UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League /juːˈeɪfə ˈtʃæmpiənz ˈliːɡ/, known simply as the Champions League, and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe.[1] It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football. The final of the 2011 tournament was the most-watched UEFA Champions League final to date, as well as the most watched annual sporting event worldwide that year, drawing 178.7 million television viewers.[2]
Prior to 1992, the tournament was officially called the "European Champion Clubs' Cup", but was usually referred to simply as the "European Cup".[1] The competition was initially a straight knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country.[1] During the 1990s, the tournament began to be expanded, incorporating a round-robin group phase and more teams.[1] Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams each for the competition.[3] The UEFA Champions League should not be confused with the UEFA Europa League, formerly known as the UEFA Cup.[4]
The tournament consists of several stages.[5] In the present format, it begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds and a play-off round.[5] The 10 surviving teams join 22 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups of four teams each.[5] The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout phase, which culminates with the final match in May.[5] The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.[6][7]
Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament nine times, including the first five seasons it was contested.[8] Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, with 13 wins.[8] The title has been won by 22 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once.[8] Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, with Milan being the last club to successfully defend their title, in 1990.[9] The reigning champions of the competition
are Chelsea, after beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time.[10]
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are Chelsea, after beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time.[10]
History
The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[11] The Mitropa Cup, a competition modeled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927 by Zeid Edilbi and played between Central European clubs.[12] 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 organized by Swiss club Servette.[13] Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent. The tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary.[13]Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949.[14] After receiving reports from his journalists over the highly successful Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones of 1948,Gabriel Hanot, editor of L'Équipe, began proposing the creation of a continent-wide tournament.[15] After the English press declared Wolverhampton Wanderers "Champions of the World" following a successful run of friendlies in the 1950s, Hanot finally managed to convince UEFA to put into practice such a tournament.[1] It was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup.[1]
1955–1965: Beginnings
The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season.[16][17] Sixteen teams participated: Milan (Italy), AGF Aarhus (Denmark),Anderlecht (Belgium), Djurgården (Sweden), Gwardia Warszawa (Poland), Hibernian (Scotland), Partizan (Yugoslavia), PSV (Netherlands), Rapid Wien (Austria), Real Madrid (Spain), Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany), Saarbrücken (Saar), Servette (Switzerland), Sporting CP (Portugal), Stade de Reims (France), and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary).[16][17] The first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan.[16][17] The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP.[16][17] The inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade Reims and Real Madrid.[16][17][18] The Spanish squad came back from behind to win 4–3 thanks to goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Marquitos, as well as two goals from Héctor Rial.[16][17][18]
Real Madrid successfully defended the trophy next season in their home stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, against Fiorentina.[19][20] After a scoreless first half, Real Madrid scored twice in six minutes to defeat the Italians.[19][20][18] In 1958, Milan failed to capitalize after going ahead on the scoreline twice, only for Real Madrid to equalize.[21][22] The final held in Heysel Stadium went to extra time when Francisco Gento scored the game-winning goal to allow Real Madrid to retain the title for the third consecutive season.[21][22][18] In a rematch of the first final, Real Madrid faced Stade Reims at the Neckarstadion for the 1958–59 season final, easily winning 2–0.[23][24][18] West German side Eintracht Frankfurt became the first non-Latin team to reach the European Cup final.[25][26] The 1959–60 season finale still holds the record for the most goals scored, but the record is overshadowed by the 7–3 thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt received in Hampden Park, courtesy of four goals by Ferenc Puskás and a hat-trick by Alfredo Di Stéfano.[25][26][18] This was Real Madrid's fifth consecutive title, a record that still stands today.[8]
Los Merengues reign ended in the 1960–61 season when bitter rivals Barcelona dethroned them in the quarter-finals.[27][28] Barcelona themselves, however, would be defeated in the final by Portuguese outfit Benfica 3–2 at Wankdorf Stadium.[27][28][29] Reinforced by Eusébio, Benfica defeated Real Madrid 5–3 at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam and kept the title for a second, consecutive season.[30][31][29] Benfica wanted to repeat Real Madrid's successful run of the 1950s after reaching the showpiece event of the 1962–63 European Cup, but a brace from Brazilian-Italian José Altafini at the Wembley Stadium gave the spoils to Milan, making the trophy leave the Iberian peninsula for the first time ever.[32][33][34] Internazionale beat an aging-Real Madrid 3–1 in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion to win the 1963–64 season and replicate their local-rival's success.[35][36][37] The title stayed in the City of Milan for the third year in a row after Internazionale beat Benfica 1–0 at their home ground, the San Siro.[38][39][40]
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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 Zadok the Priest (one of hisCoronation Anthems).[41][42] 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.[41] The chorus contains the three official languages used by UEFA: English, German, and French. The anthem's chorus is played before each UEFA Champions League game, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches. The complete anthem is about three minutes long, and has two short verses and the chorus. For the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final in Rome, tenor Andrea Bocelli sang backing lyrics to the Champions League anthem, whilst similarly Juan Diego Flórez provided the tenor for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final. Girl band All Angels performed at the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final. The anthem has never been released commercially in its original version.
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