The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for the most successful football clubs in Europe. It is one of the most prestigious club trophies in football along with South America's Copa Libertadores. It has a global audience of more than 1 billion people. Download high resolution version (800x768, 17 KB)UEFA Champions League logo This work is copyrighted. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... UEFA logo The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced you-AY-fuh), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... CONMEBOL or CSF (CONfederación sudaMEricana de FútBOL, South American Football Confederation) is the governing body of football in South America. ... The Copa Libertadores de América (Liberators of the Americas Cup) is an international football cup competition played annually by the top clubs of South America. ...

The tournament was inaugurated in the 1955-1956 season as a competition for winners of the European national football leagues under the name of the European Cup, but since the 1992-1993 season the competing teams have been the top-ranked teams of Europe and the tournament has been renamed the UEFA Champions League, though the UEFA Champions League is not to be confused with the UEFA Cup, the second most important championship for European club teams. The season 1955-56 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Real Madrid in an exciting final victory against Reims. ... UEFA Cup logo The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams. ...

The current holders of the UEFA Champions League trophy are Liverpool F.C. of England, but the Trophy was handed over on March 11, 2006 by captain Steven Gerrard in the quarter-final draw at Paris after losing to Benfica 0-3 on aggregate at Anfield and the new winner awaits at the Stade de France on Wednesday May 17, 2006. Liverpool Football Club (usually known simply as Liverpool) is an English football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside; the current champions of Europe, they are also statistically the most successful English football team to date. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 11 March is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Steven George Gerrard (born May 30, 1980 in Whiston, Merseyside, England) is an English football player with Liverpool F.C.. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfield players in the world, and became the second youngest captain ever to lift the European Cup when Liverpool won the... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Benfica is a civil parish of the Portuguese capital, Lisboa (Lisbon). ... Anfield, aerial view Anfield, view from Kop end Anfield is a football stadium in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England. ... The Stade de France and the district of La Plaine The Stade de France (the English translation Stadium of France is not used) is a stadium in an inner suburb of Paris, and the national stadium of France, built for the 1998 Football World Cup. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Format

The tournament consists of several stages.

The competition begins with three knockout qualifying rounds. Different teams start in different rounds, according to their position in domestic league and the coefficient of their league. In each round, participating teams are paired, with winners proceeding into the next round. Qualifying rounds span from mid-July to late August. In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. ...

The 16 winners of the third qualifying round are joined by 16 other teams to participate in the group stage. They are drawn into 8 groups of four. Each team plays every other team in the group twice (home and away), and the top two teams qualify for the next round. The group stage is played between mid-September and early December.

The 16 remaining teams take part in the knock-out stages, which starts in late February and end with the final match in May.

All qualifying round and knock-out ties are two-legged, with each team hosting one match. The team which scores the greater aggregate number of goals qualifies for the next round. Away goals rule applies. Extra time and penalty kicks are used to determine the winner, if nessessary. An exception is the final, which is a single match played at a predetermined site. The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in football matches contested over two legs in which a winner must be determined. ... Extra time is an additional period played at the end some games of football (soccer) if the score is tied after the two standard periods (halves) of play. ...

The losers of the third qualifying round and teams finishing third in their groups are transfered to the UEFA Cup. UEFA Cup logo The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams. ...

The draws are currently structured to ensure that clubs representing the same national association cannot play each other until the quarter-finals. In addition, seeding of the teams according to their UEFA coefficients is used. In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. ...

The competition system has been undergoing changes since the 1991/92 season (see history). The current system was adopted in 2003. 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. ...

Qualification

UEFA Champions league is open to the league champions of all UEFA member associations (except Liechenstein, Andorra and San Marino), as well as to the clubs finishing from second to fourth position in the strongest leagues.

The number of places in the competition depends on the association's rank in the UEFA coefficients table: In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. ...

• associations ranked 1-3 have four positions,
• associations ranked 4-6 have three positions,
• associations ranked 7-15 have two positions,
• associations ranked 16 or lower have one position.

