| Tourney Name: | UEFA Champions League |
| Year: | 2006–07 |
| Size: | 280 |
| Dates: | Qualifying: 11 July – 23 August 2006 Competition proper: 12 September 2006 – 23 May 2007 |
| Num Teams: | Competition proper: 32 Total: 73 |
| Champion Other: |  Milan |
| Count: | 7 |
| Second Other: | Liverpool |
| Matches: | 125 |
| Goals: | 309 |
| Attendance: | 5525076 |
| Top Scorer: | Kaká (Milan) 10 goals |
| Prevseason: | 2005–06 |
| Nextseason: | 2007–08 |
The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan and Liverpool on 23 May 2007. Beforehand, the match was billed as a repeat of the 2005 final, the only difference being that the 2007 final was to be played at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Milan won the match 2–1 to claim their seventh European Cup, with both goals coming from Filippo Inzaghi. Dirk Kuyt scored for Liverpool.
Barcelona were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Liverpool in the first knockout round.
A total of 73 teams from 49 UEFA member associations participated in the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. Liechtenstein (who did not have their own domestic league) as well as the 2 lowest-ranked federations, Andorra and San Marino, did not participate. Montenegro, which did not become a UEFA member until January 2007 also did not take part. Each association enters a certain number of clubs to the Champions League based on its league coefficient, which takes into account the performance of its clubs in European competitions from 2000–01 to 2004–05;[1] associations with a higher league coefficients may enter more clubs than associations with a lower league coefficient, but no association may enter more than four teams. Italy's representatives were decided based on the revised table following the match-fixing scandal which saw Juventus relegated to Serie B after winning the league the previous season.
For the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2006 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2001–02 to 2005–06.[2]
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Since the title holders (Barcelona) qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league, the group stage spot reserved for the title holders is vacated, and the following changes to the default access list are made:[3]
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | ||
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| First qualifying round (22 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (28 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round (32 teams) |
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| Group stage (32 teams) |
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| Knockout phase (16 teams) |
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The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[4]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 23 June 2006 | 11–12 July 2006 | 18–19 July 2006 |
| Second qualifying round | 25–26 July 2006 | 1–2 August 2006 | ||
| Third qualifying round | 28 July 2006 | 8–9 August 2006 | 22–23 August 2006 | |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 24 August 2006 (Monaco) | 12–13 September 2006 | |
| Matchday 2 | 26–27 September 2006 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 17–18 October 2006 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 31 October – 1 November 2006 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 21–22 November 2006 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 5–6 December 2006 | |||
| Knockout phase | Round of 16 | 15 December 2006 | 20–21 February 2007 | 6–7 March 2007 |
| Quarter-finals | 9 March 2007 | 3–4 April 2007 | 10–11 April 2007 | |
| Semi-finals | 24–25 April 2007 | 1–2 May 2007 | ||
| Final | 23 May 2007 at Olympic Stadium, Athens | |||
See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds.
The first legs were played on 11 and 12 July 2006, with the second legs on 18 and 19 July.
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The first legs were played on 25 and 26 July 2006, with the second legs on 1 and 2 August.
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The first legs were played on 8 and 9 August 2006, with the second legs on 22 and 23 August.
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The teams eliminated in this round qualified for the first round of the UEFA Cup.
See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Champions League group stage.
The draw for this round was held on 24 August 2006 in Monaco.[7] The first matches were played on 12 September 2006, and the stage concluded on 6 December.
The top two teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage, and the third-placed teams entered the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Based on paragraph 4.05 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
Levski Sofia and Copenhagen both made their debut appearances at the group stage. Levski was the first Bulgarian club to appear in the Champions League group stage.
See main article: 2006–07 UEFA Champions League knockout stage. All knockout rounds are two-legged, except for the final. In the event of aggregate scores being equal after normal time in the second leg, the winning team will be that which scored more goals on their away leg: if the scores in the two matches were identical, extra time is played. The away goals rule also applies if scores are equal at the end of extra time. If there are no goals scored in extra time, the tie is decided on a penalty shootout.
The draw for the first knockout round of the competition took place on 15 December 2006 in Nyon, Switzerland.[8] The team first out of the hat in each tie plays the first leg of their tie at home, and the second leg away. This team is denoted as "Team #1" below.
On 8 February 2007, the Italian government announced that the San Siro in Milan was unsafe for spectators after the rioting that had occurred during and after a league match in Catania six days earlier. As a result, the venues of the first leg of the Inter-Valencia tie scheduled for 21 February and the second leg of the Celtic-Milan tie scheduled for 7 March were thrown into doubt. Various proposals and offers of the use of stadia outside Italy were made,[9] [10] but it was finally agreed that the Inter-Valencia tie would be played at the San Siro with a reduced capacity of 36,000. After further work at the San Siro, Italian authorities and UEFA announced that the second leg of Celtic-Milan would go ahead at the stadium, at its full capacity of 85,700. 4,500 seats were reserved for Celtic supporters.[11]
The first legs were played on 20 and 21 February 2007, with the second legs on 6 and 7 March.
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The draw for the final stages, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, was held on 9 March 2007 in Athens, Greece. The draw was conducted by ad interim UEFA CEO Gianni Infantino, assisted by Friedrich Stickler, chairman of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. Theodoros Zagorakis, the captain of Greece in Euro 2004, was appointed ambassador for the final.
The first legs were played on 3 and 4 April, and the second legs were played on 10 and 11 April 2007.
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The first legs were played on 24 and 25 April, with the second legs on 1 and 2 May 2007.
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See main article: 2007 UEFA Champions League final. The Final took place on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Unlike the other knockout rounds, the final was played over just one match, with extra time in case of a draw after 90 minutes. If the teams were still level following extra time, a penalty shootout would have determined the winner.
Milan scored first through Filippo Inzaghi just before half time. Inzaghi scored again in the 82nd minute, before Dirk Kuyt scored a late consolation goal a minute before full-time.
Milan went on to represent Europe at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kaká | Milan | 10 | 1082 |
| 2 | Peter Crouch | Liverpool | 6 | 576 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy |  Real Madrid | 584 | ||
| Fernando Morientes | Valencia | 620 | ||
 Didier Drogba | Chelsea | 1055 | ||
| 6 | Raúl | Real Madrid | 5 | 603 |
| 7 |  Nicolae Dică | Steaua București | 4 | 532 |
 Louis Saha | Manchester United | 464 | ||
 Claudio Pizarro | Bayern Munich | 620 | ||
| Filippo Inzaghi | Milan | 673 | ||
| David Villa | Valencia | 702 | ||
| Francesco Totti | Roma | 800 | ||
| Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | 1062 |
