UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition for Europe's most successful clubs. It is one of the most prestigious club trophies in the sport along with America's Copa Libertadores.
Structure
Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply abbreviated as the European Cup, the competition began in 1955/56 using a two-leg knockout format where the teams would play two matches, one at home and one away, and the team with the highest overall score qualifying for the next round of the competition. Entry was restricted to the teams that won their national league championships, plus the current cup holder. The competition is organized and run annually in a similar manner to the Copa Libertadores in South America.The format and name were changed in 1992/93, and while the system has changed and evolved radically over the years, the competition currently consists of three qualifying rounds, one stage of group competition (where teams play each other in the style of "home-and-away" or "regular season" competition), and then four rounds of knock-out finals. All qualifying round and knock-out ties are two-legged except for the final, which is a single match played at a predetermined site.
The draw is currently structured to ensure that clubs representing the same national association cannot play each other until the quarter-finals. An exception has been made for the 2005-06 competition due to the special entry of 2005 winners Liverpool.
Real Madrid CF has won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are AC Milan (6 titles), Liverpool FC (5 titles), Bayern Munich and AFC Ajax (4 titles).
The winning club gets possession of the trophy at the awards ceremony, but must return it to UEFA headquarters two months before the following year's final. UEFA gives the winners a scaled-down replica of the trophy to keep permanently. However, the current competition rules also specify that the actual trophy will be permanently awarded to a team that wins three consecutive years or five times in all.
Five clubs have been awarded the trophy permanently:
- Real Madrid, who won the first five competitions from 1956 to 1960,
- Ajax, who won consecutively in 1971–73,
- Bayern Munich, winner of the next three competitions in 1974–76,
- Milan, who won for the fifth time in 1994,
- Liverpool, whose 2005 win was their fifth overall.
Qualification
Qualification for the competition is decided by competitor teams placing in their domestic league championship, on a quota system, with countries with stronger domestic league competition allocated more teams. Clubs that play in stronger domestic leagues also enter at later stages of the competition.For example, the three strongest domestic leagues, as rated by UEFA, place their champions and runners-up directly into the group phase, and their third-and fourth-place teams enter at the third qualifying round.
There is one exception to this rule: the current Champions League titleholder is an automatic qualifier for the group stage, regardless of where it finished in its domestic league.
However, until 2005 if the Champions League winner was from a country that was entitled to send four clubs to the competition, it was not assured of entry unless it was in the top four. This issue came to a head after English club Liverpool won the 2004-05 competition. Liverpool finished fifth in the English Premier League, one spot outside automatic qualifying position.
After Liverpool won the Champions League, The FA was supposed to be forced to choose whether to send Liverpool to the 2005-06 competition at the expense of the team that finished fourth - namely Everton, the other major club in Liverpool. As the FA had already decided that the top four Premiership clubs would qualify for the competition despite Liverpool's victory, they decided to continue lobbying for a fifth Champions League place following this win. After this FA decision, UEFA president Lennart Johansson went on record as saying that the Champions League winner should be able to defend its title regardless of its league position. Prior to 2005, if a fourth placed team was denied a Champions League place for this reason, it was granted a place in the UEFA Cup.
The last time such a scenario played out was in 2000, when Real Madrid won the title but finished fifth in the Spanish League. As a result, Real Zaragoza was forced into the UEFA Cup. Two years later, Zaragoza was relegated, an unfortunate turn of events that some fans believed to be a direct result of the lost prestige and revenue.
In June 2005, the UEFA committee met to discuss the fate of Liverpool. Liverpool have been awarded a place in the first qualifying round without displacing their arch-rivals Everton - England will thus enter 5 teams into the competition. Liverpool will keep one of the top eight seeds, but will not be treated as an English side for the purposes of the draw, meaning they could play another English side prior to the quarter-finals. Due to the way in which the seeding works, this means Liverpool could play city rivals Everton from the third qualifying round, Premiership champions Chelsea from the group phase, and/or Manchester United or Arsenal from the round of 16 should the sides advance to that stage of the competition.
