A total of 76 teams participated in the 2009–10 Champions League, from 52 UEFA associations (Liechtenstein organises no domestic league competition). Associations were allocated places according to their 2008 UEFA country coefficient, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2003–04 to 2007–08.[5]
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League:[6]
Associations 1–3 each had four teams qualify
Associations 4–6 each had three teams qualify
Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify
Associations 16–53 each had one team qualify (except Liechtenstein)
Since the winners of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, Barcelona, obtained a place in the group stage through their domestic league placing, the reserved title holder spot in the group stage was effectively vacated. To compensate:[7]
The champions of association 13 (Belgium) were promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
The champions of association 16 (Switzerland) were promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
The champions of associations 48 and 49 (Faroe Islands and Luxembourg) were promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round (4 teams)
4 champions from associations 50–53
Second qualifying round (34 teams)
32 champions from associations 17–49 (except Liechtenstein)
2 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Champions (20 teams)
3 champions from associations 14–16
17 winners from the second qualifying round
Non-champions (10 teams)
9 runners-up from associations 7–15
1 third-placed team from association 6
Play-off round
Champions (10 teams)
10 winners from the third qualifying round for champions
Non-champions (10 teams)
2 third-placed teams from associations 4 and 5
3 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–3
5 winners from the third qualifying round for non-champions
Group stage (32 teams)
13 champions from associations 1–13
6 runners-up from associations 1–6
3 third-placed teams from associations 1–3
5 winners from the play-off round for champions
5 winners from the play-off round for non-champions
Knockout phase (16 teams)
8 group winners from the group stage
8 group runners-up from the group stage
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[8]
TH: Champions League title holders
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th: League positions of the previous season
In a new system for the Champions League, there were two separate qualifying tournaments.[9] The Champions Path (which started from the first qualifying round) was for clubs which won their domestic league and did not automatically qualify for the group stage, while the Non-Champions Path (which started from the third qualifying round) was for clubs which did not win their domestic league and did not automatically qualify for the group stage.
In the qualifying phase and the play-off round, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds, conducted by UEFA President Michel Platini and UEFA General Secretary David Taylor, was held on 22 June 2009, and the draw for the third qualifying round, conducted by UEFA Competitions Director Giorgio Marchetti and Head of Club Competitions Michael Heselschwerdt, was held on 17 July 2009. For the draws, clubs were separated into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficient. Because the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds took place before the previous round was completed, the teams were seeded assuming the seeded side in the previous round would be victorious.
First qualifying round
The first legs were played on 30 June and 1 July, and the second legs were played on 7 and 8 July 2009.
As of November 2009[update], the second leg between Stabæk and Tirana was under investigation by UEFA and German authorities for possible match-fixing.[10]
The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: one for champions and one for non-champions. The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2009. The losing teams in both sections entered the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
An extra qualifying round, the play-off round, was introduced from this season. The teams were split into two separate sections: one for champions and one for non-champions. The draw for the play-off round, conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and UEFA Competitions Director Giorgio Marchetti, was held on 7 August 2009. For the draw, clubs were separated into seeded and unseeded teams based on their club coefficient. The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2009. The losing teams in both sections entered the group stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
Location of teams of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.
The draw for the group stage was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 27 August 2009. A total of 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams were divided into four pots, based on their club coefficient. Clubs from the same pot or the same association cannot be drawn into the same group.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The matchdays were 15–16 September, 29–30 September, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, and 8–9 December 2009. The top two in each group advanced to the knockout phase, and the third-placed teams entered the round of 32 of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
Based on Article 7.06 in the UEFA regulations, if two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied to determine the rankings:[6]
higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superior goal difference from all group matches played;
higher number of goals scored;
higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
The draw for the competition's round of 16 was held on 18 December 2009.[12] Starting from this season, the matches in the round of 16 were held over a month, instead of the previous two weeks.[2] The first legs were played on 16, 17, 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 9, 10, 16 and 17 March 2010.[13][2]
CSKA Moscow became the first Russian team to advance to the quarter-finals under the present format (16 teams in the knockout stage).[14]
The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 19 March 2010.[15] The first legs were played on 30 and 31 March, and the second legs were played on 6 and 7 April 2010.[16]
The draw for the semi-finals took place on 19 March 2010, immediately after the draw for the quarter-finals.[15] The first legs were played on 20 and 21 April, and the second legs were played on 27 and 28 April 2010.[16] There were fears that the first legs would have to be postponed due to the eruptions of the volcano at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. On 18 April, UEFA issued a statement that the matches would go ahead and that the teams would have to make alternate travel arrangements.[17]
The final was played on 22 May 2010 at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain. A draw was held on 19 March 2010, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.[15] It was contested by Germany's Bayern Munich and Italy's Inter Milan.[18] The stadium, home of Real Madrid, had hosted three previous European Cup finals, in 1957, 1969 and 1980.[19] It was the first time that a UEFA Champions League final was played on a Saturday night.[20][21][22][23] England's Howard Webb was appointed to referee the final.[24] The two clubs competing in the Final had each won their domestic league and cup competitions, meaning that the winner would become only the sixth club in Europe to have achieved a continental treble, and the first such club from their respective countries. It was also the second consecutive treble, following that of Barcelona in the previous season.
^"Champions League games go ahead". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 April 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
^"2. Finals"(PDF). UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2022/23. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2023. p. 3. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
