The2001–02 UEFA Champions League was the 47th season of theUEFA Champions League,UEFA's premier clubfootball tournament, and the 10th since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won byReal Madrid, who beatBayer Leverkusen in thefinal to claim their ninth European Cup title. The final's winning goal was scored byZinedine Zidane, with a left-footed volley from the edge of the penalty area into the top left corner.
Bayer Leverkusen eliminated all three English teams on their way to the final:Arsenal in the second group stage, followed byLiverpool in the quarter-finals andManchester United in the semi-finals.
Manchester United strikerRuud van Nistelrooy was the tournament's top scorer, scoring 10 goals from the first group stage through to the semi-final.
Bayern Munich were the defending champions, but were eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
A total of 72 teams participated in the 2001–02 Champions League, from 48 of 51UEFA associations. Liechtenstein (who don't have their own league) as well as lowest-ranked associations (Andorra and San Marino) were not admitted.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League:[1]
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 16–49 each have one team qualify (except Liechtenstein)
Countries are allocated places according to their 2000UEFA league coefficient, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1995–96 to 1999–2000.[2]
Since the title holders (Bayern Munich) qualified for the Champions League group stage through their domestic league, the group stage spot reserved for the title holders was vacated. The following changes to the default access list are made:
The champions of association 10 (Portugal) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the group stage.
The champions of association 16 (Austria) are promoted from the second qualifying round to the third qualifying round.
The champions of associations 27 and 28 (Cyprus and FR Yugoslavia) are promoted from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round (20 teams)
20 champions from associations 29–49 (except Liechtenstein)
Second qualifying round (28 teams)
12 champions from associations 17–28
6 runners-up from associations 10–15
10 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round (32 teams)
6 champions from associations 11–16
3 runners-up from associations 7–9
6 third-place finishers from associations 1–6
3 fourth-place finishers from associations 1–3
14 winners from the second qualifying round
Group stage (32 teams)
10 champions from associations 1–10 (including title holdersBayern Munich)
Armenia (ARM): Armenian Premier League winnersAraks Ararat had their rights sold toAraks-Impeks. Thus, Araks-Impeks took Armenia's spot in the Champions League.
^All 8 games originally scheduled on 12 September 2001 were postponed to 10 October following theSeptember 11 attacks; matches played on 11 September were allowed to continue and be completed.[4]
^UEFA awardedHaka a 3–0 win due toMaccabi Haifa fielding suspended playerWalid Badir in the second leg. The original match had ended in a 4–0 win for Maccabi Haifa.[5]
^UEFA decided to replay the second leg (whichoriginally ended in 1–0 win to Lokomotiv) after accepting Tirol's protest on refereeing mistake, which resulted in Lokomotiv player not being shown a red card after receiving a second yellow card.[6]
Location of teams of the2001–02 UEFA Champions League first 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.
16 winners from the third qualifying round, 10 champions from countriesranked 1–10, and six second-placed teams from countries ranked 1–6 were drawn into eight groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group advance to the second group stage, and the third placed team in each group advance to the Third Round of theUEFA Cup.
Eight winners and eight runners-up from the first group stage were drawn into four groups of four teams each, each containing two group winners and two runners-up. Teams from the same country or from the same first round group could not be drawn together. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals.
^"2. Finals"(PDF).UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2022/23. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2023. p. 2.Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved17 June 2024.