The UEFA Champions League is the pinnacle of club competition for teams based in Europe.
Manchester City finally put their name alongside the greatest teams to ever play after beating Internazionale in the 2023 final. But in 2024, there will be a returning champion.
Clubs from every European league have the opportunity to participate in the tournament by finishing high enough in their domestic competitions, and/or advancing in qualifying matches prior to the group phase starting. However, as the list below shows, heavyweight nations Spain, Germany, Italy and England tend to dominate.
But which teams have won the coveted Champions League, or its previous iteration, the European Cup, since the first edition back in 1955/56?
The Sporting News takes you through the list of teams that have been crowned kings of Europe.
MORE: Which Premier League teams are in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League?
The competition was known as the European Cup until 1992/93 when it was revamped and rebranded as the UEFA Champions League.
The European Cup was first established in 1955, and it remained under that name until the 1992/93 season, when the competition was revamped and rebranded as the Champions League.
Originally, the competition was only open to the champions of Europe’s domestic leagues, as well as the defending champion of the European Cup.
However, in 1997, the league runners-up from Europe’s strongest leagues were permitted to enter and then, in 1999, a selection of teams that finished third and fourth in their domestic league competitions were also granted qualification.
Following the rebranding of the competition to the Champions League in 1992, the defending champions of the competition did not automatically qualify for the following season’s edition. This changed in 2005, allowing the participation of then holders Liverpool.
A total of 23 clubs have won the Champions League and/or the European Cup, with Real Madrid lifting the title a record 14 times.
AC Milan (seven titles), Bayern Munich (six titles), Liverpool (six titles) and Barcelona (five titles) round out the top five.
Since it was rebranded the UEFA Champions League in 1992/93, the winners have come from the following countries:
