UEFA Champions League - TheSportsDB.com

Name
UEFA Champions League

Badge

Poster

Established
1955 (64 years old)

First Recorded Event

Sport

Soccer

Location
Europe

Gender
Male

Alternate Names
Champions League

Last Edit

smudgie: 22 Aug 2018

Site
Home / Soccer / UEFA Champions League

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Upcoming Events

17 Jul 19	Celtic	-	FK Sarajevo	Celtic Park @ 7:45pm
Latest Results
10 Jul 19	Ferencvaros	2 - 1	Ludogorets Razgra	Groupama Arena
10 Jul 19	Linfield	0 - 2	Rosenborg	Windsor Park
09 Jul 19	FC Astana	1 - 0	CFR Cluj-Napoca	Astana Arena
09 Jul 19	FK Sarajevo	1 - 3	Celtic	City Stadium
09 Jul 19	F91 Dudelange	2 - 2	Valletta	Stade Jos
25 Jun 19	Tre Penne	0 - 1	FC Santa Coloma	Stadio Fonte
01 Jun 19	Tottenham	0 - 2	Liverpool	White Hart
08 May 19	Ajax	2 - 3	Tottenham	Amsterdam Arena
07 May 19	Liverpool	4 - 0	Barcelona	Anfield
01 May 19	Barcelona	3 - 0	Liverpool	Camp Nou

Description
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious 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 the strongest UEFA national associations. The UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, drawing 360 million television viewers.

Introduced in 1992, the competition replaced the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply European Cup, which had run since 1955, adding a group stage to the competition and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries. The pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations' top-level league. While most of Europe's national leagues can still only enter their national league champion, Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to five teams for the competition. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each nation's top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition, are eligible for the next-level UEFA Europa League competition.

In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in late June with four knockout qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 6 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 May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament 13 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories (18 wins), followed by England and Italy (12 wins apiece). England has the largest number of winning teams, with five clubs having won the title. The competition has been won by 22 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their 13th title in the competition after defeating Liverpool 3–1 in the 2018 final. Thus, they became the first team in the UEFA Champions League era to win the title for three years in a row.