Now it is difficult to imagine the football life of Europe without such a tournament as the Champions League. However, the history of this tournament is not much more than 50 years old.
Preparations for the first draw of the most prestigious European club trophy started a month after the first UEFA Congress, held on March 2, 1955 in Vienna. Interestingly, the idea of organizing the "European Cup" did not belong to the football union.
At that time, members of the football union were concerned about the organization of tournaments with national teams, and the editor of the French sports newspaper L'Equipe ("Equipe") Gabriel Hanot suggested the creation of a club tournament on a European scale. !December 6, 1954, the next issue of the newspaper came out with a catchy "hat" - "We offer the football European Cup." Ano and his colleague Jacques Ferrand proposed to play the matches of the new tournament on Wednesday evening.
Ano's proposal received a favorable response from most of Europe's top teams. Already in January 1955, the editors of "Ekip" sent out to all European clubs and football associations the regulation on the draw, which, with minor changes, was valid until the beginning of the 90s. On April 2, sixteen representatives of European club football gathered in Paris and signed a document on the birth of a new competition - the European Champions Cup.
Bemorepanda collected some interesting facts about the UEFA Champions League.
1. France is the country with the most players (471)
2. Players from 124 nationalities participated in matches
3. Daniel Amokachi - scorer of the first goal (11/25/1992 Brugge-CSKA 1:0)
4. Lionel Messi and Luis Adriano have scored the most goals in one match (5)
5. Francesco Totti is the oldest goalscorer (38 years and 59 days)
6. Celestine Babayaro - the youngest debutant (16 years and 87 days)
7. Raul is the youngest hat-tricker at the age of 18 years 114 days (10/18/1995 Real Madrid 6-1 Ferencváros (24, 25, 84 minutes)
8. 13 Spanish teams have participated in at least one Champions League (Atletico, Atlético, Barcelona, Betis, Valencia, Villarreal, Deportivo, Málaga, Mallorca, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Celta)
9. Luis Figo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have scored the most penalties (10)
10. Manchester United - team with the most draws (52 times)
11. Most own goals scored by Barcelona (9)
According to the rules agreed by the organizers, participation in the drawing of the champions of individual countries was not mandatory at first. The L'Equipe team considered that it would be more profitable to invite the most popular clubs to participate in the tournament.
June 21, 1955 The UEFA Emergency Committee decides to organize a tournament called the European Cup. It is noteworthy that by this moment even the pairs of teams of the 1/8 finals had already been named - the only case when the composition of the pairs was determined not by a draw, but by the organizers. Despite the name, not all participants represented the champions of their countries, and many national federations refused to delegate their representatives to the European Cup. Among those who refused were the founders of football, the British, as well as the USSR.
So, 16 teams participated in the first draw, divided at the discretion of the organizers into eight pairs (drawing lots were already held at the subsequent stages). The first match of the European Cup took place on September 4, 1955 in Lisbon. The honor to open a new competition fell to the local "Sporting" and the Belgrade "Partizan". In the debut match of the new tournament, "Sporting" and "Partizan" scored each other three goals. In the second leg in Belgrade, the Yugoslavs celebrated the victory with a score of 5: 2, and they advanced to the next round.). The Portuguese striker Martins became the author of the first goal scored in the 14th minute after the start of the match.
The first Champions Cup final was played in Paris on June 13, 1956 between the teams Stade de Reims and Real Madrid (Madrid) and ended with a score of 3:4, in favor of Madrid.
During the first five draws, the best club team was the Spanish "Real" (Madrid), which was a kind of team made up of the "stars" of South American and European football. He had the longest winning streak, subsequently winning the trophy after another 5 years, however, he had to wait 32 years for the next win, when in 1998 he finally won the Champions League Cup.
In addition to Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern had a series of victories, and Liverpool won four victories between 1977 and 1984 with four almost different compositions.
12. Marco Van Basten - the author of the first hat-trick in the Champions League (11/25/1992 Milan-Gothenburg)
13. Glasgow Rangers - the team that won the first away victory (09.12.1992 CSKA-Glasgow Rangers 0:1). Although formally the meeting was held in Bochum (Germany)
14. Donetsk Shakhtar - the author of the biggest away victory 7:0
15. Real Madrid have not scored the most penalties (11)
16. Most referees sent off players against Barcelona (29 times)
17. Real Madrid is the team with the most wins in a single competition (12 - 2001/2002)
18. Maccabi Haifa (2009/2010) and Deportivo (2005/2005) didn't score a single goal
19. Iker Casillas is the player with the most starts (149 times) and the most finisher (145 times)
20. Alessandro Nesta - player who has not scored in 99 matches
The turning point in the development of the tournament is the 1992/93 season, when the Champions League came to replace the Champions Cup. The group stage tested a year before was added to the playoff stages. The growth in popularity has led to the fact that the number of participants in the main draw of the tournament has grown over time from 16 to 32. Champions League matches are played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The popularity of the European Cup and the number of its participants grew every year, and soon two more tournaments appeared in Europe - the Cup Winners' Cup (now merged with the UEFA Cup) and the Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Cup).