UEFA also said that the rules have been amended and should the situation arise again, the title holders will replace the 4th placed team in the domestic league (with that team being entered into the UEFA Cup, as happened to Zaragoza in 2000). This ensures that in future, the number of teams from every country will remain stable.
History
The history of the European Cup and Champions League is long and remarkable, with fifty years of competition finding winners and losers from all parts of the continent.Tracing the history of the Champions League back to its beginning, it is possible to easily pick out periods when specific teams or countries dominated the competition, only to find themselves rapidly superseded by another dominant team or teams. With that in mind, it is easy to view the European Cup and Champions League by era:
Genesis
In the early 1950s, football played under floodlights was still a novelty. The summer of 1953 saw the first set of lights installed at the Molineux stadium of Wolverhampton Wanderers, which were first tested in a friendly game against a South African XI. Over the next months, Wolves played a series of "floodlit friendlies" against foreign opposition. Beginning with Racing Club of Argentina, they also played Spartak Moscow of the USSR, before meeting Honved of Hungary in a game televised live on the BBC. The Honved team included many of the "Magical Magyars" Hungary national team who had humbled England twice. Wolves won the game 3-2, which led their manager Stan Cullis to proclaim them as "Champions of the World". This was the final spur for Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Equipe, who had long campaigned for a Europe wide club tournament to be played under floodlights."Before we declare that Wolverhampton are invincible, let them go to Moscow and Budapest. And there are other internationally renowned clubs: AC Milan and Real Madrid to name but two. A club world championship, or at least a European one - larger, more meaningful and more prestigious than the Mitropa Cup and more original than a competition for national teams - should be launched." - Gabriel Hanot
The UEFA congress of March 1955 saw the proposal raised, with approval given in April of that year, and the kick-off of the first European Cup the following season.
1955 to 1960 - First Real Madrid Era
Real Madrid dominated the first five competitions, with the team led by Di Stefano, Puskás, Gento, Del Sol and Santamaria winning each of the first five finals comfortably. While this was most definitely the case, Manchester United and several Italian clubs did offer some resistance during the late 1950s, however the combined factors of the 1958 Munich Air Crash and the unorthodox and cavalier playing style of Real meant that little real competition could be found.This era culminated in the famous 1960 European Cup Final, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, where Real Madrid obliterated Eintracht Frankfurt of the then West Germany 7:3 in front of BBC and other Eurovision television cameras and a crowd of over 135,000 - still the largest attendance for a European Cup or Champions League final.
1961 to 1966 - Benfica, AC Milan, Internazionale... and Real Madrid
Real Madrid's domination was ended by their biggest domestic rivals, Barcelona, in the first round of the 1961 competition. Barça went all the way to the final that year at the Wankdorf Stadion in Berne, Switzerland, where they were defeated in a close game by Benfica of Lisbon. This team, captained by the impressive Mario Coluna from Mozambique, were joined by the legendary Eusébio the following season, where they defended the trophy beating Real Madrid 5:3 in the final at the Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands.Benfica would then go on to reach a third successive final in 1963, but lost to Milan, whose city rivals Internazionale would win the trophy in both 1964 and 1965 beating Real Madrid and Benfica in the process. The 1965 competition is memorable more for the infamous and controversial semi-final between Internazionale and Liverpool, with widespread allegations of bribery and match fixing being levelled at the Italian side following a 3:0 home win in Milan.
This era was ended by Real Madrid, who defeated Internazionale in the 1966 semi-final, before going on to win a sixth European Cup against Partizan Belgrade in the King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels (then Heysel Stadium). Of the great 1950's side, only Paco Gento played in all six winning teams.