Association's rank also determines the stage at which the clubs enter the competition. For example, the highest-ranked association has two places in the group stage (for champions and runners-up) and two in the third qualifying round (for third and fourth-placed teams), whereas the lowest-ranked associations have only one place in the first qualifying round for their champions. Nine highest-ranked associations have at least one automatic place in the group stage.

An additional place in the group stage is reserved for the title-holders, in case they don't qualify via their domestic league.

In addition to sporting criteria, any club must be licensed by its national association to participate in the Champions league. To obtain a licence, club must meet certain stadium, infrastucture and finance requirements.

There was controversy when Liverpool FC won the competition in 2004/2005, but finished outside the top four in the Premiership. The English FA ruled that Everton FC (who finished fourth) will get the final spot. However the UEFA came to an agreement that both Merseyside rivals would be allowed to enter the compeition with Liverpool FC starting from the first round and Everton FC starting from the third round. Liverpool became the first team to negotiate all three rounds of qualification and reach the Champions League knockout phase. {{Football club infobox | clubname = Liverpool FC | image = fullname = Liverpool FC | nickname = The Reds | founded = 1892 | ground = Anfield | capacity = 45,000 | chairman = D.R.Moores | Chief Executive Officer = R.N.Parry | manager = Rafael Benitez | league = FA Premiership | season = 2005-06 | position = FA premiership, 5th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FF0000... Premiership may refer to: The FA Premier League, Englands highest-level competition in football (soccer) In Australian rules football (and the AFL) a premiership refers to the title won during a particular year. ... The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England (and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man). ... Everton F.C. is an English football club from the city of Liverpool and was founded in 1878. ... UEFA logo The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced you-AY-fuh), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... {{Football club infobox | clubname = Liverpool FC | image = fullname = Liverpool FC | nickname = The Reds | founded = 1892 | ground = Anfield | capacity = 45,000 | chairman = D.R.Moores | Chief Executive Officer = R.N.Parry | manager = Rafael Benitez | league = FA Premiership | season = 2005-06 | position = FA premiership, 5th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FF0000... Everton F.C. is an English football club from the city of Liverpool and was founded in 1878. ...

History

Main article: European Cup and Champions League History

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 European Cup holder. This qualification system continued until 1997. From the 1997/98 season, the rules were changed to provide the cup with more exposure (and the extra sponsorship money that came with it), and to try to make it more "exciting". Teams other than national champions were allowed to compete, based on the relative strength of the football in that nation - from UEFA's point of view, a team finishing second in the Spanish La Liga would be more deserving of an automatic place in the Champions League than a team finishing first in, for example, Poland. As a result, the system was restructured to force "weaker" national champions to qualify for the group stages, while other, "stronger" national runners-up would automatically get places. 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. ... The season 1955-56 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Real Madrid in an exciting final victory against Reims. ... The season 1997-98 of the European UEFA Champions League football club tournament was won by Real Madrid in a 1-0 final victory against Juventus, who were playing in a third consecutive final. ... Liga de Fútbol Profesional La Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) (English: League of Professional Football ), commonly known as La Liga, is the professional football league in Spain. ...

The competition is organised and run annually in a similar manner to the Copa Libertadores in South America. The Copa Libertadores de América (Liberators of the Americas Cup) is an international football cup competition played annually by the top clubs of South America. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

European Cup and Champions League finals

Main article: European Cup and Champions League finals

The Champions League final is the most important match of the season in European club football. The stadium to host the final is selected by UEFA two years before the match. // European Cup and Champions League finals aet = after extra time; asdet = after sudden death extra time Overall Statistics By Team By Nation All Time Goal Scorers ...

The next UEFA Champions League final will be held at Stade de France on May 17, 2006. The 2006-07 season final will take place at the Athens Olympic Stadium. The Stade de France and the district of La Plaine The Stade de France (the English translation Stadium of France is not used) is a stadium in an inner suburb of Paris, and the national stadium of France, built for the 1998 Football World Cup. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Olympic Stadium (also known as the Athens Olympic Stadium) is a stadium that is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. ...

