European Cup and UEFA Champions League records and statistics explained

This page details statistics of the European Cup and Champions League. Unless notified these statistics concern all seasons since inception of the European Cup in the 1955–56 season, including qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League as per "Competition facts";[1] all goals scored before league phase(s) count as "qualifying goals".

General performances

By club

A total of 22 clubs have won the tournament since its 1955 inception, with Real Madrid being the only team to win it thirteen times, including the first five. Only two other clubs have reached ten or more finals: Milan and Bayern Munich. A total of 12 clubs have won the tournament multiple times: the three forementioned clubs, along with Liverpool, Ajax, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Benfica, Nottingham Forest, Juventus, and Porto. A total of 18 clubs have reached the final without ever managing to win the tournament.

Clubs from ten countries have provided tournament winners. Spanish clubs have been the most successful, winning a total of 18. England is second with 13 and Italy is third with 12, while the other multiple-time winners are Germany with seven, Netherlands with six, and Portugal with four. The only other countries to provide a tournament winner are Scotland, Romania, Yugoslavia, and France. Greece, Belgium and Sweden have all provided losing finalists.

By nation

All-time top 25 European Champion Clubs' Cup and Champions League rankings

[2]

Rank width=22% Club Years 1 align=left 50 438 262 76 100 972 478 +494 600 13 16 29 36 2 align=left 36 348 202 72 74 708 347 +361 476 5 10 19 30 3 align=left 30 317 187 73 57 630 303 +327 447 5 8 17 23 4 align=left 28 279 154 66 59 506 264 +242 374 3 5 12 19 5 align=left 34 278 140 69 69 439 269 +170 349 2 9 12 19 6 align=left 28 249 125 64 60 416 231 +185 314 7 11 13 17 7 align=left 24 217 121 47 49 408 196 +212 289 6 9 11 15 8 align=left 39 258 114 59 85 416 299 +117 287 2 7 8 17 9 align=left 34 245 110 57 78 364 276 +88 277 2 2 3 10 10 align=left 36 227 102 62 63 356 251 +105 266 4 6 9 13 11 align=left 36 233 97 52 84 333 283 +50 246 0 0 3 8 12 align=left 21 201 101 43 57 332 218 +114 245 0 1 2 7 13 align=left 34 212 100 36 76 324 250 +74 236 1 2 4 7 14 align=left 21 178 86 47 45 255 177 +80 219 3 5 8 12 15 align=left 16 167 83 48 36 285 154 +131 214 1 2 7 9 16 align=left 34 200 70 44 86 282 320 –38 184 0 0 2 7 17 align=left 15 135 70 34 31 204 120 +84 174 0 3 6 10 18 align=left 28 177 64 41 72 231 224 +7 169 1 1 3 7 19 align=left 18 146 70 28 48 247 183 +64 168 1 2 4 8 20 align=left 18 145 64 37 44 228 172 +56 166 0 0 1 4 21 align=left 30 161 62 40 59 232 218 +14 164 0 0 1 4 22 align=left 25 140 65 30 45 253 193 +60 160 1 1 4 9 23 align=left 26 175 57 43 75 213 272 –59 157 0 0 1 5 24 align=left 32 172 62 32 78 212 265 –54 156 0 0 0 1 25 align=left 13 128 57 35 36 191 129 +61 149 0 2 2 4

Number of participating clubs of the Champions League era

A total of 140 clubs from 33 national associations have played in or qualified for the Champions League group stage.

European Cup group stage participants(only one season was played in this format)

1991–92

Sampdoria is the only side to have played in 1991–92 European Cup group stage, but to have not played in the Champions League group stage.

Goals

Most goals in a matchday: 63 (matchday 1, 2000–01)

Host of the finals

The city that has hosted the final the most times is London, doing so on seven occasions. Of these, five have been played at the original Wembley Stadium (record for a stadium) and twice at the new Wembley Stadium, with an upcoming final in 2023. Madrid and Paris come joint second, having hosted five finals each.