1967 and 1968 - Two British Victories
In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the competition, beating Internazionale in the Estadio Nacional, in Lisbon, Portugal. The team, which became known as the Lisbon Lions, managed by Jock Stein, were all born within 25 miles (40 km) of Celtic Park in Glasgow, and as such remain unusual by the event's longstanding nature of attracting the best and most cosmopolitan players from all over the planet. By way of contrast, while Real Madrid fielded many Spaniards in the 1950s, their major stars were from elsewhere — Alfredo Di Stefano had arrived from Argentina, while Ferenc Puskás had defected from Hungary in 1956.One year later, Manchester United became the first English team to win the competition, beating Benfica 4:1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium, London, UK. This game was incredibly close, and though United scored three times in extra time, Benfica should have won the game in normal time when the usually imperious Eusébio contrived to miss an easy chance (for him) in the last seconds.
Coming 10 years after the Munich Air Crash though, many fans all across the continent were happy for Matt Busby (the longtime Manchester United manager), who was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to football.
1969 to 1973 - Dutch Domination
The European Cup was now to spend almost the whole of the next decade and a half as the property of just three clubs - each winning at least three finals, and appearing regularly in the latter stages of the competition.The first club to dominate was AFC Ajax, who first lost the 1969 final to Milan and then had to watch deadly rivals Feijenoord win the same title in 1970. After that though, the Total Football of Johan Cruijff, Barry Hulshoff, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens, Arie Haan, Gerrie Mühren and Piet Keizer dominated for three comfortable years, despatching Panathinaikos of Athens, Internazionale and Juventus of Turin in swift succession.
Each player was able to adapt to play in any number of positions and roles, strikers switching with defenders at will, Krol creating nearly as many chances as Mühren, Cruijff stopping as many as Hulshoff. Created by Rinus Michels and refined by Stefan Kovacs, Ajax seemed unbeatable until Cruijff opted to join former coach Michels at Barcelona later in 1973. With that, aging and the loss of Neeskens later, Ajax struggled in the premier European competition for over 20 years.
1974 to 1976 - The Rise of Bayern
Bayern Munich became the next club to dominate the competition, winning it three times consecutively in the mid 1970s.Led by Franz Beckenbauer, and starring Sepp Maier, Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeness and Paul Breitner, Bayern continued on from Total Football, adding their own version of rigidity and organisation to the mix to make an equally as imposing mixture.
Defeating first Atlético Madrid after a replay in 1974, Bayern then beat Leeds United 2:0 in a bad tempered and crowd trouble affected final at the Parc des Princes, Paris, France in 1975, and finally St.-Étienne at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1976. Thereafter the side declined, and Bayern would win no more victories in the European Cup era.
1977 to 1984 - Made In England
In 1977, Liverpool started a domination of the competition by English clubs which would see six consecutive victories, and a total of seven in eight years. Liverpool beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in Rome, then in 1978 retained the trophy with victory over Club Brugge at Wembley.Liverpool lost in the first round of the 1979 competition to fellow English side Nottingham Forest who went on to win the tournament in arguably the most impressive rise to the top of continental football in the European game's history. Forest defeated Swedish side Malmö 1-0 in the Munich final; then disposed of Hamburg SV in Madrid by the same scoreline to defend the trophy successfully in 1980 and became the only side to win the trophy more times than their own league. Liverpool returned to the final in 1981 where they picked up their third trophy with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in Paris.
To show the English game's strength in depth, Aston Villa won the competition in 1982 with a 1-0 win over Bayern in Rotterdam. Hamburg won in 1983 as no English side reached the final for the first time in seven years, but Liverpool were back in 1984 to defeat AS Roma on their home turf after a penalty shoot out. Liverpool returned to defend the trophy in Brussels a year later, but the 1-0 defeat by Juventus was rendered meaningless due to the death of 39 Juventus fans in the Heysel Stadium. The consequence was a 5-year ban from European competition for English clubs, with a 6-year ban on Liverpool.
