Figures released today show a total of 5,581,229 fans attended games in the opening two stages of European club football's most prestigious competition - an increase of 873,252 spectators on the match attendances for the first two stages in 2001/02, which totalled 4,707,977.
This season's average attendance in the first and second group stage was 38,759, compared with 32,694 last season.
Attendance figures for this season's UEFA Champions League have shown a rise of 900,000 on last year.