The country that has hosted the most finals is Italy, with nine (Milan and Rome four times each and Bari once). England comes second with eight (London seven times and Manchester once, as well as one upcoming final).

Clubs

Performance review (from 1992–93)

See main article: UEFA Champions League clubs performance comparison.

By semi-final appearances

Team No. Years align=center 29 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 align=center 19 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 align=center 17 1960, 1961, 1975, 1986, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 align=center 13 1956, 1958, 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 align=center 12 1957, 1958, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 align=center 12 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2015, 2017 align=center 11 1965, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2018, 2019 Ajax 9 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2019 align=center 8 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1990 align=center 8 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972, 1981, 2003, 2010 align=center 7 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 align=center 6 1959, 1971, 1974, 2014, 2016, 2017 align=center 4 1957, 1971, 1991, 1992 align=center 4 1964, 1997, 1998, 2013 align=center 4 1967, 1970, 1972, 1974 align=center 4 1994, 1998, 2004, 2017 align=center 3 1961, 1980, 1983 align=center 3 1970, 1975, 2001 align=center 3 1971, 1985, 1996 align=center 3 1976, 1988, 2005 align=center 3 1977, 1987, 1999 align=center 3 1986, 1988, 1989 align=center 3 1987, 1994, 2004 align=center 3 1990, 1991, 1993 align=center 2 1956, 1959 align=center 2 1960, 1993 align=center 2 1962, 2019 align=center 2 1963, 1970 align=center 2 1964, 1977 align=center 2 1967, 1982 align=center 2 1975, 1976 align=center 2 1977, 1978 align=center 2 1979, 1980 align=center 2 1982, 1986 Roma 2 1984, 2018 align=center 2 1986, 1993 align=center 2 2000, 2001 align=center 2 2006, 2009 align=center 1 1956 align=center 1 1957 align=center 1 1958 align=center 1 1959 align=center 1 1960 align=center 1 1961 align=center 1 1962 align=center 1 1963 align=center 1 1965 align=center 1 1966 align=center 1 1967 align=center 1 1969 align=center 1 1970 align=center 1 1973 align=center 1 1974 align=center 1 1978 align=center 1 1979 align=center 1 1979 align=center 1 1979 align=center 1 1982 align=center 1 1983 align=center 1 1983 align=center 1 1984 align=center 1 1984 align=center 1 1985 align=center 1 1989 align=center 1 1991 align=center 1 1992 align=center 1 1992 align=center 1 1995 align=center 1 1996 align=center 1 2002 align=center 1 2004 align=center 1 2006 align=center 1 2010 align=center 1 2011 align=center 1 2016

align=center Team in Bold: Finalist team in season

By nation

"width="150" Country Won Lost Total align=center 29 align=center 28 align=center 57 align=center 22 align=center 20 align=center 42 align=center 28 align=center 9 align=center 37 align=center 17 align=center 15 align=center 32 align=center 6 align=center 9 align=center 15 align=center 8 align=center 6 align=center 14 align=center 9 align=center 2 align=center 11 align=center 2 align=center 7 align=center 9 align=center 2 align=center 3 align=center 5 align=center 2 align=center 2 align=center 4 align=center 1 align=center 3 align=center 4 align=center 1 align=center 2 align=center 3 align=center 1 align=center 2 align=center 3 align=center 0 align=center 3 align=center 3 align=center 0 align=center 3 align=center 3 align=center 0 align=center 3 align=center 3 align=center 0 align=center 2 align=center 2 align=center 0 align=center 2 align=center 2 align=center 0 align=center 2 align=center 2 align=center 0 align=center 2 align=center 2 align=center 0 align=center 1 align=center 1 align=center 0 align=center 1 align=center 1 align=center 0 align=center 1 align=center 1

Note: In the 1992 and 1993 seasons there were no semi-finals as the finalists qualified via a group stage. The winners (Sampdoria and Barcelona in 1992, Marseille and Milan in 1993) and runners-up (Red Star Belgrade and Sparta Prague in 1992, Rangers and IFK Göteborg in 1993) of the two groups are marked as semi-finalists in the table.

Presidents records

Unbeaten sides

Final success rate

Consecutive appearances

Winning other trophies

See also Treble (association football) and Tuples in association football.

Although not an officially recognised achievement, seven clubs have achieved the distinction of winning the Champions League or European Cup, their domestic championship, and their primary domestic cup competition in the same season, known colloquially as "the treble":

Liverpool in 1984 won the English First Division and the European Cup. However, this 'treble' included the Football League Cup rather than the FA Cup.

Bayern Munich in 2001 won the Bundesliga and the Champions League. However, this 'treble' included the DFB-Ligapokal rather than the DFB-Pokal.

In addition to this treble, several of these clubs went on to win further cups. However, most of these cups were technically won the following year following the conclusion of regular domestic or international leagues the year before. Also, several domestic cups may not have been extant at the time that equivalent cups were won by clubs of other nations, and in some cases they remain so. Furthermore, there is much variance in the regard with which several cups are taken both over time and between nations. Regardless, the following clubs all won competitions further to the treble mentioned above:

Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United are also the only teams to have won the three major UEFA official Cups, namely UEFA Champions League/European Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and UEFA Cup/Europa League.[3]

Juventus was the first club in association football history—and remain the only one at present—to have won all official continental tournaments and the world champions title.[4] [5] [6]

Chelsea became the first club to hold the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League trophies simultaneously by winning the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.[7]

Biggest wins

Biggest two leg wins

Deciding drawn ties

Play-offs

Coin toss

The first coin toss was in 1957–58, with Wismut Karl Marx Stadt beating Gwardia Warsaw after the play-off was abandoned after 100 minutes due to floodlight power failure.

Zürich won a coin toss against Galatasaray in 1963–64 after their play-off match ended 2–2. This was the first time this rule was used for a tie played to completion.

The last season using a coin toss was 1969–70, with Galatasaray beating Spartak Trnava and Celtic beating Benfica, both in the second round. Celtic later progressed to the final.

A total of 7 European Cup ties were decided by a coin toss, Galatasaray being the only team to be involved twice, with one win and one loss.

Away goals

The away goals rule was introduced in 1967–68, with Valur beating Jeunesse Esch 4–4 (1–1, 3–3) and Benfica beating Glentoran 1–1 (1–1, 0–0), both in the first round. Benfica later progressed to the final.

In 2002–03, Milan and Inter Milan met in the semi-final. Sharing the same stadium (Giuseppe Meazza), they played 0–0 in the first tie and 1–1 in the second. However, Milan were the designated away side in the latter, and so became the only team to win on "away" goals without having scored a goal away from their own stadium. They later went on to win the final against Juventus.

Milan and Paris Saint-Germain are the only teams to have advanced on the away goals rule after extra time. In the semi-final against Bayern Munich in 1989–90, Milan won 1–0 at home and were 1–0 down after 90 minutes in the second leg. Both teams scored one goal each in the extra time, giving Milan the victory on away goals. They later went on to win the final against Benfica. In the round of 16 against Chelsea in 2014–15, PSG drew 1–1 at home and away. Both teams scored one goal each in extra time, giving PSG the victory on away goals.

Penalty shootout

Most converted penalties

Top three teams which have converted most penalties (excluding penalty shoot-outs) in the competition: [9] Bayern Munich: 26 out of 34 Barcelona: 24 out of 32 Real Madrid: 23 out of 31



Extra time

Most goals in a match

Highest scoring draws

Not winning the domestic league

Comebacks

Group stage

Two-leg knockout matches

Only one team has lost the first leg of a knockout match by four goals, but still managed to qualify for the next round: Barcelona lost 4–0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the round of 16 in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, but won 6–1 in the second leg to win 6–5 on aggregate. [12]

One more team was trailing by four goals at some point in a knockout match, but still managed to qualify for the next round: Tottenham Hotspur were trailing 0–4 to Górnik Zabrze after 48 minutes of the first leg in the preliminary round 1961–62, but managed to finish the game 2–4 and won 8–1 in the second leg and 10–5 on aggregate.

