UEFA Champions League

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UEFA Champions League
Founded1955; 69 years ago (1955)
(rebranded in 1992)
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Number of teams32 (group stage)
79 (total)
Qualifier forUEFA Super Cup
FIFA Club World Cup
Related competitionsUEFA Europa League (2nd tier)
UEFA Europa Conference League (3rd tier)
Current championsEngland Manchester City (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Spain Real Madrid (14 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website
2023–24 UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, or simply known as the UCL is a football competition organized by UEFA, between some of the top club teams in Europe. The top team in the league comes out UEFA champions league every year. 32 teams will play the game and determines the best football club. At first, it was started by France, not the European Football Federation. It was played only as a home and away tournament, but a group stage was added from the 1991-92 season. The teams are selected because of good performances in their respective domestic leagues. The teams used to have to win their countries' league, but more than one team can play in the competition depending on how good their league is. For example: the Spanish League can get 4 Spanish clubs in the competition compared to the Kazakhstan League which can only get one team in the competition.

Real Madrid won the Champions League the first five times it was held, still a record. They have also won the Champions League/European Cup 14 times, which is also a record.

A total of 23 clubs from 10 European countries won the Champions League. 12 clubs won it more than once: Real Madrid, Milan, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Ajax, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Juventus, Benfica, Porto, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.

Records and statistics[change | change source]

Winners and runners-up[change | change source]

As of 2021
Club
Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Spain Real Madrid 14 3 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 1962, 1964, 1981
Italy Milan 7 4 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007 1958, 1993, 1995, 2005
Germany Bayern Munich 6 5 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, 2020 1982, 1987, 1999, 2010, 2012
England Liverpool 6 4 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019 1985, 2007, 2018, 2022
Spain Barcelona 5 3 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015 1961, 1986, 1994
Netherlands Ajax 4 2 1971, 1972, 1973, 1995 1969, 1996
Italy Internazionale 3 2 1964, 1965, 2010 1967, 1972
England Manchester United 3 2 1968, 1999, 2008 2009, 2011
Italy Juventus 2 7 1985, 1996 1973, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2015, 2017
Portugal Benfica 2 5 1961, 1962 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, 1990
England Chelsea 2 1 2012, 2021 2008
England Nottingham Forest 2 0 1979, 1980
Portugal Porto 2 0 1987, 2004
Scotland Celtic 1 1 1967 1970
Germany Hamburg 1 1 1983 1980
Romania Steaua București 1 1 1986 1989
France Marseille 1 1 1993 1991
Germany Borussia Dortmund 1 1 1997 2013
England Manchester City 1 1 2023 2021
Netherlands Feyenoord 1 0 1970
England Aston Villa 1 0 1982
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 1 0 1988
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade 1 0 1991
Spain Atlético Madrid 0 3 1974, 2014, 2016
France Stade de Reims 0 2 1956, 1959
Spain Valencia 0 2 2000, 2001
Italy Fiorentina 0 1 1957
Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 0 1 1960
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Partizan 0 1 1966
Greece Panathinaikos 0 1 1971
England Leeds United 0 1 1975
France Saint-Étienne 0 1 1976
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 1 1977
Belgium Club Brugge 0 1 1978
Sweden Malmö FF 0 1 1979
Italy Roma 0 1 1984
Italy Sampdoria 0 1 1992
Germany Bayer Leverkusen 0 1 2002
France Monaco 0 1 2004
England Arsenal 0 1 2006
England Tottenham Hotspur 0 1 2019
France Paris Saint-Germain 0 1 2020
England Manchester City 0 1 2021

By nation[change | change source]

As of 23 August 2020
Performance by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up Winning Clubs
 Spain 19 11 2
 England 13 10 5
 Italy 12 16 3
 Germany 8 10 3
 Netherlands 6 2 3
 Portugal 4 5 2
 France 1 6 1
 Scotland 1 1 1
 Romania 1 1 1
 Yugoslavia 1 1 1
 Greece 0 1 0
 Belgium 0 1 0
 Sweden 0 1 0


Final venues[change | change source]

