The Champions League is a soccer competition between some of the best club teams in Europe, and it takes more than talent to win. Known as the UCL for short, it is run by UEFA (Europe’s regional member confederation of the Federation Internationale de Football Association) and is among the world’s most prestigious sporting events. The competition began in 1955 and is open to the reigning champions of national leagues from across the continent. Those that haven’t won their league are invited to participate through other qualification streams.
After some experimentation, UEFA adopted the current format in 1992-93, which included a group stage and knockout rounds of sixteen. The top two clubs from each group advanced to the next round, where a series of tiebreakers are applied to break any ties.
Since its inception, the competition has been dominated by European clubs. In the modern era, Spanish clubs have won the most championships, with Real Madrid winning nine of the first fifteen seasons (it is one of only three clubs to ever achieve that feat). Other multiple winners include AC Milan (Italy), Liverpool (England), Bayern Munich and Barcelona (Germany), Internazionale (a.k.a. Juventus; Italy), and Ajax (Netherlands).
It is also rare for a team from outside the “Big Five” to reach the final. Only a few times in the tournament’s history have top-tier clubs from countries other than Spain, England, Germany, Italy, and France made it to the last match, with Porto and Ajax being the most recent examples.