17 teams have lost the first leg of a knockout match with three goals, but still managed to qualify for the next round:

Single game

Defence

Arsenal hold the record for the most consecutive clean sheets with ten in 2005–06. They went without conceding a goal for 995 minutes between September 2005 and May 2006. [15] The run started after Markus Rosenberg's goal for Ajax after 71 minutes on matchday two of the group stage, continued with four group stage games and six games in the knockout rounds, and ended with Samuel Eto'o's goal for Barcelona after 76 minutes in the final. The 995 minutes were split between two goalkeepers, Jens Lehmann with 648 and Manuel Almunia with 347 minutes.

The run started after Markus Rosenberg's goal for Ajax after 71 minutes on matchday two of the group stage, continued with four group stage games and six games in the knockout rounds, and ended with Samuel Eto'o's goal for Barcelona after 76 minutes in the final. The 995 minutes were split between two goalkeepers, Jens Lehmann with 648 and Manuel Almunia with 347 minutes. Manchester United hold the record for the longest run without conceding from the start of a campaign, with 481 minutes in 2010–11. The run ended with Pablo Hernández's goal for Valencia after 32 minutes on matchday six of the group stage.

Manchester United in 2010–11 is the only team to play six away games in a single Champions League season without conceding a goal.

Goalscoring records

In the Champions League era Barcelona hold the record for the most goal scored with 45 in 16 matches in 1999–2000. Including qualifying stage, Liverpool hold this feat with 47 in 15 matches in 2017–18.

Real Madrid hold the record for the most goals scored by a winning side in Champions League era, with 41 in 13 matches in 2013–14.

Defending the trophy

A total of 64 tournaments have been played, 37 in the European Cup era (1955–56 to 1991–92) and 27 in the Champions League era (1992–93 to 2018–19). 15 of the 64 attempts to defend the trophy (23.43%) have been successful, split between 8 teams. These are:

Between the two eras of this competition, this breaks down as:

Of the 36 attempts in European Cup era: 13 successful (36.1%)

Of the 28 attempts in the Champions League era: 2 successful (7.14%)

The only team to successfully defend the trophy in the Champions League era is Real Madrid (twice), who won in 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18.

The teams closest to defending the trophy in the Champions League era but who were unsuccessful, all making it to the final:

Of the 22 teams that have won the trophy, 14 have never defended it. Only four of these have won the trophy more than once, and so have had more than one attempt to do so. These are:

During the Champions League era, only one title holder has failed to qualify from the group stage:

Two teams lost consecutive finals:

Three teams won the tournament after losing the final in the previous season:

In six occasions there was a replay of the previous year's final. The current champions always won. It happened in 1978, 1997, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Nationalities

Countries

Cities

Specific group stage records

6 wins

Six clubs have won all their games in a group stage on seven occasions.Real Madrid are the first and only club to achieve this feat twice, in 2011–12 and 2014–15.

6 draws

Only one club has drawn all their games in a group stage:

AEK Athens, 2002–03 (First group stage, finished 3rd and advanced to UEFA Cup)

6 losses

In the history of the Champions League, the following clubs have lost all 6 group stage matches:

Two goals in each match

Four teams have managed to score at least two goals in each match of the group stage:

Advancing past the group stage

Real Madrid hold the record of the most consecutive seasons in advancing past the group stage, with 23 from 1997–98 to 2019–20. The first seven seasons (1997–98 to 2003–04) they qualified for at least the quarter-final each year, winning the tournament three times. After this followed six consecutive seasons (2004–05 to 2009–10) losing the first round (round of 16) after the group stage. Since then, Real Madrid made it to the semi-finals for eight consecutive seasons (2010–11 to 2017–18), winning the tournament four times, before going out in the round of 16 in the 2018–19 season.

