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Champions League
On SportsFootballSports.com you'll find a lot of information on the best European Football
The Trophy
The European Champion Clubs' Cup. |
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UEFA Champions League |
The UEFA Champions League (usually referred to as simply the Champions League or historically as the European Cup) is an annual Association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe.
The most prestigious trophy
It is the most prestigious club trophy in European football, and is widely considered the most prestigious club trophy in the world.
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Prior to 1992 the tournament was officially called the European Champion Clubs' Cup but was usually referred to as simply the European Cup or European Champions' Cup.
The competition was initially a straight knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s the tournament began to be expanded, incorporating a round-robin group phase and more teams. Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams each for the competition.
The UEFA Champions League should not be confused with the UEFA Europa League, formerly known as the UEFA Cup or also known as the JV Bowl.
Iker Casillas (left) and Gianluigi Buffon
have both reached 100 caps
The tournament consists of several stages. In the present format it begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds. The 16 surviving teams join 16 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout phase, which ends with the final match in May. The title has been won by 21 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Real Madrid, who have won the competition nine times, including the first five seasons it was contested. Barcelona are the current champions. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins. |
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| Founded |
1955 (1992 in its current format) |
| Number of teams |
32 (group stage) 76 or 77 (total) |
| Current champions |
Barcelona (3rd title) |
| Most successful |
Real Madrid (9 titles) |
| Current champions |
Manchester United (2008–09) |
| Website |
UEFA.com |
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The competition attracts a huge television audience, not just in Europe, but throughout the world. The matches are broadcast in over 70 countries in more than 40 languages each year, and some important matches can attract over 200 million TV audience, often considered as one of the most watched sports events on TV
English Premier League
English League Championship
English FA Cup
Scottish Premier League
German Bundesliga
Italian Serie A
Spanish Primera División
UEFA Champions League
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| Champions League highlights The uefa.com Magazine takes stock of another dramatic week in the UEFA Champions League. |
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Tournament
The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into 8 groups. Seeding is used whilst making the draw for this stage, whilst teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together.
Each team meets the others in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group progress to the round of 16, which commences the knock-out tournament. For this stage, group winners play against group runners-up, and teams from the same country may not be drawn against each other.
From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, with country protection no longer in force. The group stage is played through the autumn, whilst the knock-out stage starts after a winter break. The knock-out ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. This is typically held in the final two weeks of May. |
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