There are three qualifying rounds. They involve the champions of those countries that have a "low" football level, as well as teams from countries of a "high" football level that have not taken the necessary places to get into the main draw automatically. The participating teams are divided into pairs and play two matches according to UEFA rules (home and away matches). Teams that are defeated in the 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds on aggregate leave the tournament. If a football club loses in the 3rd quarter. round, he advances to the 1st round of the UEFA Cup. Teams that successfully pass the qualifying rounds enter the main draw of the Champions League.
The group stage is the first stage of the Champions League main draw. 32 European teams play here. Participants are divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each (groups A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H). Each football club must play with opponents in the group twice (home and away matches). Teams that take first and second place in their group go to the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. The third-placed football club continues to play in Europe, namely, in 1/16 of the UEFA Cup.
16 teams participate in the 1/8 finals. Participants are divided into pairs, two matches are played according to the rules of UEFA (home and away matches). The winner of the pair advances to the quarter-finals, and the winners of the quarter-finals to the semi-finals. Matches 1/4 and 1/2 finals of the Champions League are held by analogy with the 1/8 finals. Only in 1/4 there are already 8 teams (4 pairs), and in 1/2 - 4 teams (two pairs). The winners of the two semi-final pairs meet in the final, where they will compete for the most important and prestigious football trophy in Europe.
The final consists of one match. The venue for the final is determined long before the start of the Champions League tournament. In case of a draw after the end of normal time, two more halves of 15 minutes are added before the Silver goal. If the score remains tied after two added halves, the match is decided in a penalty shoot-out. The winner of the Champions League receives a cup, which you can find out about on this website in the section "About the main trophy"
21. Vanden Borre - 23 consecutive unbeaten player
22. Xavi is the player with the most wins (91)
23. Raul was the first to play 100 Champions League matches
24. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring most times in matches (29 times)
25. Biggest win in tournament history - Liverpool-Besiktas 8-0 (06.11.2007)
26. Carles Puyol as captain has won the most trophy - 3 times
27. Roy Makaay - the author of the fastest goal 10.12 seconds (03/07/2007 Bayern-Real Madrid)
28. Milan most played in finals (6 times), Bayern, Barcelona and Juventus (5 times), Real Madrid and Manchester United 4 times each
29. Juventus lost the most finals (4 times), Milan and Bayern 3 times each
30. Real Madrid (4) and Porto (1) have never lost a final
31. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most in one competition - 17 goals (2013/2014)
32. The biggest difference in the final - Milan-Barcelona (4:0) 05/18/1994
33. Liverpool-Milan (3:3) - the most productive final (05/25/2005)
34. 5 players scored doubles in finals - Daniele Massaro (1993/1994), Karl Heinz Riedle (1996/1997), Hernan Crespo (2004/2005), Filippo Inzaghi (2006/2007), Diego Milito (2009/2010)
35. 4 players scored in two finals - Raul (1999/2000 and 2001/2002), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/2008 and 2013/2014), Lionel Messi (2008/2009 and 2010/2011), Samuel Eto'o (2005 /2006 and 2008/2009)
36. Carlo Ancelotti has won the trophy three times (2002/2003, 2006/2007 with Milan and 2013/2014 with Real Madrid)
37. Coaches who won the trophy with different teams - Otmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1996/1997 and Bayern Munich 2000/2001), Jupp Heynckess (Real Madrid 1997/1998 and Bayern Munich 2012/2013), José Mourinho (Porto 2003/2004 and Inter 2009 /2010), Carlo Ancelotti (Milan 2002/2003, 2006/2007 and Real Madrid 2013/2014)
38. The oldest winning coach - Raymond Gutals (71 years and 232 days)
39. 6 times the winner was determined in a penalty shootout - Juventus-Ajax (1995/1996), Bayern-Valencia (2000/2001), Milan-Juventus (2002/2003), Liverpool-Milan (2004/2005), Manchester United-Chelsea (2007/2008), Chelsea-Bayern (2011/2012)
40. 1 time winner determined in extra time - Real Madrid-Atletico 2013/2014 (4:1)
41. The oldest field player - Alessandro Costacurta 40 years and 213 days (21.11.2006 AEK - Milan 1:0)
42. Clarence Seedorf is the only one to win the Champions League with 3 different clubs (Ajax 1994/1995, Real Madrid 1997/1998, Milan 2002/2003, 2006/2007)
43. Frank Rijkaard is the only one to have won the Champions League as a player (Ajax 1994/1995) and coach (Barcelona 2005/2006)
44. Final Milan-Liverpool (2004/2005, 2006/2007) and Barcelona-Manchester United (2008/2009, 2010/2011) played twice
45. Real Madrid and Bayern are the teams with the most consecutive victories (10)
46. 130 teams have participated in the tournament at least once
47. Barcelona have won the most away games - 45 matches
48. 20 different stadiums hosted the Champions League final
49. 13 of them had a different winner
50. 14 teams lost every match in the Champions League group stage - Kosice (1997/1998), Fenerbahce (2001/2002), Spartak Moscow (2002/2003), Anderlecht (2004/2005), Rapid (2005/2006), Levski (2006/2007), Dynamo Kyiv (2007/2008), Debrecen (2009/2010), Zilina (2010/2011), Partizan (2010/2011), Maccabi Haifa (2009/2010), Villarreal (2011/2012), Ocelul (2011/2012), Olympique Marseille (2103/2014)
2022 UEFA Champions League Final location, dates and other interesting facts that you need to know
The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final will take place on 28 May 2022. This will be the 67th season of UEFA's premier European football club competition and the 30th season since the European Cup was renamed the UEFA Champions League. The winner of the final will qualify to play the 2021/2022 UEFA Europa League winner for the 2022 UEFA Super Cup title and qualify for the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League group stage
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League is in the play-off stage.