Barcelona set a record of finishing top of their group for 13 consecutive seasons from 2007–08 to 2019–20, out of 18 in total. [18]

In 2012–13, Chelsea became the first title holder not to qualify from the following year's group stage.

Monaco scored the fewest goals (4) to earn 11 points in the group stage in 2014–15. Villarreal won a group with the fewest goals scored (3) in 2005–06, resulting in 2 wins.

Biggest disparity between group winner and runner-up

The biggest points difference between the first- and second-placed teams in a Champions League group phase is 11 points, achieved by three teams:

Most points achieved, yet knocked out

Most points achieved in the group stage, not winning the group

Fewest points achieved, yet advanced

Fewest points achieved, yet won group

Juventus, 8 points in 1998–99

Knocked out on tiebreakers

Several teams have been knocked out on a tiebreaker, most on the head-to-head criteria:

Knocked out on 3 points for a win rule

1995–96 was the first tournament in which three points were awarded for a win instead of two. The following teams were knocked out from the group stage, but would have advanced following the old rule:

Rosenborg was ranked fourth out of six runners-up in 1997–98, but would have equaled the points of Paris Saint-Germain and eventual finalists Juventus and advanced on goal difference

Bayer Leverkusen ended third in Group A in 1999–2000, but would have been one point ahead of Dynamo Kyiv

Panathinaikos ended third in Group E in 2004–05, but would have equaled the points of PSV Eindhoven and advanced on head-to-head matches

Werder Bremen ended third in Group B in 2008–09, but would have equaled the points of Inter Milan and advanced on head-to-head matches

Napoli ended third in Group C in 2018–19, but would have been one point ahead of eventual winners Liverpool.

Qualifying from first qualifying round

Since the addition of a third qualifying round in 1999–2000, five teams have negotiated all three rounds of qualification and reached the Champions League group phase:

Winning after playing in a qualifying round

Four teams have won the tournament from the third qualification round:

Consecutive goalscoring

Real Madrid hold the record of consecutive goalscoring in the Champions League matches. They scored at least one goal in 34 consecutive games. The run started with a 1–1 draw against Barcelona in the second leg of the semi-final of the 2010–11 season. This continued with all 12 matches of both the 2011–12 season and 2012–13 season, and continued into the 2013–14 season for nine games (six group stage games, both legs of the round of 16 and the first leg of the quarter-finals), with the run finally coming to an end in a 2–0 away loss in the quarter-finals second leg against Borussia Dortmund on 8 April 2014.

Consecutive home wins

Bayern Munich hold the record with 16 consecutive home wins in the Champions League.The club's record streak started by winning against Manchester City 1–0 on 17 September 2014. The run reached its 16th win by beating Arsenal 5–1 on 15 February 2017. The run ended after a 1–2 home defeat to Real Madrid on 12 April 2017.[19]

Consecutive away wins

Bayern Munich equaled the record of Ajax (1995–1997) for consecutive away wins in the Champions League having won 7 consecutive away games. The run began with a 3–1 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of the 2012–13 round of 16, and continued through to the final, with wins against Juventus (2–0) at the Juventus Stadium and against Barcelona (3–0) at the Camp Nou. In the 2013–14 season the streak continued with group stage wins over Manchester City (3–1) at the City of Manchester Stadium, Viktoria Plzeň (1–0) and CSKA Moscow (3–1). The record equaling seventh win was achieved when they again defeated Arsenal 2–0 at the Emirates Stadium in the round of 16 first leg on 19 February 2014. Their run ended with a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the first leg of the quarter-finals.[20]

