Ever since 1955, the top football clubs in Europe have competed against each other for the biggest prize in association football, the UEFA Champions League Trophy. This elusive prize not only requires a team to dominate their national league, but also to perform against the very best teams from all around Europe. The term, "Champions League" is appropriate, whether you refer to the sport as Football or Soccer, as to be eligible to play in the Champions League, you must be a Champion!
Qualification for the Champions League
32 teams from around Europe qualify for the Champions League. There are two ways to qualify for the League, the first being for a team to win their respective national league, and the second being to place within the next few spots behind the Champions.
Each league in Europe (such as the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy) receive a certain number of qualification slots, based on the strength of that league in comparison with leagues from other countries. England, Spain and Italy all put forward 4 teams, Germany, France and Russia put forward 3 teams and all other countries in Europe put forward either 1 or 2.
Of course, the current season's Champions League participants are determined by their play in the previous season's national league performances.
The Champions League Finals Tournament
Once the teams have been decided, the tournament begins! The 32 teams are divided into 8 groups, and play in a round-robin format. Teams from the same country are not allowed to play against each other at the group stage.
The top two teams from each group progress to the Round of 16, where the knock-out portion of the tournament begins. This is the same as the format for the World Cup.
The Final of the Champions League
The two teams that slug their way through the group and knock-out stages eventually meet at some point in May. In 2010, the Champions League Final will be played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, the Champions of Europe from 2009.
Certain teams usually qualify for the tournament, and a list of them reads as a who's who of European Football sides. Sides such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Rangers, Celtic and of course, some of the more dominant sides from smaller European Football nations, such as Dynamo Kiev and Olympiacos.
Sources
The UEFA Champions League, Wikipedia.
Stuart Cooke - After being born and raised in the South of England, Stu moved to Bermuda for his teenage years. This was to shape his future, first ...
