UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) member associations (except Liechtenstein, which has no league competition). Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. Teams that have won the UEFA Champions League keep the European Champion Clubs' Cup and a new one was commissioned.

A total of 22 clubs have won the Champions League/European Cup. Real Madrid hold the record for the most victories, having won the competition 8 times. Bayern Munich and AC Milan have been runners-up the most times, losing six finals. England has provided the most champions, with 15 wins from 7 clubs. Italy produced 13 winners from three clubs and Spain also produced 13 winners from 2 clubs. English teams were banned from the competition for 5 years following the Heysel disaster in 1985, Liverpool FC were banned for 6 years. The current champions are Man Utd, who beat Real Madrid in the 2018 final.

Background
The first time the champions of 2 European leagues met was in what was nicknamed the 1895 World Championship, when English champions Sunderland beat Scottish champions Heart of Midlothian 5–3, it was not the first 'world championship' match however. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations (French: Nations Cup), the first attempt to create a cup for national champion clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together 10 champions from across the continent. The tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949.

After receiving reports from his journalists over the highly successful South American Championship of Champions of 1948, Gabriel Hanot, editor of L'Équipe, began proposing the creation of a continent-wide tournament. In interviews, Jacques Ferran (one of the founders of the European Champions Cup, together with Gabriel Hanot), said that the South American Championship of Champions was the inspiration for the European Champions Cup. After Stan Cullis declared Wolverhampton Wanderers "Champions of the World" following a successful run of friendlies in the 1950s, in particular a 3–2 friendly victory against Budapest Honvéd, Hanot finally managed to convince UEFA to put into practice such a tournament. It was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

Anthem
The UEFA Champions League anthem, officially titled simply as "Champions League", was written by Tony Britten, and is an adaptation of George Frideric Handel's 1727 anthem Zadok the Priest (one of his Coronation Anthems). UEFA commissioned Britten in 1992 to arrange an anthem, and the piece was performed by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Stating "the anthem is now almost as iconic as the trophy", UEFA's official website adds it is "known to set the hearts of many of the world's top footballers aflutter". The Champions League anthem is played before the start of each match as the two teams are lined up while the Champions League "starball" logo is displayed in the centre circle. The chorus contains the three official languages used by UEFA: English, German, and French. The climactic moment is set to the exclamations ‘Die Meister! Die Besten! Les Grandes Équipes! The Champions!’. The anthem's chorus is played before each UEFA Champions League game as the two teams are lined up, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches. In addition to the anthem, there is also entrance music, which contains parts of the anthem itself, which is played as teams enter the field. The complete anthem is about three minutes long, and has two short verses and the chorus.

Special vocal versions have been performed live at the Champions League Final with lyrics in other languages, changing over to the host nation's language for the chorus. These versions were performed by Andrea Bocelli (Italian) (Rome 2009, Milan 2016 and Cardiff 2017), Juan Diego Flores (Spanish) (Madrid 2010), All Angels (Wembley 2011), Jonas Kaufmann and David Garrett (Munich 2012), and Mariza (Lisbon 2014). In the 2013 final at Wembley Stadium, the chorus was played twice. In the 2018 and 2019 finals, held in Kyiv and Madrid respectively, the instrumental version of the chorus was played, by 2Cellos (2018) and Asturia Girls (2019). The anthem has been released commercially in its original version on iTunes and Spotify with the title of Champions League Theme. In 2018, composer Hans Zimmer remixed the anthem with rapper Vince Staples for EA Sports' video game FIFA 19, with it also featuring in the game's reveal trailer.

Branding
The "starball" logo is also incorporated into the competition's official match ball, the Adidas Finale In 1991, UEFA asked its commercial partner, Television Event and Media Marketing (TEAM), to help "brand" the Champions League. This resulted in the anthem, "house colours" of black and white or silver and a logo, and the "starball". The starball was created by Design Bridge, a London-based firm selected by TEAM after a competition. TEAM gives particular attention to detail in how the colours and starball are depicted at matches. According to TEAM, "Irrespective of whether you are a spectator in Moscow or Milan, you will always see the same stadium dressing materials, the same opening ceremony featuring the 'starball' centre circle ceremony, and hear the same UEFA Champions League Anthem". Based on research it conducted, TEAM concluded that by 1999, "the starball logo had achieved a recognition rate of 94 percent among fans".

