Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is the main soccer tournament for the European top clubs. Every year the teams from all the major leagues compete against each other, firstly in a group stage, followed by a series of straight knock out rounds culminating with the final match held in a different European city every year. The current holders of the competition are AC Milan, who beat Liverpool 2-1 in the 2007 final held in Athens, Greece.

Origins of the Competition

Established in 1992, the UEFA Champions League evolved from the now defunct European Cup. Originally only the previous champions of each European league were eligible to enter the competition. To satisfy the growing pressure from Europe's top clubs for a European league, UEFA decided to set up a tournament that will allow not only the champions but also the other top three or four clubs in each league to compete.


This revamped tournament began in 1992 under the title 'UEFA Champions League'. The winners of the tournament play off in an annual exhibition match against the champions of the South American equivalent of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores.

Organization of the Tournament

Each year, thirty-two teams are able to enter the tournament at the group stage. There are sixteen teams that qualify automatically by either winning their league or finishing as the runner-up. The remaining teams are the winners from a pre-qualifying round held in August each year. The number of clubs from each country is dependent on the number of points they have accumulated over a five year period. This is calculated through a combination of each country's club results in previous tournaments and the results of their respective national teams in the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championships.



The group stage of the Champions League starts every year in September and runs until December. Teams are drawn in groups of four and play each other twice; home and away. The best performing teams from previous years (i.e. the seeded teams) are drawn so that they cannot meet each other in the group stage. After these games have been completed, the top two teams qualify for the first of three knock out stages.

These rounds are played over two games, home and away and the team with the most goals overall qualifies for the next stage. The final is held in May and is decided over one game. If there is no winner after ninety minutes, then an extra period of 30 minutes and then if necessary a penalty shoot-out takes place to decide the winner.

Memorable Games

There have been many great and exciting matches in the Champions League over the years, but the one that many recall from recent history is the 2005 Final between AC Milan and Liverpool. The game was held in Istanbul, Turkey and the Italians came into the game as favorites. This expectation seemed to hold true when at the half time stage Milan led by 3 goals. However, in an amazing eight minute period early in the second half, Liverpool scored three times, including a penalty to create an amazing recovery. In extra time there was further drama when Milan top striker, Andrei Shevchenko missed an easy opportunity to score the winner for Milan. Finally, after this drama, Liverpool won the Champions League in a penalty shoot out.




L’Equipe a French sports journalist initiated the “European Cup” in the year of 1955. The tournament was formally known as “The European Cup” and was renamed “The UEFA Champions League” during the 1992-1993 season. The competition is now managed by the Union of European Football Association (UEFA). It is a seasonal competition where 32 of the best clubs from all over Europe compete to become the best soccer club in the whole of Europe. The clubs compete to achieve the most coveted title in football, “The European Champion Clubs Cup” as it is now known. The matches take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays all around Europe. The winners of this tournament qualify for the International Cup, which is played against the winners of South America’s official league “Copa Libertadores”. Real Madrid CF was the first team to win the European Cup, since then they have won the league eight times. This includes the five consecutive wins from 1955-1956 to 1959-1960.

So what is it that makes the tournament so special?

The top domestic clubs of every European country that are members of the UEFA are allowed to play the game. The only country not participating in the competition has been Liechtenstein, as they do not have a domestic league.

The game has evolved a lot since L’Equipe initiated it. He wanted to have an all-European club competition while the UEFA’s founder members wanted to have an all-European national competition. In 1992-1993 not only did the name of the tournament change, the way it was organized was also different. An initial group stage was introduced in addition to the knockout matches, and a qualifying round was introduced. This was done so that more teams from other nations of Europe could participate. The number of teams participating shot up from eight teams to thirty-two teams. Now, even clubs that finish from second to fourth in the most competitive domestic leagues are also eligible to participate in the tournament. UEFA coefficient is the basis on which the associations are ranked. This is done to obtain the number of places in the competition for every association.

The tournament is divided into stages:
The group stage: qualifying stage.
The knockout stage: second round, quarter, semi and the finals.

The group stage consists of eight groups each comprising of four teams. In the group stages the teams have to qualify against three other teams to make it to the top of the group. The first and second teams in each group qualify to play the second round, which is a knockout round. Each team has to play twice, (once at home and once away) at every stage except the finals. The final does not have the two-leg system. The venue for the final is decided by UEFA two years in advance.

The introduction of the group stages helped clubs and players alike to learn and understand the way clubs and players of various other nations played soccer.

Why do people love to watch the UEFA Champions League?

The UEFA Champions League is the best place where millions of people get to watch their favourite players like Cristiano Ronado, Ronaldinho, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, well known as Kaka in action. People not only get to watch their favorite players but they also get to watch the best clubs from all over Europe compete against each other throughout the year.