It was introduced in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, more commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each national championship. The competition took on its current name in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries.
It has since been expanded, and while most of Europe’s national leagues can still only enter their champion, the strongest leagues now provide up to five teams clubs that finish next-in-line in their national league, having not qualified for the Champions League, are eligible for the second-tie UEFA Europa league competition. (Beginning in 2021, UEFA will hold a third-tier competition called UEFA Europa 2, which will be composed of teams not eligible for the UEFA Europa League.
In its present format, the Champions League begins in late June with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs.
The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round ribbon system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in late May or early June.
The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the following year’s Champions League,Uefa FIFA club cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The competition has been won by 22 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament’s history, having won it 13 times, including its first five seasons. Liverpool are the reigning champions, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 in the 2019 final.
Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (18 wins), followed by England (13 wins) and Italy (12 wins). England has the largest number of winning teams, with five clubs having won the title.
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