2005–06 UEFA Champions League

Association team allocation

A total of 74 teams from 49 of the 52 UEFA member associations participated in the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein, which does not organise a domestic league, Andorra and San Marino). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:

• Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify.
• Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify.
• Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
• Associations 16–50 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify.
• As the winners of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Liverpool gained entry an additional entry despite not qualifying through their domestic league position. They were entered into the 1st qualifying round.

Association ranking

For the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2004 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1999–2000 to 2003–04.

Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:

• (UCL) – Additional berth for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League winners

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Distribution

Because the title holders, Liverpool, entered the competition in the first qualifying round rather than the group stage, the following changes to the default access list were made:

• The champions of association 10 (Turkey) were promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
• The champions of association 16 (Poland) were promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
• The champions of association 26 (Romania) were promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.

Teams

League positions of the previous season qualified via league position shown in parentheses. Liverpool qualified as title holders. (TH: Champions League title holders).

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

;Notes

Qualifying rounds

Main article: 2005–06 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

Second qualifying round

Third qualifying round

Group stage

Main article: 2005–06 UEFA Champions League group stage

16 winners from the third qualifying round, 10 champions from countries ranked 1–10, and 6 second-placed teams from countries ranked 1–6 were drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams each. Normally two teams from the same association cannot be drawn in the same group. The only exception is Liverpool because of their abnormal qualification as title holders because not having finished in the top four of the English league, Liverpool were given no "association protection" in the tournament. For the group stage, the only team from the same association they could be drawn with was Chelsea, as the rest were in the same seeding pot. The top 2 teams in each group advanced to the Champions League knock-out stage, while the third-placed teams advanced to the Round of 32 in the UEFA Cup.

Tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

1. Points earned in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
2. Total goals scored in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
3. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches between the tied teams.
4. Cumulative goal difference in all group matches.
5. Total goals scored in all group matches.
6. Higher UEFA coefficient going into the competition.

Artmedia Bratislava, Real Betis, Thun, Udinese and Villarreal made their debut appearances in the group stage.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Knockout phase

Main article: 2005–06 UEFA Champions League knockout stage

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.

Top goalscorers

References

References

1. (10 June 2005). "Liverpool allowed to defend title". UEFA.
2. UEFA.com. (June 10, 2005). "Liverpool FC allowed to defend title".
3. "UEFA Country Ranking 2006".
4. "Country coefficients 2003/04". Union of European Football Associations.
5. "Revised access list for 2005/06 UEFA competitions".
6. "UEFA European Football Calendar 2005/2006". Bert Kassies.
7. Doyle, Paul. (2005-08-25). "Liverpool drawn against Chelsea". The Guardian.
8. Fletcher, Sam. (2022-11-08). "Liverpool and Chelsea were once in same Champions League group after UEFA ruling".
9. (2005-06-10). "Liverpool get in Champions League". [[BBC Sport]].
10. (2005-08-25). "Reds and Chelsea in Euro rematch". [[BBC Sport]].
11. (2005-08-25). "Liverpool drawn against Chelsea".
12. (March 2006). "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2005/06".
13. (25 August 2005). "Old and new meet in Monaco". [[UEFA]].
14. (17 May 2006). "Top Scorers – Final – Wednesday 17 May 2006 (after match)". [[UEFA]].