The UEFA Champions League, called the UEFA Champions League in Spanish , is the most important and famous official football tournament of all competitions organized by the UEFA or Union of European Football Associations at club level, as well as one of the most recognized worldwide. Previously, the Champions League was known as the European Cup . The final of this tournament is the most anticipated sporting event of the year, which is seen by over three hundred million people approximately.
In 1954 , the English team Wolverhampton traveled to different places in Europe to play against many of the largest and most prestigious clubs on that continent. The results he obtained were very good, so the English press published that this team was the best in Europe, something that was not to the liking of Gabriel Hanot, a French journalist who stated that the Associazione Calcio Milan, Real Madrid and the Saint Etienne were better clubs than the English, so through a column in the L'Équipe newspaper, Hanot and Jacques Ferran launched an initiative: to hold a championship for European clubs.
This initiative had the support of important European leaders, among which were Raimundo Saporta and Santiago Bernabéu, whose cooperation served to give projection to the competition, which was finally approved by UEFA, specifically in April 1955. Precisely in that year its first edition was held, being Real Madrid the team that managed to proclaim itself winner of the same after winning the Stade de Reims by four goals to three at the Stade Parc des Princes in Paris. This Spanish club is the one with the most titles.
This competition was called until 1991 as the European Champion Clubs Cup, better known popularly as the European Cup. Back then it had a direct elimination format, but in 1992 the competition was restructured and a league competition format was included, which later became the previous step to the elimination phase. From that year it was renamed the UEFA Champions League, a name that is still used today. Please note that for statistical purposes, both the European Champions Club Cup and the UEFA Champions League are considered to be the same competition.
This tournament has been held every year since 1955. In its beginnings, the champion teams of the national leagues were classified to participate in this competition, but as of 1997 the runners-up also did so, and from 1999 even those classified to fourth place, according to the UEFA coefficient of each league, having to overcome a previous phase those with the lowest coefficient.
The winning team of the UEFA Champions League plays the European Super Cup against the winner of the Europa League and, in addition, becomes the representative of the confederation at the FIFA Club World Cup. As of today, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has won the most championships.
" It is true that winning the Champions League is important for all clubs, but according to what my teammates have told me, at Real Madrid it is something exceptional "
- David Beckham
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