UEFA Champions League

European association football tournament
(Redirected from European Cup)

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.

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 championsSpain Real Madrid CF (15th title)
Most successful club(s)Spain Real Madrid (15 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website
2023–24 UEFA Champions League

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 15 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

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Winners and runners-up

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As of 2024
Club
Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
  Real Madrid 15 3 1962, 1964, 1981
  Milan 7 4 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007 1958, 1993, 1995, 2005
  Bayern Munich 6 5 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, 2020 1982, 1987, 1999, 2010, 2012
  Liverpool 6 4 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019 1985, 2007, 2018, 2022
  Barcelona 5 3 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015 1961, 1986, 1994
  Ajax 4 2 1971, 1972, 1973, 1995 1969, 1996
  Internazionale 3 3 1964, 1965, 2010 1967, 1972,

2023

  Manchester United 3 2 1968, 1999, 2008 2009, 2011
  Juventus 2 7 1985, 1996 1973, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2015, 2017
  Benfica 2 5 1961, 1962 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, 1990
  Chelsea 2 1 2012, 2021 2008
  Nottingham Forest 2 0 1979, 1980
  Porto 2 0 1987, 2004
  Celtic 1 1 1967 1970
  Hamburg 1 1 1983 1980
  Steaua București 1 1 1986 1989
  Marseille 1 1 1993 1991
  Borussia Dortmund 1 1 1997 2013, 2024
  Manchester City 1 1 2023 2021
  Feyenoord 1 0 1970
  Aston Villa 1 0 1982
  PSV Eindhoven 1 0 1988
  Red Star Belgrade 1 0 1991
  Atlético Madrid 0 3 1974, 2014, 2016
  Stade de Reims 0 2 1956, 1959
  Valencia 0 2 2000, 2001
  Fiorentina 0 1 1957
  Eintracht Frankfurt 0 1 1960
  Partizan 0 1 1966
  Panathinaikos 0 1 1971
  Leeds United 0 1 1975
  Saint-Étienne 0 1 1976
  Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 1 1977
  Club Brugge 0 1 1978
  Malmö FF 0 1 1979
  Roma 0 1 1984
  Sampdoria 0 1 1992
  Bayer Leverkusen 0 1 2002
  Monaco 0 1 2004
  Arsenal 0 1 2006
  Tottenham Hotspur 0 1 2019
  Paris Saint-Germain 0 1 2020

By nation

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As of 23 August 2020
Performance by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up Winning Clubs
  Spain 20 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

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Stadium Hosts Years
  Wembley Stadium, London
8
1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1992, 2011, 2013, 2024
  San Siro, Milan
5
1965, 1970, 2001, 2016, 2027
  Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid 4 1957, 1969, 1980, 2010
  Heysel Stadium, Brussels 1958, 1966, 1974, 1985
  Praterstadion, Wien 1964, 1987, 1990, 1995
  Stadio Olimpico, Rome 1977, 1984, 1996, 2009
  Parc des Princes, Paris 3 1956, 1975, 1981
  Stade de France, Saint-Denis 2000, 2006, 2022
  Olympiastadion, Munich 1979, 1993, 1997
  Hampden Park, Glasgow 1960, 1976, 2002
  Olympic Stadium, Athens 1983, 1994, 2007
  Camp Nou, Barcelona 2 1989, 1999
  Estádio da Luz, Lisbon 2014, 2020
  De Kuip, Rotterdam 1972, 1982
  Allianz Arena, Munich 2012, 2025
  Neckarstadion, Stuttgart 1959, 1988
  Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul 2005, 2023
  Wankdorf Stadium, Bern 1 1961
  Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam 1962
  Estádio do Jamor, Lisbon 1967
  Red Star Stadium, Belgrade 1973
  Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville 1986
  Stadio San Nicola, Bari 1991
  Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam 1998
  Old Trafford, Manchester 2003
  Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen 2004
  Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow 2008
  Olympiastadion, Berlin 2015
  Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2017
  NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv 2018
  Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid 2019
  Estádio do Dragão, Porto 2021
  Puskás Arena, Budapest 2026

All-time top goalscorers

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

Other websites

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