UEFA Champions League

General information

Champions League: Your Guide to Complete Understanding

The UEFA(Union of European Football Associations) Champions League is the world’s most popular and largest club soccer competition in the world. The European league is comprised of 32 teams that compete in five rounds and where the winner becomes the European football champion. Liverpool from England is its current champion, and it has won it six times. This feat makes Liverpool England’s most successful club in international competitions.

History

History of Champions League

This championship has a long history that dates back to 1955 when it was established. It was first called the European Cup until the 1992/93 season when it changed its name to the current UEFA Champions League.

Only 16 teams participated in the first-ever competition of the League. It had four knockout stages that included the first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final match. Real Madrid of Spain became its first winner after defeating Reims 4-3.

Five years later, its participants doubled to 32. This addition also necessitated an extra round while retaining the initial format. Initially, it included only the teams that won their local national leagues plus the defending champions. However, after the League’s rebranding in 1992, it changed and allowed strong runners up in their respective countries to participate. This change introduced a new group stage that substituted the first round of the competition.

Fascinating Historical Facts

Following its dominance in European football, Spain’s teams have made history in the League. First, Spain was the first country to have two of its teams competing in the finals. In 2000, Real Madrid met and beat Valencia.

Also, in the 2013/14 and 2015/16 contests, two Madrid clubs met in the finals where Real Madrid beat their bitter rivals Atletico, winning the trophy and then retaining it in 2016.
Moreover, Real Madrid is the only team to have defended the title two times in a row (2016-2018) and the only team to win it more than 10 times, hitting the record-breaking 13 Champions League titles.

England follows Spain at a distance as the second nation whose teams met in the finals. This happened in the 2018/19 tournament, where the Red Angels (Liverpool) whipped Tottenham 2-0.

A History of Winners

Here is the history of winners since the League’s establishment in 1956.
Real Madrid: 13 titles (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)

• AC Milan: 7 titles (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007);
• Liverpool: 5 titles (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005);
• Bayern Munich: 5 titles (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, 2019);
• Barcelona: 5 titles (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015);
• Ajax: 4 titles (1971, 1972, 1973, 1995);
• Inter Milan: 3 titles (1964, 1965, 2010);
• Manchester United: 3 titles (1968, 1999, 2008);
• Benfica: 2 titles (1961, 1962);
• Nottingham Forest: 2 titles (1979, 1980);
• Juventus: 2 titles (1985, 1996);
• FC Porto: 2 titles (1987, 2004);
• Celtic: 1 title (1967);
• Feyenoord: 1 title (1970);
• Aston Villa: 1 title (1982);
• Hamburg: 1 title (1983);
• Steaua Bucuresti: 1 title (1986);
• PSV Eindhoven: 1 title (1988);
• Red Star Belgrade: 1 title (1991);
• Marseille: 1 title (1993);
• Borussia Dortmund: 1 title (1997);
• Chelsea: 1 title (2012).

Format and rules

The format of the League has undergone gradual changes. After the introduction of the 32-team participation, participants are split into four groups where all teams play with each other twice, that is, at home and away. After that, each group winner plus its runner-up qualify to the round of 16, which is a knockout stage whose winners proceed to the quarter-finals of the championship.

The last 8 teams battle it out for the semi-final stage or the last 4. The last four teams face each other in the semi-finals, paving the way for the grand finale. All these stages from the round of 16 to the semifinals include two matches—home and away. In the current format, the final is played on a neutral ground. Initially, teams used to play home and away to determine the winner.

The format of the League has changed in the following manner:

Its third edition between 1994 and 1995 saw the expansion of the teams to 16, excluding qualification. Since then, the four groups comprising four teams went through three knockout phases.

In its 1997-1998 season, the League expanded to 24 teams minus qualification. It had a groups’ stage that comprised six groups of four teams each, and then followed a knockout phase of three stages.

In 1999/2000, the participants also increased to 32 teams minus qualification. Then teams were divided into eight groups of four teams each. They went through the initial group stage, then the second, and lastly the knockout stage.

In the 2014/2015 season, the League removed the second group stage and introduced the Round of 16 in the knockout stage.

Trophies and awards

The League also features monetary and non-monetary awards and prizes. The most coveted of them are awarded to the best:

• Goalkeeper of the year;
• Defender of the year;
• Midfielder of the year;
• Forward of the year;
• Coach(es) of the year;
• Goal of the season.

The championship also gives monetary prizes to all participants progressing further than others:

• Group participation: €15 million;
• The round of 16: €9.5 million;
• The quarter-finals: €10.5 million;
• The semi-finals: €12 million;
• Teams in the finals: €15 million;
• Winning the final: €4 million.

Moreover, all wins in the championship make the team €2.7 million while all draws are rewarded with €900,000. Therefore, a team that wins all its matches during the competition will pocket the resounding €82.2 million in awards.