2011–12 Europa League
Arena Națională hosted the final.
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 September 2011 – 9 May 2012 (competition proper) 30 June – 25 August 2011 (qualifying) |
| Teams | 48+8 (competition proper) 161+33 (total) (from 53 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Atlético Madrid (2nd title)
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| Runners-up |
Athletic Bilbao
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 205 |
| Goals scored | 585 (2.85 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Radamel Falcao(12 goals) |
The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with the first legs of the first qualifying round, and ended on 9 May 2012 with the final held at Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials – one on each goal line – were used in all matches of the competition from the group stage.
Atlético Madrid won the title, defeating Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in an all-Spanish final. Porto were the defending champions, but they were beaten by Manchester City in the Round of 32.
A total of 194 teams from 53 UEFA associations participated in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Associations are allocated places according to their 2010 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2005–06 to 2009–10.
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League:
Since the winners of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, Porto, qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League through domestic performance, the title holder spot reserved for them in the group stage was vacated. As a result, the following changes to the default allocation system were made to compensate for the vacant title holder spot in the group stage:
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