{"id":2464,"date":"2018-05-10T05:33:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T05:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestonlinebettingsites.co.uk\/?page_id=2464"},"modified":"2023-02-16T18:24:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T18:24:15","slug":"champions-league","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bestonlinebettingsites.co.uk\/football\/tournaments\/champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Champions<\/a><\/p>\n

The Champions League is a football tournament that oozes money, skill, and the biggest stars in the world. But whether you are rooting for Barcelona or Brondby, there is money to be made by betting on Europe\u2019s premier club competition.<\/p>\n

The Uefa Champions League is a 32-team tournament involving sides from all over the continent. Some of the sides automatically qualify for the group stage of the competition via their domestic league (it’s the top 4 in the Premier League) while others have to go through a qualification process if they didn\u2019t do so well.<\/p>\n

Winning the tournament is widely considered the greatest achievement in club football, and the knockout stages of the competition, in particular, make for gripping viewing towards the end of the season.<\/p>\n

The most successful team in the competition are Real Madrid, who achieved \u2018La Decima\u2019, their 10th European Cup title in the 2013\/14 season, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at the fore. They then added an 11th, 12th, and 13th title in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively,\u00a0becoming the first side to retain the cup in its modern format.<\/p>\n

On this page, we will bring you a whole host of stats, facts, and information about the Champions League itself.<\/p>\n

Betting on the Champions League<\/h2>\n

\"Champions<\/a><\/p>\n

In any given season it is no surprise to see the same teams at the top of the betting to win the Champions League: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Barcelona. Throw in Juventus, PSG and perhaps some of the English sides and you\u2019ve probably got the winner amongst them.<\/p>\n

But betting on the outright winner is just one of a plethora of Champions League betting options. With upwards of 100 markets for each of the group games plus other bets based around specific groups, the countries of the teams involved, the top scorer in a given group or in the tournament\u2026 well, the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

In short, betting on the Champions League is almost as varied and potentially exciting as betting on the Premier League<\/a>. With so many top-class games you are generally spoiled for choice, and there is always value to be had if you think before you bet.<\/p>\n

For instance, betting on a low-scoring match can pays dividends in a final group game between two sides who\u2019ve already qualified. Back in the day, backing Cristiano Ronaldo to score seemed to pay off rather regularly too. But really, if you study the stats and make informed rather than rash picks for your bets, you have a good chance of making a decent net win when betting on the Champions League.<\/p>\n

A Brief History of the Champions League<\/h2>\n

\"Champions<\/a>

User;KTo288<\/a> [CC BY-SA<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>The Champions League was born in 1992, replacing the European Cup which had been running since 1955. While the European Cup allowed just one side per country to compete, the Champions League allowed multiple entrants from certain countries to enter and introduced a group stage as the first round of the competition.<\/p>\n

To compete in the Champions League is enormously beneficial for both the pride of a club and more importantly for their finances. The TV money involved is now so much more than it has been previously as the fame of football clubs increases globally, so much so that in a number of domestic leagues around Europe the stakes during \u2018race for the Champions League\u2019 are almost on a par with winning the league or the relegation fight.<\/p>\n

The final of the competition is played on neutral soil on every single occasion and the furore and attention it gets seems to increase every year. For example the 2009 final between Barcelona and Manchester United attracted a viewership of 109 million people, surpassing the Super Bowl for the first time; and in 2013 when the game was contested between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, it was the most viewed sporting event of the year worldwide. The tournament is televised in over 70 countries and commentated on in over 40 different languages; a feat which in itself would have been technologically impossible when the competition began in 1992.<\/p>\n

Champions League Stats & Facts<\/h2>\n

Here we take a look at some of the Champions League stats and facts, including previous winners, biggest wins, most appearances, and top scorers.<\/p>\n

Previous Winners<\/h3>\n

Spain are by far the most successful nation in terms of producing Champions League winners. Real Madrid have won the title more times than any other club since its renaming from the European Cup in 1992, and Barcelona have won it on four occasions too. AC Milan are the second most successful Champions League club, having won the modern competition three times and boasting seven trophies in total.<\/p>\n

\"Real<\/a>

\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0417\u0430\u0439\u0446\u0435\u0432<\/a> [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL]<\/p><\/div>In terms of English clubs, there are three who have been winners of the Champions League. Liverpool have won it twice, the first time in an incredible final at Istanbul in 2005 when they came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to win on penalties. Chelsea have had one successful final and one defeat, while Manchester United have reached four finals, winning two and losing two, including the famous 1999 season when they also won the league and the FA cup. Tottenham have reached the final, but it was Liverpool that took the trophy that night.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/a>

