Lucky tossers | Football | The Guardian Lucky tossers Email your questions to the.boss@guardian.co.uk . This week: victory at the toss of a coin; Bob Wilson and his roots; blagging a place in the European Cup; clubs better in Europe than at home Thursday 8 August 2002 16.19 EDT First published on Thursday 8 August 2002 16.19 EDT Share on Messenger Close "What is the most prestigious match to have been decided by a toss of a coin?" asks Paul Miller. The most important coin-toss in the history of football came in the semi-finals of the tedious 1968 European Championships, Paul. Having drawn 0-0 with the Soviet Union, Italy (led by Internazionale defensive legend and crowd-pleaser extraordinaire Giacinto Facchetti) progressed to the final after winning a thrilling coin-toss. Meanwhile Yugoslavia were dispatching England 1-0, thus ensuring they could be robbed in the final by the Italians.

Trailing 1-0 with ten minutes left, Angelo Domenghini was allowed to take a free-kick with the Yugoslavs in the process of retreating the full 10 yards. Goal, and a 1-1 draw. Italy won the replay 2-0; not exciting. The next biggest match decided by the flicking of a coin took place in the 1964-5 European Cup quarter-finals, after Liverpool and Cologne played out two dour 0-0 draws and then a 2-2 after a play-off in Amsterdam. Ron Yeats guessed right in the centre circle, as befitting a man who won more 50-50s than most. You'll Never Walk Cologne? Liverpool were then controversially dispatched 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals by Inter, led by that man Facchetti again. But no hard-luck story is complete without Spain: they missed out on a place in the 1954 World Cup finals after beating Turkey in a two-legged qualifier 4-2 on aggregate. Sadly, aggregate scores counted for nothing in those days, and having won and lost a leg apiece, the teams played off.

After the inevitable draw (2-2), it was down to a blind Italian boy to draw lots; even he could see what was going to happen next. BOB WILSON "My dad and grandad have been bickering over Bob Wilson," writes Elliot Townsend, surely the only person in history who has ever been able to say such a thing. "My dad says he played for Coventry city and then went to Arsenal and then became a commentator, but my grandad says that he only played for Arsenal." Don't listen to your father, Elliot, as Fergal Sharkey nearly once sang. Bob Primrose Wilson qualified as a PE teacher at Loughborough College, but instead of doing what PE teachers do (shout loudly, look at lads cleansing themselves) he decided to join Arsenal instead. He played 308 games for Arsenal between 1963 and 1974, winning the Fairs Cup in 1970 and the League and Cup double in 1971. The only other team Chesterfield-born Bob played for was Scotland; he was never sent to Coventry once. Although what he was about to do would mean he should have been.

Primrose then joined the BBC in order to present Football Focus and ruin Saturday afternoons for everyone, before decamping to ITV and doing what was previously thought impossible; make the watching world pine for Matt Lorenzo. Still, he retired earlier this week, so let's spare a nanosecond to consider all the good things he's achieved in his time as a broadcaster. DONE DONS In a previous Knowledge , we mentioned that Hibernian were the first club to play in the European Cup in 1955. But Bert Megn wants to know why Hibs represented Scotland that year - and not 1954/5 League Champions Aberdeen? Older readers may remember the original format of the European Cup, when it was: (a) good; (b) not seeded to benefit countries who generate large sums of TV revenue; (c) not filled with runners-up and the like; and (d) called the European Cup. But surprisingly, the first season of this halcyon era was a bit of a stitch-up. Gabriele Hanot, the obligatory French visionary you need to start a football tournament, invited 16 sides to compete.

And although Hibs hadn't won a brass bean since their last title in 1952, they were generally regarded as the best team in Scotland. What's more, they were the only team north of the border to have floodlights, a prerequisite for midweek fixtures. The Hibees didn't disappoint, reaching the semi-finals when they lost to Raymond Kopa's Reims. Aberdeen must have been totally radged off; they didn't get to play in the tournament until 1980/1 (and soon wished they weren't as they were thrashed out of sight by Liverpool). Interestingly enough, Hibs were one of eight teams entered in that year's tournament who were not champions of their national league, although at least eventual winners Real Madrid entered the cup as champions of Spain. MORE EUROPEAN CUP "Are Nottingham Forest the only team to have won the European Cup more times than they've actually won their domestic league?" asks Nicholas Watson. Indeed they are, Nicholas.

The First Division winners of 1977/8, who won the European Cup in 1979 and retained it in 1980, are indeed the only club to have won Big Cup more times than their league at home. Clubs nearest to Forest's record? Former European champions Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund have only won their home title six times apiece - but then again they've only won the European Cup once. Bayer Leverkusen, with no domestic league titles, could have trumped Forest's record had they beaten Real Madrid in this season's final. But even if they'd managed it, they're backed by pharmaceutical giants Bayer, so Forest would surely have kept their proud moral record: the smallest club to have ever won the European Cup. The greatest achievement in European football? Probably. Only Celtic's 1967 win, achieved with players born within a 11-mile radius of their home ground, can arguably come close. But I'm not arguing this with any of you, as I'll doubtless come a cropper.