Consecutive wins

Bayern Munich (2012–13, 2013–14) and Real Madrid (2013–14, 2014–15) hold the record of 10 consecutive wins in the Champions League. Bayern Munich's run started on 2 April 2013 in the 2–0 win against Juventus in the first leg of the quarter-final of the 2012–13 season after losing 2–0 against Arsenal three weeks earlier. The run continued in the other three knockout matches and the final of the 2012–13 season. The run continued in the first five group stage matches of the 2013–14 season, but ended with the sixth in a 2–3 home defeat against Manchester City on 10 December 2013. Real Madrid's run started on 23 April 2014 in the 1–0 win against Bayern Munich in the first leg of semi-final of the 2013–14 season after losing 2–0 against Borussia Dortmund two weeks earlier in the second leg of the quarter-final. The run continued in the other leg of the semi-final, the final against Atlético Madrid, the six group stage matches of the 2014–15 season, and the first leg of round of 16 of the 2014–15 season, against Schalke 04.

Longest home undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run at home stands at 35 games and is held by Barcelona. Barcelona's run began with a 4–0 win against Ajax in 2013–14 and is ongoing, with their most recent home match against Borussia Dortmund in the group stage in 2019–20 ending in a 3–1 win.

Longest away undefeated run

The record for the longest away unbeaten run stands at 16 games and is held by Manchester United. The run began with a 1–0 win against Sporting CP in the 2007–08 group stage. It lasted until the 3–2 win against Milan at the San Siro in the first leg of the first knockout stage of 2009–10. The run ended with a 1–2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the 2009–10 quarter-finals. During this run, Manchester United were beaten 2–0 by Barcelona in the 2009 final. This game, however, was at a neutral venue and as such is not classified as an away game.

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 25 games and is held by Manchester United. It began with a 1–0 away win against Sporting CP in their opening group stage game in 2007–08 and finished with a 3–1 away win against Arsenal in the second leg of the semi-final in 2008–09. The 25-game unbeaten streak ended with a 0–2 loss to Barcelona in the 2009 final.

Most consecutive draws

AEK Athens holds the record of most consecutive draws: 7 draws starting from 17 September 2002 until 17 September 2003.

Most consecutive defeats

Anderlecht holds the record of most consecutive defeats: 12 defeats starting from 10 December 2003 until 23 November 2005.

Most consecutive games without a win

Steaua București holds the record of most consecutive games without a win: 23 matches starting from 26 September 2006 until 11 December 2013.

Players

Appearances

See main article: List of footballers with 100 or more UEFA Champions League appearances.

All-time top player appearances

This table does not include appearances made in the qualification stage.

Notes

Other records

On 22 February 2006, Raúl made his 100th Champions League appearance, the first player to do so, all with Real Madrid.

Iker Casillas featured in 20 consecutive Champions League campaigns from 1999–2000 to 2018–19, playing for Real Madrid and Porto.[21] On 11 December, Casillas, in a 3–2 away win over Galatasaray, became the first player to reach the knock-out stage 19 times.[22]

Goalscoring

See also: List of UEFA Champions League top scorers.

All-time top scorers

This table does not include goals scored in the qualification stage of the competition.

Top scorers by seasons

Most goals in a single season

Hat-tricks

See main article: List of UEFA Champions League hat-tricks.

Four goals in a match

The following players have scored four goals in one European Cup/UEFA Champions League match. Only Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski managed to do this from the quarter-final stage onwards and Ferenc Puskás is the only footballer to score four goals in a final (1960).

Five goals in a match

The following players have managed to score five goals in one European Cup/UEFA Champions League match:

Oldest and youngest

Other goalscoring records

Other records

First goal

Most wins

See also: List of UEFA Champions League and Copa Libertadores winning players.

Oldest and youngest

Penalties

Own goals

Goalkeeping

Assisting

Disciplinary

Captaincy

Trivia

Managers

See main article: List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers.

Top coach appearances in Champions League era

The table below does not include the qualification stage of the competition.

Notes

Final and winning records

Winning other trophies

Other records

Referees

Disciplinary

[84]

Felix Brych has awarded 228 yellow cards, in which 16 of them turned to a red card. [85]

Markus Merk has awarded 12 direct red cards. [86]

Felix Brych has awarded 25 penalties.

See also

External links

Notes and References