1986 to 1988 - Bucharest, Porto and PSV
With English clubs banned from participating in European football, the spell of dominance was well and truly over. In the few years that followed the Heysel Disaster, the European Cup was contested between other European Clubs. 1986, 1987 and 1988 saw the trophy lifted by Steaua Bucharest of Romania, FC Porto of Portugal and PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands respectively. Only the final lost by Bayern Munich to FC Porto was really eventful, and regarded among the greatest European Cup finals of all time.1989 to 1991 - AC Milan and Red Star Belgrade
AC Milan, one of the most famous football clubs in the world, won the European Cup in 1989 and retained it the following year. They missed out on a third successive European crown in 1991, when the trophy went to Yugoslav league champions Red Star Belgrade who beat Marseille on penalties after a goalless draw. The 1991 final was also the only final in the 1989-1998 period that failed to feature an Italian team. The ban on English clubs in European football was lifted for the 1990-91 season, but English champions Liverpool were unable to compete in the European Cup because they had to serve an extra year.1992 to 1996 - Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch dominance
English clubs made their return to the European Cup in the early 1990s, but none reached even the last eight let alone the final. Arsenal (1991-92), Leeds United (1992-93), Manchester United (1993-94 and 1994-95) and Blackburn Rovers (1995-96) struggled to make an impact in Europe and were often blown out of the way by far weaker sides. This was mainly down to the strict "three foreigner" rule which prevented teams from fielding some of their top players. The rule hurt British sides more than most because football considers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as seperate countries rather than as part of the United Kingdom. As such Welsh players such as Ryan Giggs -- despite being British by nationality -- were counted as foreign.Instead, the European crown remained on the heads of continental clubs. The 1992 final, played at Wembley Stadium, was won by Barcelona. Marseille won the 1993 final, but were later banned from defending their crown in what was only the beginning of a collapse which arose from domestic match fixing committed by chairman Bernard Tapie. The club eventually lost their French First Division status after it was revealed that Tapie had cooked the club's financial books.
In 1994 AC Milan reclaimed the trophy by comprehensively beating a star-studded Barcelona side 4-0 in what many have hailed as one of the finest European Cup Final performances of the modern age. Milan went on to reach the following year's final but lost 1-0 to an exciting young Ajax side powered by the brilliant 19-year-old striker Patrick Kluivert. Ajax in turn reached the next final in 1996, but fell to Juventus after a penalty shoot-out.
By this time world football had just begun to adapt to the radical changes brought on by the Bosman ruling. While it's best known for allowing out-of-contract players to move to other clubs without a transfer fee, of greater impact to the European Cup was the elimination of quotas against European Union nationals. Players from EU member states were not considered foreigners for clubs in EU member states anymore (so in theory an English club could now field 11 French players, because EU players were not counted as foreigners).
1997 and 1998 - German and Spanish success
Borussia Dortmund joined the list of European Cup winners in 1997 when they upset holders Juventus in the final, having already disposed of English champions Manchester United in the semi-final. But 1996-97 was a season of progress for English clubs in the European Cup, because United had become the first team to progress to the last four of the European Cup in the post-Heysel era.In 1997-98, UEFA allowed the runners-up of top European leagues to compete in the European Cup (now officially the European Champions League). UEFA's rationale was that the quality of its premier tournament increased by including more top teams from big leagues rather than minnows from the likes of Wales and Andorra. Despite the new changes, an old face claimed the crown in 1998: Real Madrid won their first European Cup since 1966 and seventh overall when they beat Juventus 1-0 in the Italian club's third straight final (and second straight defeat).
1999 - Manchester United bring the European Cup home
1998-99 will be forever remembered for Manchester United's dramatic treble success. United had forged an impressive path to the Final by emerging from a group containing Barcelona and Bayern Munich unbeaten, then beating Italian giants Inter Milan and Juventus (in both legs coming from behind). They had also forged a reputation for late comebacks in England as they picked up the League and FA Cup en route to an unprecedented treble.Their opponents Bayern Munich were also chasing a treble, and took the lead after just six minutes through a clever Mario Basler free-kick. It appeared to be enough for Bayern as United failed to find a way through, with goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel (playing his last game for the club and captaining the club in the absence of skipper Roy Keane) in inspirational form to keep his team in the game. With referee Pierluigi Collina signalling three minutes of stoppage time United threw everyone forward for a corner, and were rewarded when substitute Teddy Sheringham turned home the equaliser. Bayern hearts were broken, but the worst was yet to come no more than a minute later. David Beckham's corner again provided the danger as Sheringham headed it on to fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjćr. The Norwegian striker flicked out his boot to send the ball into the roof of the net and win the European Cup for Manchester United. It was the club's first success since 1968 and marked the first English winner since Liverpool in 1984.