CLARET, BLACK AND BLUE Last week , Filipe Lowndes Marques asked: <"This year Juventus won the Serie A title on the last day without ever having been in first place the entire season. Has this ever happened before in any league?" But Tim Crowley would like to point out that Juve had occupied top spot in Serie A on two occasions during last season. "Juve led the league for the first four games of the season, and returned to the top of the table on 17th February, after 23 games. Inter regained the lead the following week and held it until the final game, when their defeat at Lazio saw them drop to third, with Juve taking the Scudetto and Roma second place." Not only that, we omitted to mention the feats of Burnley. Again. "Yet again your column exhibits its bias against Burnley FC," rants Mark Balko, who embarrasses us by reminding us that it was not too long ago we forgot that they had won all four divisions. "We won the old English first division in 1959/60 without previously being on top when the season had officially finished.

A postponement due to bad weather meant we played Man City after the rest had played their final game." Er, sorry. We'll pick on Blackburn next time round. CAN YOU HELP? "Are the Republic of Ireland the only international team whose fans cannot purchase a replica jersey?" asks Conor O'Malley. "What the FAI / Umbro claim to be a replica actually has a sponsor's corporate logo on it. All other replicas I've seen, even of Third World nations, do not carry a sponsor." "Do you know of any footballers who are also musicians? If so, who and what do they play? Are there any musicians/singers who are also good at football?" asks Rachel Gardiner. Email your questions and answers to the.boss@theguardian.com Football's top club competition - UEFA Champions League - News - UEFA.com TagName:UCL.HISTORY.INDEX Football's top club competition Although it was launched soon after UEFA's first Congress, held in Vienna on 2 March 1955, the European Champion Clubs' Cup was not a UEFA initiative.

Real Madrid players pose after their 11th win in 2016 ©AFP/Getty Images Football's top club competition Although it was launched soon after UEFA's first Congress, held in Vienna on 2 March 1955, the European Champion Clubs' Cup was not a UEFA initiative. Read more Football's premier club competition, the European Champion Clubs' Cup was launched soon after UEFA's first Congress, held in Vienna on 2 March 1955, yet the competition was not a UEFA initiative. Whereas many of UEFA's founder members were more interested in establishing a national team competition, the French sports daily L'Equipe and its then-editor Gabriel Hanot were championing the cause for a Europe-wide club competition. Hanot, together with colleague Jacques Ferran, designed a blueprint for a challenge tournament to be played on Wednesdays under floodlights. ©Getty Images Madrid won the first five editions The tournament initiated by L'Equipe did not stipulate that the participating teams had to be champions of their country, but they invited clubs who they considered had the most fan appeal.

Representatives of 16 sides were invited to meetings on 2 and 3 April 1955, and the L'Equipe rules were unanimously approved. UEFA – which had been founded in June 1954 – reacted by contacting the world body FIFA, and the latter's Executive Committee, meeting in London on 8 May 1955, authorised the new club competition under the condition that it was organised by UEFA and that the national associations concerned gave their consent to their clubs taking part. UEFA's Executive Committee accepted the conditions laid down by FIFA and agreed to run the competition at its meeting on 21 June 1955. The first European Champion Clubs' Cup fixture was played in Lisbon as SC Portugal were held to a 3-3 draw by Partizan. The Yugoslavian side won the return leg in Belgrade 5-2 to advance to the next round. Real Madrid immediately made the tournament their own by winning the first five finals. Since then, other clubs have also enjoyed fruitful runs in the competition with Ajax and Bayern München both completing three consecutive victories. However, no one club has been able to claim long-term domination.

Ajax waited 22 years to add a fourth title to the hat-trick obtained in the early 1970s; Madrid's triumph in 1998 was their first in 32 years; and Bayern's penalty shoot-out success in Milan in 2001 ended a 26-year quest for their fourth crown. Liverpool's four victories between 1977 and 1984 deserve a mention as the English club landed the prize with essentially different teams. The Reds' European pedigree also shone in 2005 when they battled back from 3-0 down to pip AC Milan on penalties in one of the competition's most exciting finals. ©Getty Images Milan triumphed in 2003 Real Madrid, Milan and FC Barcelona have been the most successful sides in the UEFA Champions League era, the Spanish pair lifting the trophy four times apiece and the Rossoneri three. Madrid are also the most successful club overall with 11 triumphs, followed by seven for Milan, five for Barcelona, Bayern and Liverpool, then four for Ajax. Moreover, Madrid hold the record for final appearances with 13.

Milan's 2002/03 triumph came after a marathon 19 games from third qualifying round all the way to penalty shoot-out success over Juventus in the final. The major turning point in the tournament's evolution had come in the 1992/93 season when the UEFA Champions League, involving a group stage in addition to the traditional knockout elements, was officially inaugurated after a pilot round robin during the previous campaign. The popularity of the group phase means the competition has grown from eight to 32 teams with matches held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays across Europe. ©UEFA.com 1998-2017. All rights reserved. #footballs+club+competition Featured video Barcelona’s 2011 Wembley masterclass Watch superb goals by Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa in a mesmerising display from Barcelona as they became kings of Europe for the fourth time with a 3-1 win against Manchester United at Wembley.

