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Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply abbreviated as the European Cup, the competition began in 1955/ 56 using a two-leg knockout format where the teams would play two matches, one at home and one away, and the team with the highest overall score qualifying for the next round of the competition. Entry was restricted to the teams that won their national league championships, plus the current cup holder.
The format and name were changed in 1992/ 93, and now the competition consists of three qualifying rounds, one stage of group competition (where teams play each other in the style of "home-and-away" or "regular season" competition), and then four rounds of knock-out finals. All qualifying round and knock-out ties are two-legged except the final, which is a single match played at a predetermined site.
Real Madrid CF has won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are AC Milan (6 titles), FC Bayern München, AFC Ajax and Liverpool FC (4 titles).The music which introduces television coverage of the competition is by Tony Britten , based on George Frideric Handel's coronation anthem " Zadok the Priest", and is performed by the Chorus of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Royal Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an English orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes called "Britain's national orchestra". The RPO was founded in 1946 by Thomas Beecham and played its first concert in Croydon on September 15,.
It has occasionally been noted that in order for the present name to be grammatical the spelling would have to be "Champions’ League".
Qualification for the competition is decided by teams placing in their domestic league championships on a quota system, with countries with stronger domestic leagues allocated more teams. Clubs that play in stronger domestic leagues also enter at later stages of the competition. For example, the three strongest domestic leagues, as rated by UEFA, place their champions and runners-up directly into the group phase, and their third-and fourth-place teams enter at the third qualifying round. There is one exception to this rule; the current Champions League titleholder automatically qualifies for the group stage, regardless of where it finished in its domestic league.
Along the history of the competition there have been many events which will not be forgotten. The spectacular Real Madrid CF side with Di StefanoAlfredo Di Stefano (born July 4, 1926, Barrancas, Argentina) was an Argentine football player who also played international football for Colombia, and, most famously, Spain. He was named by Pele as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2, GentoFrancisco Gento Lopez (born October 21, 1933 in Guarnizo, Santander) was a Spanish football player. He debuted in the Primera Division with Racing Santander in the 52-53 season. In the following year, he signed for Real Madrid and became a legendary playe and PuskasFerenc Puskas (Hungarian: Puskas Ferenc surname first; his nickname is Puskas Ocsi , born 2 April 1927 was a Hungarian football player. He played for the Hungarian Olympic team which won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1952. He also played for Real Madrid when; Eusebio and his SL Benfica; the successful FC Bayern München of Beckenbauer; the imperial AFC Ajax; the powerful AC Milan; or the powerful breathtaking FC Porto. Also another hard to forget moment was in 1999 when Manchester United FC came from behind and scored two goals in the last five minutes to beat FC Bayern München and pull off the historical treble (Domestic League-Domestic Cup-Champions League trophies).
In 1967, Celtic FC defeated FC Internazionale in the final to break the domination of teams from the Iberian Peninsula and the city of Milan. In so doing they became the only team to win where all the players were from one country ( Scotland), a feat which has never been repeated. In addition, all the Celtic players were born within 30 miles of the city of Glasgow.
There were also some sad moments. There was the 1958 Munich air disaster in which some Manchester United players died, breaking a marvellous team. Another event was the 1985 European Cup Final in Heysel, where 39 Juventus supporters lost their lives.