Real Madrid CF have won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are A.C. Milan (6 titles), Liverpool FC (5 titles), Bayern Munich and AFC Ajax (4 titles). For complete list of the winners, see European Cup and Champions League statistics. Real Madrid is a football club ranked as The 20th Centurys Best Club by FIFA. Their home stadium is the Santiago Bernabéu in Chamartín, Madrid. ... Associazione Calcio Milan is an Italian football club. ... Liverpool Football Club (usually known simply as Liverpool) is an English football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside; the current champions of Europe, they are also statistically the most successful English football team to date. ... Bayern Munich or FC Bayern München is a German football club based in Munich, capital of the state of Bavaria. ... Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Euronext: AJAX) also referred to as Ajax Amsterdam, AFC Ajax, or simply Ajax (pronounced Ah-yahx), is a football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. ... This page details statistics about the European Cup and Champions League. ...

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,
• AC Milan, who won for the sixth time in 2003,
• Liverpool FC, whose 2005 win was their fifth overall.

As Liverpool got to keep their 2005 trophy, a new trophy will be forged for the 2005-06 competition. The season 1959-60 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Real Madrid for the fifth consecutive time in a memorable final in Glasgow against Eintracht Frankfurt. ... The season 1970-71 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Ajax in the final against Panathinaikos FC. It was the first time the cup went to Ajax, beginning a three-year period of domination. ... The season 1972-73 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by for the third consecutive time by Ajax in the final against Juventus. ... The season 1973-74 of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the first time by Bayern Munich, beginning their own three year period of domination, in a replayed final against Atlético Madrid. ... The season 1975-76 of the European Cup football club tournament was won by for the third consecutive time by Bayern Munich in the final against AS Saint-Étienne. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The season 2004-05 of the European UEFA Champions League football club tournament was won by Liverpool F.C. in a dramatic final against AC Milan. ... The UEFA Champions League 2005-06 is the current season of the European UEFA Champions League football club tournament. ...

Financial

UEFA Champions League is a highly profitable competition for the clubs that reach the group stage. UEFA distributes part of the revenue obtained from television deals between these clubs. For example, the payments for the 2004/05 competition ranged from €3.8m (Sparta Prague) to €30.6m (Liverpool F.C.). [1] UEFA estimates the amount of money to be given to the 32 participants of the 2005/06 group stage as €430m. [2] AC Sparta Praha (English: Sparta Prague) is the most popular and most successful Czech football club and one of the most successful clubs in Central and Eastern Europe. ... Liverpool Football Club (usually known simply as Liverpool) is an English football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside; the current champions of Europe, they are also statistically the most successful English football team to date. ...

See also

• European Super Cup
• UEFA Cup
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
• List of sporting events
• European Cup and Champions League statistics
• UEFA Champions League Anthem

The European Super Cup is at stake in an annual football game between the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. ... UEFA Cup logo The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams. ... The UEFA Cup Winners Cup was a football club competition between the winners of the European domestic cup competitions. ... The UEFA Intertoto Cup is a summer football competition for European clubs that have not qualified for one of the main UEFA competitions (the Champions League and the UEFA Cup). ... // Multi-Sport Events All China Games Arctic Winter Games Asian Games Asian Indoor Games Asian Winter Games Canada Games Commonwealth Games East Asian Games Francophone Games Friendship Radiosport Games Gaelic Games Gay Games Goodwill Games Nordic Games Pan American Games Paralympic Games Southeast Asian Games Special Olympic Games Summer Olympic... This page details statistics about the European Cup and Champions League. ... The UEFA Champions League Anthem which is played during prematch ceremonies before each match and introduces television coverage of the competition, was composed by Tony Britten and is heavily based on George Frideric Handels coronation anthem Zadok the Priest. ...

External links

• UEFA Official Site
• Unofficial European Cup database
• UEFA Champions League News and Information
• Lyrics and audio file of the UEFA Champions League Music
• RSSSF European Cups Archive