The Union of European Football Associations organizes an annual football competition, which is named as UEFA Champions League. Top-division European clubs take part in this competition. Round Robin is the first phase to qualify for the double League knockout round of this competition, as well as a single-leg for the finals. The UEFA Champions League is one of the most-watched club competitions worldwide. After the UEFA European championships and FIFA World Cup, it is the third most watched football competition on the whole. The Champions League is one of the most highly regarded football championships in the whole world and is one of the most well-known and prestigious tournaments in European football. The contestants of the championship are the National League champions, who play for their particular national association.
The UEFA Champions League was introduced way back in 1955 as Couple des club champions Européens, French for European Champions League, which is now known as European club. Initially, it was only played by the champions of the European domestic League, and the winner was announced as the European club champion and was played in a straight knockout format. In 1992 the current name was added to the competition, and in 1991 the round-robin group stage was added to the competition. Entries from different countries for the competition started from 1997-98. While in the competition only the winners of Europe’s National League can take part. For the second year UEFA Europa League competition only the clubs who have finished the qualifying criteria are eligible.
These were the earlier formats of the Champions League. If we talk about the current format now, there are three qualifying rounds and 1 play-off round in the Champions League, which is played in 2 legs and starts in early July. The seven surviving teams join the 29 already qualified teams in the Champions League phase. The total number of 36 have to face eight opponents, which are four homes and four away. For the ultimate face-off, the 24 teams with the highest score qualify for the knockout face which takes them directly to the finals which happens in the last of May or in the early weeks of June. The winning team of the champion league, automatically gets the qualification for the same years, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FIFA International Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup.
The Spanish Club has registered the most victories in the Champions League which is 20. England has won 15 times, six England clubs have won the title of Champions League, and most winning teams also come under England. Italy’s clubs have registered 12 wins. A total of 23 clubs have won the championship League competition of which 13 are such clubs who have won the competition more than one time. Real Madrid has won 15 times and is also known as one of the most successful football clubs in tournament history. Even Madrid is the only club that has made the victory continue five times in a row. This is the only club who have won all the matches of a single tournament and made their way direct to the victory, the Bayern Munich 2019-20 season, is the Prime witness of their victory. The current European champion is Real Madrid who defeated Borussia Dortmund in the 2024 finals by 2-0 and held the cup for the 15th time.
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League And Knockout phase
From the very beginning of the 2024- 25 session, the three-club competition format of the league was changed by UEFA, supporting the league phase. Now teams are not getting divided into four groups and the number of participating teams has increased from 32 to 36. Each team gets the chance to play 8 matches against their different opponent teams. The leak face has changed, now the match is played from September to January, on the other hand, the knockout face of the game begins in February, now matches are played on the night of Tuesday and Wednesday. For the first time, the tournament was suspended for five months, in the 2019-20 session due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2024-25 Session knockout phase of the Champion League
- Playoffs of knockout phase: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
- Round of 16 match: 4/ 5 & 11/12 match 2025
- Quarterfinals match: 8/9 & 15/ 16 April 2025
- Semi-finals match: 29/30 April & 6/7 may 2025
- The Final face-off: 31 May 2025
Who are the domestic qualifiers of the league?
- England
- Spain
- Germany
- Italy
- France
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Belgium
- Scotland
- Austria
Champions League phase matches schedule
- First match: was played on 17-19 September 2024
- Second match: was played on 1/ 2 October 2024
- Third match: was played on 22/23 October 2024
- 4th match: was played on 5/ 6 November 2024
- 5th match: was played on 26/ 27 November 2024
- 6th match: was played on 10/ 11 December 2024
- 7th match: will be played on 21 / 22 January 2025
- 8th Match: will we play on 29th January 2025
Where will the finals of Champions League 2025 be played?
At the Munich Football Arena, the finals of Champions League 2025 will be played. From 2012, this is the first time that the European football club is returning home. The winners of 2024/25 will also secure their position in the upcoming 2025/26 UEFA Champions League if they are not able to qualify via their domestic competition.
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Conclusion
Football fans from all over the world are very excited to watch the 2024/25 finals. It will be interesting to see which team will hold the trophy and get direct entry to the 2025/ 26 UEFA Champions League.
