The UEFA (Union of European Football Association) Champions League is one of the world’s biggest and most popular football tournaments. All of the top clubs in Europe battle it out for the ultimate prize, European dominance. It is truly an outstanding event.
HISTORY
The Champions League started back in 1955. Only 16 teams played then in a league and knockout tournament. Real Madrid (Spain) and Stade Reims (France) met in the final with Madrid coming from behind to win 4-3. Real Madrid then defended their titles for the next 4 seasons.
FORMAT
The Champions League is played in 2 main stages. First, there is a qualifying round and then there is the actual tournament. Twenty-four of the top European clubs automatically qualify for the main tournament, skipping the qualifying round, depending on the previous season’s domestic rankings.
Then, in the Qualifying round there are 44 teams coming from all different countries. These 44 teams fight it out for the rest of the eight remaining positions.
After the qualifying round, the 32 teams are put into 8 groups, one from each pool. There are four pools. Pool A is made up of the 8 most skilled clubs in Europe. In pool B there are teams that are very strong but not as good as pool A. Similarly, pool C and D are made up of weaker teams of the qualifying round in their order of ranking.
It is a round robin format in the group stages and the top two of four teams progress to the next round. In the last sixteen the teams play two legs one home and one away. The teams go through on an aggregate score. If there was to be a draw then whoever scored more goals away from home will go through. The same format is in the Quarter and Semi-finals.
In the final, there is only one leg and is usually played at neutral ground. The venue of the final match is decided well before the tournament even starts. Unless the team hosting the final match reaches the final, none of the finalist will have an advantage. Whoever wins the match is crowned the ‘King of Europe’.
RECORDS
There are many extraordinary records held in the UEFA Champions League. Here are a few of them:
| Record | Team | Country | No. |
| Most titles | Real Madrid | Spain | 9 |
| Most appearances in final | Real Madrid | Spain | 12 |
| Most losses in final | Juventus & Benfica | Italy & Portugal | 5 |
| Most appearances in the group stages | Manchester Untied | England | 47 |
| Most appearances for a player | Raul Gonzalez for Real Madrid & Schalke 04 | Spain & Germany | 144 |
| Most goals scored | Raul Gonzalez for Real Madrid & Schalke 04 | Spain and Germany | 79 |
| Largest victory | Dinamo Bucureşti beat Crusaders | Romania / Israel | 11/0 |
| Current champion | FC Barcelona | Spain | 4 titles |
2011/2012 SEASON (SEP-MAY)
This season has already brought some major upsets. Two of the tournament favourites, Manchester United and Manchester City, got knocked out in the group stages. Two other favourites, Portugal’s Porto FC and Ukraine’s FC Shaktar Donetsk, crashed out of the same group.
The last sixteen matches will be played during Feb 14 and Mar 14and the final will be hosted in the Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany on the May 19, 2012.
My team, Manchester United, is out but I still can’t wait to find out who will be the champion. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.