Photo by Se\u00e1n MurrayCropped and retouched by Danyele<\/a> [CC BY-SA<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>In the European Cup era, there were also wins for Nottingham Forest. Under the legendary Brian Clough they were European champions in 1979 and 1980. English dominance continued during that era, with Villa also winning it in 1982. Hard to imagine them winning anything these days, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Leeds United and Arsenal have both made the final in the past but are yet to taste success. Leeds lost the 1975 final to Bayern Munich, and the Gunners went down to Barcelona in 2006.<\/p>\n

Biggest Wins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Who<\/th>\nScore<\/th>\nWhen<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Liverpool v Besiktas<\/td>\n8-0<\/td>\n2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Real Madrid v Malmo<\/td>\n8-0<\/td>\n2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Juventus v Olympiacos<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2003<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arsenal v Slavia Praha<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zilina v Marseille<\/td>\n0-7<\/td>\n2010<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Valencia v Genk<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bayern Munich v Basel<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bate Borisov v Shakhtar Donetsk<\/td>\n0-7<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bayern Munich v Shakhtar Donetsk<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barcelona v Celtic<\/td>\n7-0<\/td>\n2016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The table above shows results for the final stages, but European minnows HJK Helsinki are responsible for the largest Champions League winning margin ever, beating Bangor City 10-0 in the 2011\/12 Second Qualifying Round. Liverpool famously beat Besiktas 8-0 in the 2007\/08 Group Stages while Bayern Munich beat Basel 7-0 in the Round of 16 in 2012. Another famous thrashing is Manchester United\u2019s 7-1 demolition of Roma in 2006\/07 while the biggest winning margin in a final is AC Milan\u2019s 4-0 defeat of Barcelona in 1993\/94.<\/p>\n

Most Appearances<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Player<\/th>\nAppearances<\/th>\nRetired?<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Iker Casillas<\/td>\n181<\/td>\n2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christiano Ronaldo<\/td>\n171<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xavi Hernandez<\/td>\n157<\/td>\n2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ryan Giggs<\/td>\n151<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Raul Gonzalez<\/td>\n144<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lionel Messi<\/td>\n140<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paolo Maldini<\/td>\n139<\/td>\n2009<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andres Iniesta<\/td>\n132<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Clarence Seedorf<\/td>\n131<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Scholes<\/td>\n130<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs had made the most appearances in the history of the Champions League at one point, with an impressive 151 outings in the competition. He has since been overtaken by Iker Casillas, Christiano Ronaldo, and Xavi, but not many of our top 10 are still playing at all let alone for top clubs, so any new contenders to the throne are a long way off.<\/p>\n

Top Scorer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Player<\/th>\nGoals<\/th>\nRetired?<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Christiano Ronaldo<\/td>\n128<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lionel Messi<\/td>\n114<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Raul Gonzalez<\/td>\n71<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karim Benzema<\/td>\n64<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Robert Lewandowski<\/td>\n63<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ruud van Nistelrooy<\/td>\n56<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thierry Henry<\/td>\n50<\/td>\n2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107<\/td>\n48<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andriy Shevchenko<\/td>\n48<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filippo Inzaghi<\/td>\n46<\/td>\n2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Portuguese supremo has the scoring record and by some distance too. Ronaldo’s 128 goals in 171 Champions League games puts him just ahead of Messi, although both are well clear of everyone else. They could potentially even net a few more each and even though a lot of people on the list are technically still playing, some of them will be retiring imminently. Robert Lewandowski is the youngest player on the list but he already into his thirites.
\nChampions League<\/p>\n

How Are the Teams Chosen for the Champions League?<\/h2>\n
\"Champions

Champions League anthem (Kieran Lynam<\/a> \/ Wikipedia.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

The qualification and structure of the forerunner to the Champions League, the European Cup, was \u2013 for the most part \u2013 perfectly straightforward. To qualify for the competition, teams had to win their domestic league. Then the tournament was simply a knockout competition featuring (usually) 32 teams. But then everything changed in the 1992\/93 season when the European Cup morphed into the Champions League.<\/p>\n

As we shall see below, the structure of the tournament as it is today is a little different to a straight knockout on account of the Group Stage and qualifying rounds (although the last European Cup, in 1991\/92, also featured a Group Stage). Before we get to the structure of the tournament though, let\u2019s take a closer look at how teams qualify for the Champions League.<\/p>\n

How to Qualify for the Champions League<\/h3>\n

We\u2019d like to explain Champions League qualification in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner. Alas, UEFA are not particularly good at making things easy to understand. Before we tackle the intricacies of CL qualification, it\u2019s time to get our maths heads on.<\/p>\n