Format
UCL consists of a total of 48 teams (Defending champion, 32 national league winner, 15 national league runners-up). The teams that each association enters into the UEFA Champions League is based upon the UEFA coefficients of the member associations. These coefficients are generated by the results of clubs representing each association during the previous 5 Champions League and UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners Cup seasons. The higher an association's coefficient, the more teams represent the association in the Champions League, and the fewer qualification rounds the association's teams must compete in.

The defending champions + the winner of 15 national leagues (based on UEFA coefficients) bye the qualifying round and play in the Round of 32. If the defending champion already qualified then the 16th winner of the national league plays in the R32. All the runners up and rest of the national leagues compete in the qualifying round.

Every match except for the final is 2 legged, the winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum of the scores of the 2 legs, 1 played at home, 1 played away. If the aggregate score is tied after the 2 legs, the away goals rule is used; the team who scored more away goals advances. If the away goals are also tied then the match goes to Attacker, Defender, Goalkeeper (ADG), no extra time is played. The final is one legged at a neutral venue determined before the tournament's start, it is possible for the team that normally plays at the neutral venue to reach the match (e.g. The 2012 UCL final at Allianz Arena in Munich home to Bayern who played in that match against Real Madrid but were considered the 'away' team), there is no away goal, but there is extra time if there is a tie after 70 minutes (a single period of 20 minutes, if a team scores 3 goals the game ends and they win) if there is no winner after extra time it goes to ADG.

There may be an occasion where a team may not play in their usual home ground, this could either be the ground not matching UEFA regulations, as a punishment, political conflict, or another reason that both teams mutually agree to move the venue from.

There were 2 exceptions to the format and both were because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first one being 2019–20, in which the quarter-finals onwards were played as mini-tournament styled single legged knockout at neutral venues over 8 days in May. The 2 neutral venues were Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland and Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland.

The other was 2020–21 season, every UCL match was single legged, extra time was played as well as ADG instead of away goals and all matches were played at neutral venues (see below). Because of this the extra time sub was also used and to manage travel the 2 team closed to the country will play at that neutral venues (e.g. a France and Italy club drawn against each other each other they will play in Germany). The final 3 rounds will be played much like 2019–20.

To make sure British teams don't need to self-isolate UEFA decided to keep a match featuring a British match in Britain but not in the team's home ground for fairness. The opposing team playing the British side will have to postpone the previous 2 league (and possibly cup) games to allow the team to quarantine for 2 weeks to adhere to UK's COVID rules. To accommodate this, 1 game will be played on a Friday evening and another game will be played the following Tuesday evening (upcoming next weekend game) and then a game the following Friday evening before departing early Saturday morning.

Qualifying round venues 2020–21


 * 1) Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest, Hungary
 * 2) AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus
 * 3) Ak Bars Arena, Kazan, Russia
 * 4) Eden Aréna, Prague, Czech Republic
 * 5) Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia
 * 6) Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim, Norway (Azerbaijan cannot play at that stadium)
 * 7) Philip II Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia
 * 8) A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia
 * 9) Vodafone Park, Istanbul, Turkey
 * 10) Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal
 * 11) Stade Louis II, Monaco
 * 12) St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
 * 13) Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France
 * 14) Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia
 * 15) New White Hart Lane, London, England, UK (Liverpool match)

Round of 32 venues 2020–21


 * 1) New White Hart Lane, London, England, UK (Liverpool match)
 * 2) Anfield, Liverpool, England, UK (Tottenham match)
 * 3) Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris, France
 * 4) Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
 * 5) Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania
 * 6) St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
 * 7) PGE Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
 * 8) Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
 * 9) Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany
 * 10) Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
 * 11) San Siro, Milan, Italy
 * 12) Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
 * 13) Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan (Norway club cannot play at that stadium)
 * 14) Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Spain
 * 15) Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia
 * 16) Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

UCL rules and regulations link

Nation associations that do not have representation in the UCL


 * Scottish and Welsh clubs play in the English football system (now the British football system, using the British Union Jack flag)
 * San Marino field a team (San Marino Calcio) in the Italian league system
 * Gibraltar (Ciudad de Gibraltar) and Andorra (FC Andorra) field a team in the Spanish league system
 * Kosovo clubs play in the Albania league system
 * Liechtenstein clubs play in the Swiss league system
 * Moldova clubs play in the Romanian league system
 * Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg formed a Benelux league system
 * Greenland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Finland formed a Nordic league system (Nordic flag)
 * Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia formed a Baltic league system
 * Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro formed a Balkans league system (Balkans flag)

