Champions League Teams
The UEFA Champions League is the highlight of the European football calendar. The UCL tournament pits the best teams from every football league in Europe against one another to crown a single team as Champions in each football season. The Champions League as it is known today was introduced in 1992, but the format of the competition was first introduced under the title European Cup in 1955. The popularity of the UCL tournament increases demand for Champions League football shirts, with some team’s launching jerseys specifically for use in the competition.
Champions League Winners
To date 22 different football clubs have had the opportunity to lift the prestigious Champions League trophy. Here we will list the top winning teams and the respective number of trophies they have won to date.
- Real Madrid - 13
- AC Milan - 7
- Bayern Munich - 5
- Barcelona - 5
- Liverpool - 5
- Ajax - 4
- Inter Milan - 3
- Manchester United - 3
- Juventus - 2
- Benfica - 2
As can be seen winners have come from all over Europe, garnering interest from fans not only under the umbrella of UEFA but around the globe. The remaining teams to have won at least once include: Nottingham Forest, Porto, Celtic, Hamburg, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and PSV Eindhoven. Historically these team’s football shirts are some of the most popular around the globe, and you can shop for many of these team jerseys here at Soccer Box. In recent years English team's have performed poorly in UCL fixtures, but 2017/18 has seen a boost, is the time ripe for a Premier League club to win? This article looks in more depth at the topic.
Format of the UCL Tournament
Every European football league has an allocation of Champions League places. The bigger and better leagues including the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga have more places allocated. The top teams receive automatic qualification with lower placed clubs entering qualifying rounds and a play-off to secure their place.
- Group Stage: The competition starts with 32 teams, which are split into eight groups of four, no two teams from the same association can be put into the same group. Each team plays every other team in the group twice, a home and away fixture. The top two teams in each group, after all games have been played, advance to the knockout stage. The third placed team enters the Europa League competition, and for the fourth placed team their European competition for the season ends.
- Round of Sixteen: The round of 16 is the first knockout stage. Each group stage winning team will be drawn against a runner-up from a different group, and from a different football association. Once again the teams play each other twice at home and away with the aggregate winner advancing to the quarterfinals. At this stage the Champions League competition begins to get ‘serious’ and fans engrossed in their team’s progress look to ordering UCL football shirts to show support.
- Quarter/Semifinal: The quarterfinal and semifinal draws can pit teams from the same group and the same football association against one another. The matches are also played over two-legs with a home and away fixture. The two winners from the semi-final matches go on to the Champions League final.
- Champions League Final: Each season the UCL final is played in a different pre-determined stadium, using some of the best football grounds and facilities from around Europe. The final is a single game, that will utilize and extra-time and penalties to determine a winner if necessary.
Champions League Football Shirts
Inevitably the football shirts for Champions League clubs are some of the most popular jerseys around the globe. The nature of the qualification system means that it is the best performing clubs from the leagues around Europe that star in the UCL tournament. Playing football in the European arena creates a demand for the football shirts worn during UCL matches.
Some team’s release jerseys specifically for the Champions League, one example of this would be Borussia Dortmund, who launch a UCL home shirt each season. Most clubs wear their standard season’s home football shirt with the addition of UCL sleeve patches.
Having a third shirt is another popular option for Champions League teams. The third kit of often marketed as a Cup jersey and is worn primarily for away fixtures in European and domestic cup competitions.
Whether it is the home, away or third football shirt wearing your team’s kit is the perfect way to show support on Champions League match days. We stock a wide selection of football shirts and training kit for the majority of UCL teams. We aim to keep prices low and offer fast worldwide shipping, make Soccer Box your only stop for UCL football shirts.