2000 to 2003 - Varied success
The 1999-2000 season saw UEFA again ease the entry requirements for the so-called Champions League. Now the top three leagues (according to UEFA's rankings) could enter four teams, while the next three could enter three.Real Madrid started the 21st Century in similar fashion to their 20th Century exploits by defeating Valencia 3-0 to lift the European Cup again. Valencia returned to the Final in the following year only to lose again, this time to Bayern Munich, who finally erased the memory of their 1999 Final defeat. That win also gave coach Ottmar Hitzfeld the distinction of winning the European Cup with two different teams, having lifted it in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund.
There were echoes of Real Madrid's legendary 1960 Final victory when they faced another German team (Bayer Leverkusen, which became the first finalist never to have won their domestic league) in the Final at Glasgow's Hampden Park. Furthering the comparisons with the classic team of Di Stefano and Puskás was the much-hyped "Galactico" policy Real Madrid were pursuing at the time, where they intended to sign one world-class player a year. This season they added multiple FIFA World Player of the Year winner Zinedine Zidane to their ranks for a world record fee of €71 million. Zidane and Madrid lived up to the hype; the Frenchman displayed textbook skill to acrobatically volley home the winner in their 2-1 victory that gave the club its ninth European Cup.
As a footnote, that defeat capped off a thoroughly miserable season for Bayer Leverkusen. They first lost the German league title in the last game, then lost the European Cup Final, then the German Cup Final. And to add insult to injury, some of that side (including star Michael Ballack) then went on to lose the [[Football World Cup {
The next season saw Italian clubs return to the top of the European table. Despite dominating the competition through the 1990s, Italian clubs fell so far so fast in the intervening years that Italy didn't boast a single quarter-finalist in 2002. The following season, however, saw three Italian semi-finalists—and a final between AC Milan and Juventus. Milan won their sixth European Cup when they beat their old rivals 3-2 on penalties following a 0-0 draw. The victory was especially sweet for captain Paolo Maldini, who lifted the trophy in Manchester exactly forty years after his father Cesare had done so for Milan in London.
2004 - An Unexpected Result
There was a major upset in 2004 as FC Porto defeated Monaco 3-0 to win the European Cup. Neither team had been tipped for any success, but between them managed to claim the scalps of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea as European football's big names tumbled out. Porto, led by charismatic manager José Mourinho, joined Chelsea in the rare feat of following up a UEFA Cup victory by winning the European Cup the next season.2005 - The Greatest Comeback
There was a similar surprise in 2005 though this time it didn't involve two of Europe's lesser lights -- it involved two of Europe's most successful clubs. Six-time European Champion AC Milan faced four-time winner Liverpool in one of the most exciting Finals in the competition's history. Milan were the overwhelming favourites, having claimed the crown two years previously and boasting a star-studded lineup that included the ageless Paolo Maldini and Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko. Liverpool on the other hand had struggled through a domestic league campaign that saw them only finish fifth after selling star striker Michael Owen, but somehow produced an incredible series of performances in Europe. Down 1-0 in their final group game to Olympiakos and needing three to qualify for the knockout rounds, Liverpool scored three second-half goals including a late thunderbolt from captain Steven Gerrard to progress. After dispatching Bayer Leverkusen with more ease than many predicted, Liverpool defeated Juventus 2-1 on aggregate 20 years after the Heysel Tragedy before beating English Champions Chelsea in the semi-finals.