Stadium Hosts Years
England Wembley Stadium, London
8
1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1992, 2011, 2013, 2024
Spain Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid 4 1957, 1969, 1980, 2010
Italy San Siro, Milan 1965, 1970, 2001, 2016
Belgium Heysel Stadium, Brussels 1958, 1966, 1974, 1985
Austria Praterstadion, Wien 1964, 1987, 1990, 1995
Italy Stadio Olimpico, Rome 1977, 1984, 1996, 2009
France Parc des Princes, Paris 3 1956, 1975, 1981
France Stade de France, Saint-Denis 2000, 2006, 2022
Germany Olympiastadion, Munich 1979, 1993, 1997
Scotland Hampden Park, Glasgow 1960, 1976, 2002
Greece Olympic Stadium, Athens 1983, 1994, 2007
Spain Camp Nou, Barcelona 2 1989, 1999
Portugal Estádio da Luz, Lisbon 2014, 2020
Netherlands De Kuip, Rotterdam 1972, 1982
Germany Neckarstadion, Stuttgart 1959, 1988
Turkey Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul 2005, 2023
Switzerland Wankdorf Stadium, Bern 1 1961
Netherlands Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam 1962
Portugal Estádio do Jamor, Lisbon 1967
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Stadium, Belgrade 1973
Spain Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville 1986
Italy Stadio San Nicola, Bari 1991
Netherlands Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam 1998
England Old Trafford, Manchester 2003
Germany Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen 2004
Russia Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow 2008
Germany Allianz Arena, Munich 2012
Germany Olympiastadion, Berlin 2015
Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2017
Ukraine NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev 2018
Spain Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid 2019
Portugal Estádio do Dragão, Porto 2021

All-time top goalscorers[change | change source]

Rank Player Goals Apps Ratio Years Club(s) (Goals)
1 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 140 183 0.77 2003– Manchester United (21), Real Madrid (105), Juventus (14)
2 Argentina Lionel Messi 129 161 0.8 2005– Barcelona (120), Paris Saint-Germain (9)
3 Poland Robert Lewandowski 91 111 0.82 2011– Borussia Dortmund (17), Bayern Munich (69), Barcelona (5)
4 France Karim Benzema 86 145 0.59 2005– Lyon (12), Real Madrid (74)
5 Spain Raúl 71 142 0.5 1995–2011 Real Madrid (66), Schalke 04 (5)
6 Netherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy 56 73 0.77 1998–2009 PSV Eindhoven (8), Manchester United (35), Real Madrid (13)
7 Germany Thomas Müller 53 138 0.38 2009– Bayern Munich
8 France Thierry Henry 50 112 0.45 1997–2012 Monaco (7), Arsenal (35), Barcelona (8)
9 Spain Alfredo Di Stéfano double-dagger 49 58 0.84 1955–1964 Real Madrid
10 Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko 48 100 0.48 1994–2012 Dynamo Kyiv (15), Milan (29), Chelsea (4)
Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimović 48 124 0.39 2001– Ajax (6), Juventus (3), Inter Milan (6), Barcelona (4), Milan (9), Paris Saint-Germain (20)
12 Portugal Eusébio double-dagger 46 65 0.71 1961–1974 Benfica
Italy Filippo Inzaghi 46 81 0.57 1997–2012 Juventus (17), Milan (29)
14 Ivory Coast Didier Drogba 44 92 0.48 2003–2015 Marseille (5), Chelsea (36), Galatasaray (3)
15 Egypt Mohamed Salah 43 77 0.56 2013– Basel (2), Roma (1), Liverpool (40)
Brazil Neymar 43 80 0.54 2013– Barcelona (21), Paris Saint-Germain (22)
17 Italy Alessandro Del Piero 42 89 0.47 1995–2009 Juventus
18 Argentina Sergio Agüero 41 79 0.52 2008–2021 Atlético Madrid (5), Manchester City (36)
19 France Kylian Mbappé 40 59 0.68 2016– Monaco (6), Paris Saint-Germain (34)
20 Hungary Ferenc Puskás double-dagger 36 41 0.88 1956–1966 Budapest Honvéd (1), Real Madrid (35)

Other websites[change | change source]