Format history

 * 1992–93 & 1993–94: Three 2-legged knockout rounds. 8 2nd round winners would be split into 2 groups, with the winner of each 1 meeting in the final
 * 1994–95 until 1996–97: 2 legged knockout qualifying round then 4 groups of 4 teams each in the group stage, top 2 advance to the knockout stage (QF, SF and Final) in which the QF and SF were 2-legged.
 * 1997–98 & 1998–99: Two 2-legged knockout qualifying rounds followed by 6 groups of 4 teams, winner of each group + 2 best runner-up advance to the knockout stage. Same KO stage as previously
 * 1999–2000 until 2008–09: An additional qualifying round was introduced with 32 teams in the group stage – 8 groups of 4, top 2 advance to the knockout stage, the 3rd placed team is transferred to the Round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Same KO stage as previously but with an added 2-legged knockout round, the Round of 16.
 * 2009–10 until 2014–15: UEFA Cup winners qualify automatically for the UCL group stage (previously they would qualify for the play-off round, but would be promoted to the group stage only if the Champions League title holder berth was vacated, although this promotion to the group stage had been made in all three seasons since it was established from 2015–16). Meanwhile, the top 4 teams from the leagues of the 4 top-ranked national associations in the UEFA country coefficients list will qualify automatically for the group stage as well. Only 6 teams will qualify for the group stage via the qualification rounds, down from 10 in previous season.  There are 2 separate qualifying tournaments. The Champions Path (which start from the 1st qualifying round) is for clubs which won their domestic league and did not automatically qualify for the group stage, and the League Path (which start from the 2nd qualifying round) is for clubs which did not win their domestic league and did not automatically qualify for the group stage. In the preliminary round, teams drawn into 1-legged semi-final and final ties. Teams which are eliminated from the preliminary round and first qualifying round of the UCL are now transferred to the Europa Conference League instead of the UEFA Cup

Squad rules
A maximum of 25 players, 2 of whom must be goalkeepers. There are a minimum of 8 places reserved exclusively for 'locally trained players'. If a club have fewer than 8 locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly.

A 'locally trained player' there are 2 categories: (1) Club-trained players – players who were on a club's books for 3 years between the ages of 15 and 21. (2) Association-trained players – players who were on another club's books in the same association (nation) for 3 years between the ages of 15 and 21. No club can have more than 4 association-trained players among their 8 nominees on List A.

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on, or after, 1 January 1995 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of 2 years since his 15th birthday (players aged 16 may be registered if they have been registered with the club for the previous 2 years). Clubs are entitled to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season, but the list must be submitted by no later than midnight the day before a match.

If a player who has appeared for a club during a UEFA competition season but subsequently transfers to another club, he is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that teams' European competition season (known as cup-tied)

If a club cannot count on the services of at least 2 goalkeepers registered on List A because of long-term injury or illness (i.e. one that lasts 30 days), a club can temporarily replace him at any time during the season.

A team can name 9 players on the bench and use 3 substitutions, temporary substitutions can be used for blood or concussion, in ADG both teams are allowed 2 injury substitutions. In the final when it goes to extra time the subs not used, will carry over + 1 additional Extra Time sub can be used. A team can switch goalkeepers once at any times for any reason.

Prize money

 * Winner: €100,000,000
 * Runner up: €90,000,000
 * Semi final: €86,000,000
 * Quarter final: €82,000,000
 * Round of 16: €78,000,000
 * Round of 32: €74,000,000
 * Qualifying round: €70,000,000

Participation money: €66,000,000

Solidarity payments: €107,500,000

€102,000,000

€670,000,00

€61,200,000

Ranking
The UEFA Refereeing Unit is broken down into 5 experience-based categories. A referee is initially placed into Category 4 with the exception of referees from France, Germany, England, Italy, or Spain. Referees from these 5 countries are typically comfortable with top professional matches and are therefore directly placed into Category 3. Each referee's performance is observed and evaluated after every match; his category may be revised twice per season, but a referee cannot be promoted directly from Category 3 to the Elite Category.