All this seemed certain to count for nothing as Milan broke through after just 52 seconds, Maldini striking the fastest goal in European Cup Final history. The Italians, buoyed by a sensational showing from Brazilian star Kaká, took control of the game from there. After several close calls, Shevchenko fed Hernan Crespo five minutes before half-time to make it 2-0, only for Crespo to add another two minutes later after a defence-splitting pass from Kaká. At 3-0 down at half-time to a superb Milan side, Liverpool looked dead and buried. Indeed, the only previous club to hold a 3-0 half-time lead was Milan -- and they went on to win that game 4-0.
Liverpool's Spanish manager Rafael Benítez had gained a reputation for his clever tactics during the run to the final, and he changed the course of the game when he introduced German midfielder Dietmar Hamann. After Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek made a fine stop from a Shevchenko free-kick, the European Cup Final's greatest ever comeback began. Gerrard kick-started his side by scoring a header before Vladimir Smicer's long-range drive made it 3-2 just two minutes later. And on the hour mark Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso completed the comeback by converting the rebound from his saved penalty kick to make it 3-3.
A stunned Milan regained the initiative as both teams hung on for extra-time. Milan almost won it at the end of the extra period when Shevchenko was somehow twice denied by Dudek. That proved crucial as they moved on to a penalty shoot-out where Liverpool triumphed 3-2 when Dudek again saved from Shevchenko. Liverpool had somehow captured their most unlikely European Cup victory, and as five-time winners earned the honour of keeping the trophy.
Liverpool had finished fifth in their domestic league and thus were not automatically entitled to enter the 2005-06 competition. After some debate, UEFA decided to grant special dispensation and allow Liverpool to defend their title, but they will have to enter the tournament at the first qualifying round.
European Cup and Champions League finals
aet = after extra time; asdet = after sudden death extra time
Overall Statistics
By Team
| Team | Cups | Years
|
|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid CF | 9 | (1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1966 1998 2000 2002) |
| AC Milan | 6 | (1963 1969 1990 1989 1994 2003) |
| Liverpool FC | 5 | (1977 1978 1981 1984 2005) |
| AFC Ajax | 4 | (1971 1972 1973 1995) |
| FC Bayern München | 4 | (1974 1975 1976 2001) |
| SL Benfica | 2 | (1961 1962) |
| FC Internazionale | 2 | (1964 1965) |
| Juventus | 2 | (1985 1996) |
| Manchester United FC | 2 | (1968 1999) |
| Nottingham Forest FC | 2 | (1979 1980) |
| FC Porto | 2 | (1987 2004) |
| Aston Villa FC | 1 | (1982) |
| FC Barcelona | 1 | (1992) |
| BV Borussia Dortmund | 1 | (1997) |
| Celtic FC | 1 | (1967) |
| Feyenoord | 1 | (1970) |
| Hamburger SV | 1 | (1983) |
| Olympique de Marseille | 1 | (1993) |
| PSV Eindhoven | 1 | (1988) |
| FK Crvena Zvezda | 1 | (1991) |
| FC Steaua Bucuresti | 1 | (1986) |
By Nation
| Nation | Winners | Losing finalists | Winning clubs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 10 | 14 | AC Milan (6), Inter Milan (2), Juventus (2) |
| Spain | 10 | 9 | Real Madrid (9), Barcelona (1) |
| England | 10 | 2 | Liverpool (5), Manchester United (2), Nottingham Forest (2), Aston Villa (1) |
| Germany | 6 | 7 | Bayern Munich (4), Borussia Dortmund (1), Hamburg (1) |
| Netherlands | 6 | 2 | Ajax (4), Feyenoord (1), PSV Eindhoven (1) |
| Portugal | 4 | 5 | Benfica (2), Porto (2) |
| France | 1 | 5 | Marseille (1) |
| Romania | 1 | 1 | Steaua Bucharest (1) |
| Scotland | 1 | 1 | Celtic (1) |
| Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 | Red Star Belgrade (1) |
| Belgium | 1 | - | |
| Greece | 1 | - | |
| Sweden | 1 | - |
Trivia
- Francisco Gento is the only player to be on 6 Champions Cup-winning sides.
