UEFA Champions League is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world. It is played by the national league champions of their national associations. Bayern Munich are the reigning champions, having beaten Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the 2020 final. The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the following year’s Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament’s history, having won it 13 times, including its first five seasons.
About UEFA Champions League in brief
UEFA Champions League is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world. It is played by the national league champions of their national associations. Introduced in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champions of Europe’s domestic leagues. The competition took on its current name in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage in 1991 and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries since 1997. Bayern Munich are the reigning champions, having beaten Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the 2020 final. The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the following year’s Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament’s history, having won it 13 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories, followed by England and Italy. England has the largest number of winning teams, with five clubs having won the title. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. The Mitropa Cup was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949. The European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season. Sixteen teams participated, with Milan, Anderlecht, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Ajax, AC Milan, Inter Borussia Monchengladbach, Ajax and Real Madrid among the winners.
It has been won by 22 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once and eight successfully defended their title. In 2020, the traditional schedule for UEFA matches was disrupted due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarter-finals and semi-finals were played as single match knockout ties at neutral venues in Lisbon, Portugal from 12 to 23 August. The final was played at the Estadio Mineirao in Porto Alegre, with Real Madrid winning 3-0. The tournament was first held in 1950s, with Wolverhampton Wanderers declared champions of the World following a successful run of friendlies against Budapest Honvé. It was conceived in 1955 by Gabriel Hanot, editor of L’Équipe, to convince UEFA to put into practice such a tournament. It took place in Paris in 1955 and was first played in Paris’ Stade de Reims, with the first edition of the European Cup taking place during 1955– 1956 season. The second edition was held in Geneva in 1957 and was won by AC Milan. The third edition was played in Stockholm in 1958, with AC Milan winning the competition. The fourth and fifth editions have been held in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Paris. The sixth and seventh editions have taken place in Amsterdam and Berlin. The seventh and eighth editions of the tournament have been played in Milan and Paris, respectively.
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This page is based on the article UEFA Champions League published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
