Champions League
The English Premier League is generally regarded as the richest and most successful football league in the world of football, but the European Champions League run by EUFA is the pinnacle of the sport at club level. A worldwide TV audience of around 100 million viewers is proof of its popularity, making it one of the most watched sporting events.
Originally billed as the European Cup, the competition dates back to 1955 before being rebranded as the Champions League in 1992. Prior to then, it was just a straight knockout competition between the single top league champions of each European country before moving to a round-robin group format in the 1990s with up to four teams from each participating country.
Ultimately, 32 teams compete for the honour of winning association football’s top prize along with huge financial rewards. Each team that reaches the play-offs gets 2.1 million Euros while the runners up receive 5.2 million Euros and the eventual winners pocket a cool 9 million. In addition, the huge TV income is pooled and divided up on a formula based on proportionate TV markets.
To date, 21 clubs have been European champions, although remarkably none has managed to win this tough tournament in successive years since the changeover to the Champions League, a testament to the extreme sporting challenge involved.
Spain’s Real Madrid lead the way to the European football summit with an impressive nine victories, five being when it was first held as the European Cup. Four English clubs have garnered 11 successes between them in spite of a five year ban after the Heysel Stadium disaster.
