Champions League
A brief history of the Champions League
Every year the Champions League is contested between 32 of the best teams from across Europe. It is widely recognised as the most coveted competition in club football and for that reason, any club with their name etched into the famous Champions League trophy can be considered a true heavyweight of the game.
History
The Champions League began life as the European Cup in 1955 when the champion club from each of Europe’s main leagues took part in a straight knockout competition to find the champion of champions. In 1992 the European Cup was expanded and renamed the Champions League. The new format saw the introduction of a group stage to incorporate clubs from more leagues around Europe.
Format
Today, entry to the Champions League is won by each of the clubs finishing in the top two places in their domestic European leagues. In some of the bigger leagues the clubs finishing in third and fourth places can qualify for the competition through a knockout play off system.
The 32 teams that qualify for the tournament make up eight groups of four and take part in a round robin league format where each group opponent is played home and away. At this stage the teams are all seeded, those from the same country cannot be drawn in the same group together. When all the group fixtures have been played, the top two from each group qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
The knockout ties are contested over two legs, teams play each other home and away with away goals counting double if the tie is drawn over the two matches. The tournament culminates in May, with the Champions League final being one of the most watched sporting events in the world. Last year’s final between Internazionale and Bayern Munich drew in a global television audience of over 100 million viewers.
Rewards
The Champions League is a valuable competition to the clubs with recent winners being reported to have made upwards of 50 million euros in revenue from UEFA prize money and television rights. The winners also qualify for the UEFA European Super Cup, played against the winners of the UEFA Europa League, and the FIFA Club World Cup, played between the four winning clubs of the equivalent continental tournaments around the world.
Records
Spain’s Real Madrid remain the most successful club in the history of the Champions League after they dominated each of the first five European Cup competitions in the late 1950′s. Overall, Madrid have claimed the title nine times, helping the Spanish La Liga to top the country winners list alongside Italy’s Serie A. Both countries have produced tournament winners on 12 occasions, and the English Premier League is a close second having produced 11 winners of the competition.
The current champions Internationale defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 in the 2010 final, and whilst various clubs have reached back to back Champions League finals since the change of name and format in 1992, no club has successfully defended European football’s most sought after trophy.
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