Watch Zidane’s ‘once in a lifetime’ volley from 2002 Watch Real Madrid head coach Zinédine Zidane’s amazing volley in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final and hear what the man himself remembers about that goal. Watch Bayern’s 2013 Wembley glory See the goals from the all-German showpiece as Arjen Robben’s late strike sealed a dramatic victory for Bayern against Dortmund at Wembley. Highlights: Watch Roma beat Real Madrid in 2008 As Roma prepare to meet Real Madrid in the round of 16, see how they knocked out their opponents at the same stage of the competition eight seasons ago. 2010 final highlights: Inter 2-0 Bayern See how a double from Diego Milito helped José Mourinho’s Internazionale overcome Bayern 2-0 in Madrid for their first success in the competition for 45 years. 1966/67: McNeill recalls Lisbon Lions Billy McNeill tells UEFA.com about the night in 1967 when Celtic became champions of Europe against Internazionale.

Historic Hampden final remembered Eintracht Frankfurt club historian Matthias Thoma looks back on the 1959/60 European Champion Clubs' Cup final and reveals the German club's pride at being involved in the game despite their 7-3 defeat to Real Madrid CF. 1967/68: Man. United 4-1 Benfica Manchester United FC became European champions at Wembley in 1968, ten years on from the Munich air disaster. Goalkeeper Alex Stepney and defender David Sadler recall beating SL Benfica. Cruyff on ‘impossible final to lose’ Dutch legend Johan Cruyff looks back on the 1971/72 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final when AFC Ajax won the second of three successive titles against FC Internazionale Milano in Rotterdam. Capello on Milan's 1994 glory Fabio Capello recalls his "most important success", when AC Milan poured scorn on their underdog status to dispatch FC Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 UEFA Champions League final.

Madrid heroes look back on 1957 glory Real Madrid CF legends Alfredo di Stéfano and Francisco Gento recall the club’s success in the 1957 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final at their own Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Francis reflects on Forest triumph Scorer of a goal he describes as “the most important” of his career, Trevor Francis looks back on his winning strike for Nottingham Forest FC in the 1979 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final against Malmö FF. Duckadam on Steaua success The 1986 UEFA European Champion Clubs’ Cup final marked a first success for Romania as FC Steaua Bucureşti upset the might of FC Barcelona – a victory goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam looks back on fondly. Hitzfeld’s Dortmund masterstroke Ottmar Hitzfeld looks back on Borussia Dortmund’s 1997 UEFA Champions League victory against Juventus and reveals how his words helped Lars Ricken “achieve the impossible”.

1992/93: Marseille 1-0 Milan As the UEFA Champions League final returns to Munich, we look back at Olympique de Marseille's 1993 triumph in the city with captain Didier Deschamps and striker Rudi Völler. 1969/70 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1975/76 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1991/92 European Champion Clubs' Cup 2000/01 UEFA Champions League 1968/69 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1967/68 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1966/67 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1965/66 European Champion Clubs' Cup 2015/16 UEFA Champions League Leicester Premier League title the top achievement in history | SI.com Leicester's title the unlikeliest success story in English history Share Jonathan Wilson Friday April 29th, 2016 As Tottenham Hotspur players lost their heads and a 2-0 lead at Chelsea on Monday, Leicester City’s title was confirmed with two games to go .

It’s a story that has captured the imagination of the world to the point that in the last week, its barely been possible to buy a pint in Leicester without a journalist asking your opinion on Claudio Ranieri and his remarkable side. As Leicester celebrates a championship so improbable you suspect many of its fans still can’t believe it’s happened, we look at the historical context and rank it among the most unlikely successes in the history of English football: 1. Leicester City wins the Premier League The ridiculousness of what Leicester City has achieved has become familiar. It was bottom of the table 13 months ago. At the beginning of the season it was 5,000-to-1 to win the title–or as improbable as Elvis being discovered alive . There was all that weirdness with the ostrich, the body of Richard III, then the Thai prostitutes and racially abusive orgy . There was the 64-year-old manager who had never won a league title and had left his last job after a defeat to the Faroe Islands. There was the center forward who was playing non-league football four years ago. None of this should have happened.

Timeline: Leicester City's incredible Premier League title run Leicester has had some good fortune, as even Claudio Ranieri acknowledges. There won’t be many seasons in which Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all under-perform so badly. It’s rare, extremely rare, for half a dozen players all to hit peak form at the same time as Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante, Wes Morgan, Danny Drinkwater and Robert Huth have done. But from the sparks of the autumn, Ranieri has kindled a great fire, showing that it is possible for a smaller club, with organization, determination and belief, to pick off more vaunted opponents. Toward the end of the season, as rivals faltered, Leicester became remorseless. Salvaging a draw against West Ham spoke volumes for Leicester’s character. Leicester City's unsung heroes: Beyond the Foxes' star trio But none of that explains why this is the most improbable triumph in English football history. Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest and Alf Ramsey’s Ipswich Town have their claims, as perhaps do Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn, Ron Saunders’ Aston Villa or Clough’s Derby.

But Blackburn had spent huge sums of money and, like Villa and Derby, had been near the top of the table for a couple of seasons before their success. LEICESTER PODCAST INTERVIEWS: Arlo White | Christian Fuchs Forest and Ipswich won the season after promotion, remarkable achievements. But what sets Leicester apart is context. Football has become a world without shocks. The big teams win, the distribution of money and their huge financial advantages have seen to that. Forest’s title came six years after Derby’s and 16 years after Ipswich’s. In the five years before its title, two Second Division teams won the FA Cup. Football was less predictable then; there was no rigid financial stratification. Shocks happened; everybody thought they’d stopped. Had Tottenham won the league this season, it would have been a surprise; for Leicester to win it should have been impossible. 2. Sunderland wins the 1972-73 FA Cup Getty Images The reputation of the FA Cup was built on shocks and romance, on the fact that any club can enter and that any club can win.