Appointment
In co-operation with the UEFA Refereeing Unit, the UEFA Referee Committee is responsible for appointing referees to matches. Referees are appointed based on previous matches, marks, performances, and fitness levels. To discourage bias, the Champions League takes nationality into account. No referee may be of the same origins as any club in his or her respecting groups. Referee appointments, suggested by the UEFA Refereeing Unit, are sent to the UEFA Referee Committee to be discussed or revised. After a consensus is made, the name of the appointed referee remains confidential up to 2 days before the match for the purpose of minimising public influence. UEFA Champions League referees are required to pass a fitness test to even be considered at the UCL level.

Sponsorship
Like the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League is sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, in contrast to the single main sponsor typically found in national top-flight leagues. When the Champions League was created in 1992, it was decided that a maximum of 8 companies should be allowed to sponsor the event, with each corporation being allocated 4 advertising boards around the perimeter of the pitch, as well as logo placement at pre- and post-match interviews and a certain number of tickets to each match. This, combined with a deal to ensure tournament sponsors were given priority on TV advertisements during matches, ensured that each of the tournament's main sponsors was given maximum exposure. The tournament's main sponsors for the 2020–21 season are:


 * Expedia Group
 * Expedia
 * Hotels.com
 * Gazprom
 * Heineken N.V. (not shown in France and Britain)
 * Heineken
 * Heineken 0.0%
 * Mastercard
 * McDonald's
 * Nissan
 * Nissan Leaf e+
 * Nissan Ariya
 * PepsiCo
 * Lay's
 * Walkers (United Kingdom and Ireland only)
 * Chipsy (Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia only)
 * Ruffles (Turkey only)
 * Pepsi and Pepsi Max
 * Santander
 * Sony – PlayStation 5
 * Vodafone
 * UEFA No Room for Racism must be shown on every commercial break

Adidas is a secondary sponsor and supplies the official match ball, the Adidas Finale, and Macron supplies the referees' kit. Hublot is also a secondary sponsor as the official fourth official board of the competition.

Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising. However, only 1 sponsorship is permitted per jersey in addition to that of the kit manufacturer. Exceptions are made for non-profit organisations, which can feature on the front of the shirt, incorporated with the main sponsor or in place of it; or on the back, either below the squad number or on the collar area.

If a club plays a match in a nation where the relevant sponsorship category is restricted (such as France's alcohol advertising restriction or Britain's alcohol and betting advertising restrictions), then they must remove that logo from their jerseys. For example, when Rangers played French side Auxerre in the 1996–97 Champions League, they wore the logo of Center Parcs instead of McEwan's Lager (both companies at the time were subsidiaries of Scottish & Newcastle).

In 2020 and 2021 all travel and airline advertising were pulled and not shown due to COVID-19 pandemic which banned travelling (especially going on a holiday) in Britain, Ireland and Belarus

List of finals
1Due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe the 2020 UEFA Champions League was moved from Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal to Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. This meant that the stadiums were shifted forward (Estadio da Luz host 2021, Türk Telekom Stadium host 2022, St. Petersburg host 2023, Munich host 2024 and Manchester host 2025). The stadiums were moved forward once again after COVID-19 restrictions continued into 2021 with the Battersea Power Stadium, London, England was selected to host the 2021 final, and Old Trafford in Manchester, England was brought forward from 2025 to 2022.

2005–06

2006–07

By nation
Ten different nations have won the Champions League, and thirteen nations have sent a team to the finals. Since the 1996–97 season, however (other than Porto's win in 2003–04) the winners have come from one of only four nations — Spain (11), England (4), Italy (3), and Germany (3) — and (other than Monaco's performance in 2003–04) the runners up have all come from the same four nations.

UK & Ireland

 * 1969/70 - 1991/92: BBC and ITV (covered in alternate years)
 * 1992/93 - 1998/99: ITV (1 match per round) and Sky Sports
 * 1999/2000 - 2001/02: ITV (Main match featuring a English team on ITV1, additional matches on ITV2, Granada Plus and Carlton Select) and ITV Sport Channel (2 matches that are not shown on ITV1, ITV2, Granada Plus and Carlton Select shown on ITV Sport Channel and ITV Sport Select)
 * 2002/03 - 2008/09: ITV (1 match per round) and Sky Sports
 * 2009/10 - 2011/12: Sky Sports
 * 2012/13 - 2014/15: BT Sport
 * 2015/16 - 2017/18: ITV (British club matches, 1 semifinal match and final), Sky Sports and Virgin Media Sports (Irish club matches only)
 * 2018/19 - present: Channel 4 (British club matches, 1 semifinal match and final), Sky Sports and Virgin Media Sports (Irish club matches only)