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UEFA Champions League

"European Champions League" and "European Cup" redirect here. For other uses, see Champions League (disambiguation) and European Cup (disambiguation).
This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see UEFA Women's Champions League.

UEFA Champions League
Organising bodyUEFA
Founded1955 (1955)
(rebranded in 1992)
RegionEurope
Number of teams
  • 32 (group stage)
  • 79, 80, or 81 (total)
Qualifier for
Related competitions
Current championsEngland Manchester City (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Spain Real Madrid (14 titles)
Television broadcastersList of broadcasters
Websiteuefa.com/uefachampionsleague
2023–24 UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League (previously known as the European Cup, abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is the most-watched club competition in the world and the third most-watched football competition overall, behind only the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.

Introduced in 1955 as the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (French for European Champion Clubs' Cup), and commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champions of Europe's domestic leagues, with its winner reckoned as the European club champion. The competition took on its current name in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage in 1991 and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries since the 1997–98 season.[1] It has since been expanded, and while most of Europe's national leagues can still only enter their champion, the strongest leagues now provide up to four teams.[2][3] Clubs that finish next-in-line in their national league, having not qualified for the Champions League, are eligible for the second-tier UEFA Europa League competition, and since 2021, for the third-tier UEFA Europa Conference League.[4]

In its present format, the Champions League begins in late June with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs. The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in late May or early June.[5] The winner of the Champions League automatically qualifies for the following year's Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.[6][7]

Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (19 wins), followed by England (15 wins) and Italy (12 wins). England has the largest number of winning teams, with six clubs having won the title. The competition has been won by 23 clubs, 13 of which have won it more than once, and eight successfully defended their title.[8] Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament's history, having won it 14 times, and the only club to have won it five times in a row (the first five editions) and also five of the last ten.[9] Only one club has won all of their matches in a single tournament en route to the tournament victory: Bayern Munich in the 2019–20 season.[10] Manchester City are the current European champions, having beaten Inter Milan 1–0 in the 2023 final for their first title.

  1. ^ "Football's premier club competition". UEFA. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Clubs". UEFA. 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. ^ "UEFA Europa League further strengthened for 2015–18 cycle" (Press release). UEFA. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  4. ^ "UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition" (Press release). UEFA. 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Matches". UEFA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Club competition winners do battle". UEFA. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  8. ^ "European Champions' Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Most titles | History". UEFA. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  10. ^ "A perfect 11! Flawless Bayern set new Champions League record with PSG victory". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.

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