Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times are in parentheses).
Format
The draw for the first knockout round took place on 15 December 2006 and involved each of the top two teams from each group in the group stage. The winners of each group were paired up with the runners-up from another group.
Each knockout round tie consisted of two-legged matches, home and away, in which the team with the higher aggregate score progressed to the next round, with the exception of the final, which was played over just one match at a neutral venue. In the event that the two teams' aggregate scores were tied, the team that scored more goals in their away leg progressed to the next round, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out being used if the tie was still level.
The draw for the first knockout round of the competition took place on 15 December 2006 in Nyon, Switzerland.[1] The team drawn first in each tie plays the first leg of their tie at home, and the second leg away.
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,[2][3] 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.[4]
The first legs were played on 20 and 21 February 2007, with the second legs on 6 and 7 March.
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.
The final was played on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. The final was contested by Milan of Italy and Liverpool of England. 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. As winners, Milan went on to represent UEFA at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.
^"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.
^"Fandel to keep order in Athens". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