UEFA Coefficient<\/h4>\n

Although you might have expected to have left coefficients back in your last GCSE mathematics exam, if you want to get to grips with Champions League qualification, you have to understand the UEFA Coefficient. Or rather the UEFA Coefficients, because they have several of them!<\/p>\n

A coefficient, in very basic terms, is a number (or variable) that is used to measure something and that can change based on specified factors. When it comes to the Champions League, UEFA use two important coefficients:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Association Coefficient<\/strong> – This is used to assess the collective performance of clubs from the different national football associations. The associations are then ranked, from (at the time of writing) 1 to 55. The association ranking is used to determine what stage clubs from that association should enter the Champions League (and indeed the Europa League and the Europa Conference League).<\/li>\n
  2. Club Coefficient<\/strong> – The coefficient applied to individual clubs will determine each club\u2019s seeding for the Champions League (and other competitions) which affects who they will face\/avoid in certain stages (qualifying and group stages) of the tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Club Coefficients are calculated based on clubs\u2019 individual performances in the Champions League and other UEFA tournaments. The club figures are then fed into the Association Coefficients to give a collective indication of how associations have performed. We won\u2019t go into the minutiae of how each is calculated lest you have painful flashbacks to maths lessons from school.<\/p>\n

    How Many Teams Can Each Association Enter?<\/h3>\n

    Here we run through the quota for teams entering the Champions League (based on the most recently published 2022\/23 Edition of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    Note that there are two \u2018paths\u2019 before the Group Stage: the Champions Path and the League Path. We\u2019ll go into more detail about these in the Champions League Format section below.<\/p>\n

    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Association Ranking<\/th>\nNumber of Teams Entered<\/th>\nNotes (CP = Champions Path, LP = League Path)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    1-4<\/td>\n4<\/td>\nAll four teams enter at the Group Stage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5-6<\/td>\n3<\/td>\nTwo teams enter at the Group Stage, one at the Third Qualifying Round (LP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7-11<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nOne team enters at the Group Stage, one at the Third Qualifying Round (LP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    12-13<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nOne team enters at the Play-off Round (CP), one at the Second Qualifying Round (LP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    14-15<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nOne team enters at the Third Qualifying Round (CP), one at the Second Qualifying Round (LP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    16-19<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nEnters at the Second Qualifying Round (CP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    20-51<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nEnters at the First Qualifying Round (CP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    52-55<\/td>\n1<\/td>\nEnters at the Preliminary Round (CP)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

    At the time of writing, the four associations that get four teams each straight into the Group Stage of the Champions League are England, Spain, Italy and Germany. France and Portugal are next, with Netherlands, Russia*, Belgium and Austria completing the top 10. Additionally, at the time of writing,\u00a0Russian clubs are banned from UEFA competitions.<\/p>\n

    Do You Have to Win Your Domestic League to Enter the Champions League?<\/h3>\n

    In a word, no. Clearly for associations that are permitted to enter more than one side, some of them must have not won their domestic title. So for the leagues permitted to enter four teams, for instance, that would include the champions of the domestic league and the teams that finished second, third and fourth in the table. If an association has been allocated only one place, that goes to the domestic champions.<\/p>\n

    There are two exceptions to this: the winners of the previous season\u2019s Champions League and the Europa League gain automatic qualification to the Group Stage of the Champions League, irrespective of where they finished in their domestic league.<\/p>\n

    Note that the maximum number of teams any member association (country) can have in any Champions League tournament is five. So if English teams played an absolute blinder one season and won both the Champions League and the Europa League, it would mean they would go into the Champions League and whichever team finished fourth in the Premier League would miss out (assuming it wasn\u2019t one of the teams that won the CL or EL of course).<\/p>\n

    Champions League Format<\/h2>\n
    \"Milan

    Milan & Real Madrid (Jan S0L0<\/a> \/ Wikipedia.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

    Right, now we\u2019ve got the qualification well and truly sussed, let\u2019s turn our attention to the format of the tournament itself. Although things are relatively easy to explain from the Group Stage onwards (which is the tournament \u2018proper\u2019), the Champions League gets underway long before that.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019ll give details of each stage of the competition along with when it usually takes place. Note, however, that these dates are approximate and this isn\u2019t always set in stone, as seen in 2022 when things were altered to accommodate the Qatar World Cup).<\/p>\n

    Note that UEFA have announced plans to overhaul the structure of the Champions League from the 2024\/25 season<\/a>. The information here will focus on the structure as planned to continue to the end of the 2023\/24 season.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Preliminary Round<\/h3>\n