Since World War II, there have been three winners from the Second Division, as well as surprise victors such as Wigan beating Manchester City in the final in 2013, Wimbledon beating Liverpool in 1988 (although it finished seventh in the league that season) and Coventry beating Tottenham in 1987. But the greatest upset of all, paving the way for Southampton and West Ham to win from outside the top flight in 1976 and 1980, was Sunderland. They’d been in sixth-to-last in the Second Division when Bob Stokoe arrived in December 1972, fearing a first-ever relegation to the third flight. But under him Sunderland rose, beating high-flying Manchester City 3-1 in the fifth round in an epic replay at Roker Park. They then beat Arsenal 2-1 in the semifinal: But that just set up an even harder task in the final, against the mighty Leeds of Don Revie. Sunderland, unthinkably, took the lead after 31 minutes, a Billy Hughes corner falling in the box for Ian Porterfield to slam in with his weaker right foot. Leeds rallied.

It attacked in great waves, but Mick Horswill was tireless at the back of midfield, Dave Watson and Ritchie Pitt titanic in central defense. And when Leeds did get a shot on goal, it encountered an inspired Jim Montgomery. Watch: Leicester City players, fans celebrate Premier League title Early in the second half, Paul Reaney sent in a deep cross to the back post. Trevor Cherry, advancing from left back, got to it with a diving header, but Montgomery, plunging to his left, made an excellent save. The ball, though, fell to Peter Lorimer, six yards out with the goal at his mercy. Montgomery, incredibly, pushed himself up and stretching backwards, horizontal, three feet from the ground, turned his shot up and onto the bar from where it bounced to safety. So implausible was it that on television it took until the third replay before the co-commentator realized he’d saved it. Leeds deflated at that, and Sunderland, anxiously and heroically, hung on.

At the final whistle, Stokoe, idiosyncratically dressed in tight red tracksuit bottoms, a raincoat and trilby, skipped onto the pitch, ignoring everyone until he had Montgomery in his arms, perhaps the most iconic image there is of an FA Cup final. 3. Nottingham Forest wins back-to-back European Cups (1979, 1980) Getty Images ​ One of the greatest myths in English football is that Brian Clough should have been named England manager when Ron Greenwood got the job in 1977. Clough then had pulled off one remarkable achievement, leading Derby County to promotion and, in its third season back in the top flight, to the league title. But he had fallen out with the club chairman, Sam Longson, and a subsequent spell at Leeds United had ended in acrimony after 44 days. It’s true that he’d just led Nottingham Forest to promotion to the top flight, but nobody expected what came next. Clough was cocky, quotable and abrasive, a man who provoked love and irritation in equal measure.

He was also a brilliant football manager, adept at getting the absolute utmost from his players and, with his assistant Peter Taylor, masterful at putting together sides with natural balance. As likely as Elvis being alive: Leicester City defies odds in EPL title pursuit He made John Robertson, who had previously been dismissed as scruffy and overweight despite his talent, into one of the greatest playmakers in Europe, operating from the left, with a defensive left back, usually Frank Clark, behind him. On the other flank, to balance, Viv Anderson was encouraged to attack from right back, with the right-sided midfielder, usually Martin O’Neill tucking in. In 1977-78, Forest lost only three games as it swept to the league title. That, though, was only the beginning. The following season, it faced the reigning champion Liverpool in the first round of the European Cup and won 2-0 on aggregate. It saw off AEK Athens and Grasshoppers before a grueling semifinal against FC Cologne. Forest went 2-0 down in the home leg but came back to lead 3-2 before a late equalizer gave Cologne the advantage.

In West Germany, though, Ian Bowyer headed the only goal of the game as Forest won 1-0. In the final, a header from Trevor Francis, the first £1 million player in the English game, was enough to beat Malmo. Having won it, Forest defended its crown the following year, with Robertson scoring the only goal of the final as Forest, inspired by the excellence of its goalkeeper Peter Shilton, held off a siege from Hamburg. Clough had taken two provincial clubs to league championships and, even more incredibly, had made one of them European champions. Forest remains the only club to have won the European Cup more often than its domestic title. 4. Ipswich Town wins the title, 1961-62 Evening Standard/Getty Images When Ramsey was appointed manager of Ipswich Town in 1955, it had just been relegated after its only season in the Second Division. He had played for Arthur Rowe’s push-and-run side at Tottenham but recognized a more pragmatic style of play was necessary to get out of the Third Division South.

That December, he made a key tactical switch, pushing the inside-forward Jimmy Leadbetter, a skillful, intelligent player whose major failing was his lack of pace, out to the left wing. Leadbetter was worried he wasn’t fast enough, but Ramsey’s concern was more his use of the ball. “I was pulled back, collecting balls from defense–the other fullbacks wouldn’t come that far out of defense to mark me, so I had space to move in,” he explained in Dave Bowler’s biography of Ramsey. “As I went further forward, I could draw the fullback out of position. He wouldn’t stay in the middle of the field marking nobody, he felt he had to come with me. That left a big gap on the left-hand side of the field. That was where [the center forward] Ted Phillips played. He needed space, but if you could give him that and the ball, it was in the back of the net.” Leicester City phenomenon sparks all kinds of stories, inspiration Promotion was won in 1957, and as center forward Ray Crawford was signed from Portsmouth and orthodox right winger Roy Stephenson from Leicester City, Ramsey’s plan took shape.

