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UEFA Champions League

Europe · European club competition

Founded
1955 (as the European Cup)
League phase
36 clubs, 8 matches each
Final
Single match, neutral venue
Record winners
Real Madrid (15)

The UEFA Champions League is the top club competition in European football. It began as the European Cup in 1955, a straight knockout for national champions, and took its current name and group format in 1992. Since 2024–25 it has used a single league phase: 36 clubs each play eight different opponents, four at home and four away, and one table ranks them all.

The top eight go straight to the round of 16; places nine to 24 meet in two-legged play-offs for the remaining eight spots, and from there the competition is a two-legged knockout until the single-match final at a neutral venue in late May or early June. Matches are played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights from September to the spring.

Real Madrid are the record winners with 15 titles, far ahead of Milan, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Barcelona; Paris Saint-Germain won their first in 2025. Golalarm covers every Champions League match with live scores, lineups, statistics and player ratings, and the standings tab shows the full 36-team league table.

MatchesStandingsTop players

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