- Clarence Seedorf is the only player to win the Champions Cup with 3 different teams:
- Ajax Amsterdam 1995
- Real Madrid 1998
- A.C. Milan 2003
- The city of Milan, Italy, is the only one that won the Champions Cup with two different teams: Inter & Milan (the two clubs won 8 cups in total).
- Many clubs won the Cup unbeaten: Inter Milan (1964) and Ajax Amsterdam (1972) are those with the best record, 7 wins and 2 draws.
- Real Madrid have the record number of consecutive participations in the Champions' Cup with 15, from 1955/56 to 1969/70.
- Only on two occasions has the Final of the Champions Cup/League involved two teams from the same country: Real Madrid v Valencia (1999/00) and A.C. Milan v Juventus (2002/03).
- In the long history of the cup, only four derbies between teams of the same city have been played:
- 1958/59 Real Madrid vs Atlético de Madrid (semifinal)
- 2002/03 Internazionale (Milan) vs A.C. Milan (semifinal)
- 2003/04 Chelsea vs Arsenal (quarterfinal)
- 2004/05 Internazionale vs A.C. Milan (quarterfinal) - 2nd leg was abandoned because of disturbances among the Inter fans.
- Manchester United, Celtic, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam are the only teams to complete a "treble"—win their domestic league championship, their domestic cup, and the Champions League/European Cup. Man United did so during the 1998/99 season. Celtic managed this in 1966/67, also winning the Scottish League Cup and Glasgow Cup that year. In 1972 Ajax won the European Cup, their domestic league and cup. The following season they also won the European Super Cup and the European/South American Cup. PSV did this in 1987/88, while Liverpool won the European Cup, the league title and the League Cup in 1980/81.
- Ajax Amsterdam was unbeaten in the Champions Cup/League for 20 matches from 1985/86 to March 1996.
- The 2002/03 semifinal between bitter city rivals A.C. Milan and Internazionale was the first time both games of a two-legged tie were in the same stadium (San Siro). This matchup was repeated in the 2004/05 quarterfinals.
- Only two individuals have won the Champions League with the same club as a player then later as a coach. Miguel Muńoz of Real Madrid did it as a player in 1955/56 and 1956/57, before winning it as a coach in 1965/66. Carlo Ancelotti did it as an A.C. Milan player in 1988/89 and 1989/90 before coaching them to victory in 2002/03.
- Cesare Maldini and his son Paolo are the only father and son duo to skipper the same club to victory in the competition. Cesare led A.C. Milan to victory in 1962/63, and Paolo captained them to victory in 2002/03.
- The anthem of the Champions League, which is played during prematch ceremonies before each match and introduces television coverage of the competition, is by Tony Britten, based on George Frideric Handel's coronation anthem "Zadok the Priest", and is performed by the Chorus of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Ottmar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel are the only coaches in the history of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League to win the title with two different clubs. Hitzfeld did so with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and Bayern Munich in 2001; Happel led Feijenoord (now Feyenoord) in 1970 and Hamburg in 1983.
- Olympique de Marseille were the first winners of the new format UEFA Champions League in 1993.
- Manchester United's treble-winners of 1998/99 were the first winners of the tournament to have won neither their domestic title nor the European Cup/Champions League the previous season. In 1997/98, United finished runners-up in the Premiership to Arsenal and lost in the quarterfinals of the Champions League to Monaco.
- Nottingham Forest are the only club to have won the European Cup more times (twice) than they have won their domestic league (once). Forest won the English League in 1978 before winning the European Cup in 1979 and defending it in 1980.
- Forest also have the unfortunate distinction of being the only winners of the European Cup to have later been relegated out of the top two leagues in their country.
- Paolo Maldini of Milan scored the fastest ever goal in Champions League in 2005 final against Liverpool inside 53 seconds. He was also the oldest (37 year old) to score in Champions League final.
- All 11 goals, including the penalty shoot-out, were scored in the same goal in 2005's final between AC Milan and Liverpool.
See also
External links
- UEFA Official Site
- Unofficial European Cup database
- UEFA Champions League 2004/05 News and Information
- A Tribute to the Aston Villa European Cup winning side of 1982