Ipswich went up again in 1961, and, to widespread bewilderment, went on to win the title the following year, despite having spent only £30,000 assembling its squad, less than a third of what Tottenham paid to bring Jimmy Greaves back from Italy. Ipswich, The Times said, “defy explanation–they do the simple things accurately and quickly; there are no frills about their play and no posing. They are not exciting; they do not make the pulses race… maybe, after all, there is a virtue in the honest laborer.” With little or no television coverage to expose the Leadbetter tactic, nobody knew how to combat them to cope. The next season, though, teams knew what to expect. Ipswich lost the Charity Shield 5-1 to Spurs and by the end of October it had won just two of 15 games. 5. Aston Villa wins the 1982 European Cup The end of 1980-81 was like a slow bicycle race.

Aston Villa won only two of its final five games of the season but that was still enough to take the title from Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town, which lost seven of its final 10 games of the season. Ron Saunders used a record low of 14 players that season, as Villa won its first league title in 71 years. Results faltered badly the following year: Villa won just one of its first nine leagues games, and in February Saunders left the club following a dispute over his contract. He was replaced by his assistant Tony Barton, a 44-year-old former Portsmouth outside-right who had never managed a club before. Out of both cups and struggling in the league, Villa still had the European Cup to play for, having seen off Valur Reykjavik and Dynamo Berlin in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinal, it drew 0-0 away to Dynamo Kyiv, then won the second leg 2-0 with goals from young forward Gary Shaw and the tough center back Ken McNaught. The winger Tony Morley got the only goal in the home leg of the semifinal against Anderlecht, and Villa kept another clean sheet in Brussels to go through 1-0 on aggregate.

In the final, Villa met the great Bayern Munich, a team featuring such internationals as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Klaus Augenthaler, Dieter Hoeness and Paul Breitner. Villa had finished the season 11th. It seemed an absurd matchup, even more so when experienced goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer suffered a recurrence of a shoulder injury after 10 minutes and had to be replaced by 23-year-old Nigel Spink, who had played just one game for Villa before. He was superb, though, as Villa held Bayern at arm’s length and then, in the 67th minute, scored the most famous goal in club history. Dennis Mortimer, the captain, played the ball forward to Shaw, who used the run of Gary Williams outside him as a decoy and slipped a pass in to Morley. He squared, and Peter Withe had a simple finish from six yards. Villa held on and Mortimer collected the trophy; remarkably, it had been raised the previous year by Liverpool captain Phil Thompson, who had gone to the same school as him in Kirby, Liverpool.

Tags UEFA Champions League - History – UEFA.com UEFA Champions League 2010/11 Group stage, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Internazionale 2012/13 Group stage, Estádio do Dragão, Porto Porto 2014/15 Group stage, Stadio Olimpico, Rome Roma Featured video Barcelona’s 2011 Wembley masterclass Watch superb goals by Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa in a mesmerising display from Barcelona as they became kings of Europe for the fourth time with a 3-1 win against Manchester United at Wembley. Watch Zidane’s ‘once in a lifetime’ volley from 2002 Watch Real Madrid head coach Zinédine Zidane’s amazing volley in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final and hear what the man himself remembers about that goal. Watch Bayern’s 2013 Wembley glory See the goals from the all-German showpiece as Arjen Robben’s late strike sealed a dramatic victory for Bayern against Dortmund at Wembley.

Highlights: Watch Roma beat Real Madrid in 2008 As Roma prepare to meet Real Madrid in the round of 16, see how they knocked out their opponents at the same stage of the competition eight seasons ago. 2010 final highlights: Inter 2-0 Bayern See how a double from Diego Milito helped José Mourinho’s Internazionale overcome Bayern 2-0 in Madrid for their first success in the competition for 45 years. 1966/67: McNeill recalls Lisbon Lions Billy McNeill tells UEFA.com about the night in 1967 when Celtic became champions of Europe against Internazionale. Historic Hampden final remembered Eintracht Frankfurt club historian Matthias Thoma looks back on the 1959/60 European Champion Clubs' Cup final and reveals the German club's pride at being involved in the game despite their 7-3 defeat to Real Madrid CF. 1967/68: Man. United 4-1 Benfica Manchester United FC became European champions at Wembley in 1968, ten years on from the Munich air disaster. Goalkeeper Alex Stepney and defender David Sadler recall beating SL Benfica.

Cruyff on ‘impossible final to lose’ Dutch legend Johan Cruyff looks back on the 1971/72 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final when AFC Ajax won the second of three successive titles against FC Internazionale Milano in Rotterdam. Capello on Milan's 1994 glory Fabio Capello recalls his "most important success", when AC Milan poured scorn on their underdog status to dispatch FC Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 UEFA Champions League final. Madrid heroes look back on 1957 glory Real Madrid CF legends Alfredo di Stéfano and Francisco Gento recall the club’s success in the 1957 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final at their own Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Francis reflects on Forest triumph Scorer of a goal he describes as “the most important” of his career, Trevor Francis looks back on his winning strike for Nottingham Forest FC in the 1979 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final against Malmö FF.

