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League 2011/12, despite traveling to FC Basel needing only a draw. Despite dominating for much of the match, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were made to pay for two defensive errors as they succumbed to a 2-1 away defeat on an uninspiring evening. Fellow Mancunians, Manchester City, also of the English Premier League, took the drop to Europa League, too, as their 2-0 win over Bayern Munich – already group victors – was not enough to overcome their one point deficit to Napoli, who beat the pointless Villarreal 2-0.

FC Porto, the holding Europa League champions will have the opportunity to regain that title after CSKA Moscow pipped them to the second place in Group G, which was won by this season’s UEFA surprise package, APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus. Despite losing 2-0 to last season’s Quarter Finalists, Shakhtar Donetsk, on Tuesday evening, APOEL produced an unbeaten first five matches good enough to carry them through as group winners. They will be rewarded with a first knockout fixture which avoids big group winners, such as holder Barcelona, the impressive Real Madrid and the ever consistent Bayern Munich, who all won difficult groups in fine style.

In the hat for the knockout phase are three Italian teams and two teams from each of Spain, Germany, England, France and Russia. Fans in Switzerland and Cyprus will be delighted to have a club representing them in the last 16, though fans in Portugal and England may have expected more than the one and two teams respectively that will represent their leagues at this phase.

Full information on the teams who made it through to the Last 16 draw are detailed below.

UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Last 16 Qualifiers

The following teams have qualified for the Last 16 of UEFA Champions League 2011, having finished first or second in their respective groups:

• Bayern Munich (GER) – Group A Winners
• Napoli (ITA) – Group A Runners Up
• Inter Milan (ITA) – Group B Winners
• CSKA Moscow (RUS) – Group B Runners Up
• Benfica (POR) – Group C Winners
• FC Basel (SUI) – Group C Runners Up
• Real Madrid (ESP) – Group D Winners
• Lyon (FRA) – Group D Runners Up
• Chelsea (ENG) – Group E Winners
• Bayer Leverkusen (GER) – Group E Runners Up
• Arsenal (ENG) – Group F Winners
• Marseille (FRA) – Group F Runners Up
• APOEL Nicosia (CYP) – Group G Winners
• Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) – Group G Runners Up
• Barcelona (ESP) – Group H Winners
• AC Milan (ITA) – Group H Runners Up

UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Round of 16 matches will take place on 14-22 February 2012 and 6-14 March 2012. The draw will take place on 16th December 2011, in Nyon.

UEFA Europa League 2011/12 Qualifiers (from Champions League)

Additionally, eight third placed teams from the UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Group Stage will drop into the Last 32 of the UEFA Europa League, these teams are as follows:

• Manchester City (ENG) – Third, Group A
• Trabzonspor (TUR) – Third, Group B
• Manchester United – Third, Group C
• Ajax (NED) – Third, Group D
• Valencia (ESP) – Third, Group E
• Olympiakos (GRE) – Third, Group F
• FC Porto (POR) – Third, Group G
• Plzen (CZE) – Third, Group H

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Posted by Sport Desk on December 8, 2011. Filed under Football,UEFA Champions League. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

News Tags: AC Milan, Ajax, Apoel Nicosia, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, CSKA Moscow, FC Basel, FC Porto, Inter Milan, Lyon, Manchester City, Manchester United, Marseille, Napoli, Olympiakos, Plzen, Real Madrid, Trabzonspor, UEFA Champions League 2011/12, Valencia, Zenit St Petersburg.

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Editors and staffers from the Sport Desk at The Global Herald.

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