Duckadam on Steaua success The 1986 UEFA European Champion Clubs’ Cup final marked a first success for Romania as FC Steaua Bucureşti upset the might of FC Barcelona – a victory goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam looks back on fondly. Hitzfeld’s Dortmund masterstroke Ottmar Hitzfeld looks back on Borussia Dortmund’s 1997 UEFA Champions League victory against Juventus and reveals how his words helped Lars Ricken “achieve the impossible”. 1992/93: Marseille 1-0 Milan As the UEFA Champions League final returns to Munich, we look back at Olympique de Marseille's 1993 triumph in the city with captain Didier Deschamps and striker Rudi Völler.

1969/70 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1975/76 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1991/92 European Champion Clubs' Cup 2000/01 UEFA Champions League 1968/69 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1967/68 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1966/67 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1965/66 European Champion Clubs' Cup 2015/16 UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League winners history list | Football Bible UEFA Champions League winners history list Published on Aug 13, 2014 Each year, an elite club that outsmarts the other strong European clubs is crowned the season’s UEFA Champions League winner. The title has been contended for 59 seasons and a number of teams have gained prominence in that time. Real Madrid is the most successful team having won ten times, followed by AC Milan with seven victories and five titles for both Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Here is the complete UEFA Champions League winners list.

1955-1960 Winner: Real Madrid (SPAIN) Runners-up: Stade de Reims (1956, 1959), Fiorentina (1957), Milan (1958), Eintracht Frankfurt (1960) Final scores: Real 4-3 Reims; Real 2-0 Fiorentina; Real 3-2 AC Milan (Extra Time); Real 2-0 Reims (1959); Real 7-3 Eintracht Host countries: France (1956); Spain (1957); Belgium (1958); Germany (1959); Scotland (1960) Real Madrid was the strongest team at the time. They won five consecutive tournaments a record that has not been matched. Though they encountered some resistance, the brilliance of their star players Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Gento, Alfredo Di Stefano and Jose Santamaria helped them conquer. In 1958, the final game was decided by an extra time goal scored by Francisco Gento.

The 1960 European Cup final was a thrilling match as Madrid humiliated Eintracht to a 7-3 loss in Glasgow. This match recorded the largest attendance ever with over 135000 fans at the stadium. 1960-1962 Runners-up: Barcelona (1961); Real Madrid (1962) Final scores: Benfica 3-2 Barcelona; Benfica 5-3 Real Madrid Host countries: Switzerland (1961); Netherlands (1962) Barcelona ended Real Madrid’s supremacy by beating them in the 1961 competition in the quarters. They made it to the finals only to lose to Benfica. Benfica boldly went on to lift the trophy a second time the following season by beating Real Madrid by 5-3.

Winners: AC Milan (1963); Inter Milan (1964, 1965) (ITALY) Runners-up: Benfica (1963); Real Madrid (1964); Benfica (1965) Final scores: AC Milan 2-1 Benfica; Inter Milan 3-1 Real; Inter Milan 1-0 Benfica Host countries: England (1963); Austria (1964); Italy (1965) AC Milan denied Benfica a chance to make it a hat-trick by beating them in the 1963 final. Their city rivals Internazionale Milan ensured the trophy stayed in Italy in the subsequent two seasons. With a wonderful combination of star players, namely Faketti, Mazzola, Sarti, Burnjic, Suares and Jaire the Inter squad marked an era that many Italians expected to match the earlier Real Madrid’s success.

Winners: Feyenord Rotterdam (1970) ; Ajax (1971, 1972, 1973) (NETHERLANDS) Runner-up: Celtic (1970); Panathinaikos(1971); Internazionale Milan (1972); Juventus(1973) Final score: Rotterdam 2-1 Celtic (Extra time); Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos; Ajax 2-0 Inter; Ajax 1-0 Juventus Host countrys: Italy (1970); England (1971); Netherlands (1972); Serbia (1973) The Dutch got a taste of the trophy when Rotterdam beat Celtic 2-1 after extra time in the finals of 1970 in Milan. The following season, Ajax ensured the trophy found its way back to the country by overpowering the Greek team Panathinaikos to a 2-0 defeat. Ajax maintained two more consecutive victories against Internazionale and Juventus by utilizing “the total football”.

Runner-up: Atletico Madrid (1974); Leeds United (1975); Saint-Etienne (1976) Final score: Bayern 4-0 Atletico (Rematch); Bayern 2-0 Leeds United; Bayern 1-0 Saint-Etienne Host country: Belgium (1974); France (1975); Scotland (1976) The Bayern Munich team was extremely successful with the squad consisting of a number of the German national squad, which won the European Championship in 1972 then the World Cup in 1974. The first victory came through a 4-0 rematch against Atletico Madrid after the first game ended in a 1-1 draw. The following season, Bayern won the match against Paris Leeds United with a 2-0 score line and resulted in the English crowd causing havoc at the stadium. The third victory came against Saint-Etienne who they outscored 1-0.

1976-1982 Winner: Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981); Nottingham Forest (1979, 1980) Aston Villa (1982) (ENGLAND) Runner-up: Borussia Monchengladbach (1977); Club Brugge (1978); Malmo FF (1979); Hamburg (1980); Real Madrid (1981); Bayern Munich (1982) Final score: Liverpool 3-1 Monchengladbach; Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge; Nottingham 1-0 Malmo; Nottingham 1-0 Hamburg; Liverpool 1-0 Real; Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich Host country: Italy (1977); England (1978); Germany (1979); Spain (1980); France (1981); Netherlands (1982) Liverpool started the English dominance by triumphing over Borussia Monchengladbach, scoring three goals to their opponent’s one goal. It enjoyed another success the following year by beating Club Brugge, the Belgian champions.

However they fell to their English counterparts Nottingham Forest the next season as Forest made a sensational campaign to win the trophy. In addition, Forest defended the trophy in 1980 by beating Hamburg. In 1981, Liverpool secured their third victory by defeating Real Madrid by 1-0. Being the era for English teams to dominate, Aston Villa managed to win 1-0 against Bayern Munich in the 1982 final in Rotterdam. Final score: Juventus 1-0 Liverpool Host country: Belgium The defending champions lost 1-0 to Juventus in the next final. The Juventus excitement was eclipsed by the actions of Liverpool crowd that led to the demise of 39 Juventus fans. This was a dark cloud over English success as a ban of five years was imposed on the English teams and a six-year ban for Liverpool. It marked a big challenge for English cups to contest for the title even upon the end of the ban.

Winners: Steaua Bucuresti (1986) (ROMANIA) ; Porto (1987) (PORTUGAL) ; PSV Eindhoven (1988) (NETHERLANDS) Runners-up: Barcelona (1986); Bayern Munich (1987); Benfica (1988) Final scores: Steaua Bucuresti 0-0 Barcelona (2-0 pen); Porto 2-1 Bayern; PSV 0-0 Benfica (6-5 pen) Host countries: Spain (1986); Austria (1987); West Germany (1988) With the English teams missing out after the Heysel Disaster, the trophy was first lifted by Steaua Bucuresti from Romania after defeating Barcelona through penalties. Helmuth Duckadam, the Steaua keeper, saved four penalties to aid his team to a 2-0 win. Next Porto outweighed Bayern Munich in a thrilling final when Algeria’s Rabah Madjer scored a spectacular back-heel for Porto.

Runner-up: Steaua Bucuresti (1989); Benfica (1990) Final score: AC Milan 4-0 Bucuresti; AC Milan 1-0 Benfica Host country: Spain (1989); Austria (1990) Two decades after their first and only win, AC Milan routed Steaua Bucuresti to a 4-0 win to take the trophy. They defended the trophy a year later and won the final against Benfica by 1-0. The efforts of Arrigo Sacchi were proving to be fruitful for the club as he put up arguably the best defense in the tournament. Winner: Red Star Belgrade (YUGOSLAVIA) Runner-up: Marseille Final score: Red Star Belgrade 0-0 Marseille (5-3 pen) Host country: Italy Red Star Belgrade, Champions of the Yugoslav League, held Marseille to a goalless draw and went on to beat them on penalties. At this time, the 5 year ban on English teams was lifted.

Final score: United 2-1 Bayern Munich Host country: Spain The final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich is obviously one memorable match among the past Champions League finals. Both teams were on the hunt for a treble and Manchester had won the FA Cup and Premier League prior to the final. Bayern took the lead in the sixth minute through a stunning free kick and the Manchester United team struggled to find the net even in the second half. Into the three minutes of stoppage time, United was awarded a corner kick and all the players went forward, including the keeper. Teddy Sheringham got the equalizer in that moment and a second corner, still taken by David Beckham, resulted into the winning goal scored by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Final score: AC Milan 0-0 Juventus (3-2 pen) Host country: England Italy had not performed well in the previous season of the competition but they came back much improved, three Italian teams making it to the semi finals. The 2003 final was AC Milan against Juventus. After a 0-0 tie, Juventus lost 3-2 to AC Milan on penalties.

This was an important one for the Milan captain, Paolo Maldini, as he lifted the trophy exactly forty years after his father had done the same for Milan. In addition, Clarence Seedorf had won the Champions League three times with three different teams, after Ajax (1995) and Real Madrid (1998). Final score: Liverpool 3-3 Milan (3-2 pen) Host country: Turkey The 2005 final was a clash between prominent teams, Milan playing against Liverpool. Milan found the net after 52 seconds, which stands as the fastest goal in Champions league history. Another two goals from Hernan Crespo before half time provided Milan with a comfortable lead. This was later to be ruined by goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso before the sixtieth minute to bring the game to an even 3-3 score line. This is one outstanding comeback in a major and deciding match. The game proceeded to the penalty shootout and Liverpool conquered 3-2 to be victorious for the fifth time.

Champions League history 1985: Juventus 1 - 0 Liverpool The Heysel disaster 1984: Liverpool 1 - 1 Roma (aet, Liverpool won 4 - 2 on penalties) 1983: Hamburg 1 - 0 Juventus 1982: Aston Villa 1 - 0 Bayern Munich 1981: Liverpool 1 - 0 Real Madrid 1980: Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Hamburg 1979: Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Malmo 1978: Liverpool 1 - 0 Brugge 1977: Liverpool 3 - 1 Borussia M'chengladbach 1976: Bayern Munich 1 - 0 St Etienne 1975: Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Leeds United 1974: Bayern Munich 4 - 0 Atletico Madrid (replay, after 1-1 draw) 1973: Ajax 1 - 0 Juventus 1972: Ajax 2 - 0 Inter Milan 1971: Ajax 2 - 0 Panathinaik

os 1970: Feyenoord 2 - 1 Celtic (aet) 1969: AC Milan 4 - 1 Ajax 1968: Manchester United 4 - 1 Benfica (aet) 1967: Celtic 2 - 1 Inter Milan 1966: Real Madrid 2 - 1 Partizan Belgrade 1965: Inter Milan 1 - 0 Benfica 1964: Inter Milan 3 - 1 Real Madrid 1963: AC Milan 2 - 1 Benfica 1962: Benfica 5 - 3 Real Madrid 1961: Benfica 3 - 2 Barcelona 1960: Real Madrid 7 - 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1959: Real Madrid 2 - 0 Reims 1958: Real Madrid 3 - 2 AC Milan (aet) 1957: Real Madrid 2 - 0 Fiorentina 1956: Real Madrid 4 - 3 Reims The city of Milan, Italy, is the only

 one that won the Champions Cup with two different teams: Inter & Milan (the two clubs have won 8 cups in total).

Many clubs won the Cup unbeaten: Internazionale (1964), Ajax Amsterdam (1972) and Liverpool (1984) are those with the best record, 7 wins and 2 draws. Ajax, L iverpool and A.C. Milan are the only teams to have won the trophy unbeaten twice. Real Madrid have the record number of consecutive participations in the Champions' Cup with 15, from 1955/56 to 1969/70. On three occasions has the Final of the Champions Cup/League involved two teams from the same country: Real Madrid v Valencia (1999/00), A.C. Milan v Juventus (2002/03), and Chelsea -Manchster United (2007/08) In the long history of the cup, only four derbies between teams of the same city have been played: 1958/59 Real Madrid vs Atlético de Madrid (semifinal) 2002/03 Internazionale (Milan) vs A.C.

Milan (semifinal) 2003/04 Chelsea vs Arsenal (quarterfinal) 2004/05 Internazionale vs A.C. Milan (quarterfinal) 2nd leg was abandoned because of disturbances among the Inter fans. Only four teams have completed the "treble" — win their domestic league championship, their primary domestic cup, and the Champions League/European Cup. These were (in order) Celtic, Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United. Celtic managed this in 1966/67, also winning the Scottish League Cup and Glasgow Cup that year. In 1972 Ajax won the European Cup, their domestic league and cup. The following season they also won the European Super Cup and the European/ South American Cup. PSV did this in 1987/88. Manchester United won their treble during the 1998/99 season. Ajax Amsterdam was unbeaten in the Champions Cup/League for 20 matches from 1985/86 to March 1996, when they lost 0-1 to Panathinaikos in Amsterdam.

The 2002/03 semifinal between bitter city rivals A.C. Milan and Internazionale was the first time both games of a two-legged tie were in the same stadium (San Siro). This matchup was repeated in the 2004/05 quarterfinals. Only two individuals have won the Champions League with the same club as a player then later as a coach. Miguel Muñoz of Real Madrid did it as a player in 1955/56 and 1956/57, before winning it as a coach in 1965/66. Carlo Ancelotti did it as an A.C. Milan player in 1988/89 and 1989/90 before coaching them to victory in 2002/03. Manchester United's treble-winners of 1998/99 were the first winners of the tournament to have won neither their domestic title nor the European Cup/ Champions League the previous season. In 1997/98, United finished runners-up in the Premiership to Arsenal and lost in the quarterfinals of the Champions League to Monaco.

Nottingham Forest are the only club to have won the European Cup more times (twice) than they have won their domestic league (once). Forest won the English League in 1978 before winning the European Cup in 1979 and defending it in 1980. Nottingham Forest also have the unfortunate distinction of being the only winners of the European Cup to have later been relegated out of the top two divisions in their country (they remain in the English football league system's third tier (Football League One). Paolo Maldini of Milan scored the fastest ever goal in Champions League in 2005 final against Liverpool inside 53 seconds. He was also the oldest (37 year old) to score in Champions League final. All 11 goals, including the penalty shoot-out, were scored in the same goal in 2005's final between AC Milan and Liverpool. With Liverpool's win in the 2005 final, the number of teams permitted to wear UEFA's special badge of honour is now five. The badge is awarded in perpetuity to teams that have either won the competition a total of five times, or have won it three years in succession.

Five or more wins: Real Madrid, AC Milan, Liverpool Three wins in succession: Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich Five men have scored a hat-trick on their debut in the Champions League Marco van Basten (A.C. Milan), Faustino Asprilla (Newcastle United), Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Maccabi Haifa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese) One man have scored five goals in a Champions League match. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) achived this when scoring five goals in 59.min against Bayer Leverkusen at Nou camp March 7th 2012. Barcelona won the game 7-1. (10 players have tough achived this when the cup was called the European cup.) Five men have also scored 4 goals in one Champions League match Marco van Basten (A.C.

Milan), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus), Dado Prso (AS Monaco FC) Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United) and Andrej Sjevtsjenko (AC Milan) Raúl becomes the first player in the history of the competiton to reach 50 goals, he did this by scoring in Real Madrid 2:1 victory over Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League 2005-06 season.

Question: Which English club has won the European Cup more times than its own League Title?
Answer: Nottingham Forest