When will the final take place?
The decisive match will take place on Saturday 28 May and will start at 21:00 CET.
If there is a draw in regular time, extra time will follow: two extra-times of 15 minutes each. If after their expiration the score is equal again, the winner will be determined in the 11-meter series.
Where will the final take place?
The final will take place at the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg, which was built before the 2018 World Cup. It is located a few hundred meters from the Gulf of Finland on the site of the former Kirov Stadium, where the matches of the football tournament of the 1980 Olympic Games were held.
The author of the project is Japanese architect Kise Kurokawa. The stadium is equipped with a retractable roof and can accommodate more than 60,000 spectators. In 2018, an ice hockey match between the national teams of Russia and Finland was held here in the presence of more than 80,000 fans.
This will be the third European Cup final in Russia. In 1999, Parma defeated Olimpik at the Luzhniki stadium in the UEFA Cup final, and in 2008, Manchester United defeated Chelsea in the Champions League final at the same arena.
What will the winner receive?
The Champions Cup weighs 7.5 kilograms and rises 73.5 centimeters. "It may not be a masterpiece, but everyone in football wants to touch it," said trophy creator Jürg Stadelmann.
Also prepared are 40 gold medals for the winners and 40 silver medals for the losers. Additional medals are not allowed.
The winner of the Champions League will also receive a place in the group stage of the next edition. Unless, of course, it does not guarantee it through the national championship.
Which team will be the host?
The nominal host of the final will be determined by a draw, which will be held on March 18 for administrative purposes. The finalists may enter the field in their primary colors, but if they overlap, the guest nominees must use a spare kit.
The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final will take place on 28 May 2022. This will be the 67th season of UEFA's premier European football club competition and the 30th season since the European Cup was renamed the UEFA Champions League. The winner of the final will qualify to play the 2021/2022 UEFA Europa League winner for the 2022 UEFA Super Cup title and qualify for the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League group stage
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League is in the play-off stage. UEFA.com tells how it will end.
Bemorepanda collected some interesting facts.
1. For the third year in a row, a team has played in a Cup/Champions League final for the first time (Tottenham in 2019, PSG in 2020, Manchester City in 2021). The last time this happened was between 1986 and 1988 (Steaua, Porto, PSV).
2. The Champions League final will be the eighth in a row in which two clubs from the same country will play. This will be the third time this will be a match between English clubs (after the Champions League finals Chelsea - Manchester United in 2008 and Liverpool - Tottenham in 2019).
3. This season's final will take place at the Dragau Stadium in Portugal. This is the first time that a Cup/Champions League decisive match has been played in the same country for several years (Da Luz Stadium hosted the final in 2020). For the first time, the Cup/Champions League final in Portugal will be played outside the capital - the previous three matches were played in Lisbon.
4. Chelsea under Tuchel won both matches with Manchester City - in the semi-finals of the FA Cup (1-0) and in the championship (2-1).
5. Chelsea will play their second final in two weeks and their 22nd final in 18 years under Roman Abramovich.
6. Chelsea reached the final of the European Cup for the seventh time. The Blues suffered their only defeat in 2008 against Manchester United on penalties.
7. This is Chelsea's third Champions League final since the 2007/2008 season. Only Real Madrid (4) and Bayern Munich (4) have played in more Champions League finals during this period.
8. Chelsea reach the final of a major tournament for the first time in history for five consecutive seasons (2017 and 2018 FA Cup, 2019 League Cup and Europa League, 2020 FA Cup, 2021 FA Cup and League champions).
9. Manchester City are the ninth English side to reach the Cup/Champions League final. This is three more than the closest pursuers - Germany and Italy (six each). But only one of the last 10 teams to compete in their first final ever won it. It was Borussia Dortmund that beat Juventus 3-1 in 1997. Aston Villa were the last English team to win their first final in 1982 when they beat Bayern.
10. Chelsea and Manchester City met in the Premier League in early May (the Blues won 2-1). For the first time since 2013, the two teams will face off in a European Cup final in the same month they played in a league game. The last time it was Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. They then drew 1-1 in the Bundesliga and then won 2-1 at Wembley in the Champions League final.
11. Chelsea have won their last two matches against Manchester City in all competitions. The last time the Blues defeated the Citizens in three or more games in a row was between 2005 and 2009. Then the Londoners beat Manchester City eight times in a row.
12. In European competition, Chelsea and Manchester City have met only once before - in the semi-finals of the 1970/1971 Cup Winners' Cup. Chelsea won both matches 1-0 and reached the final, where they beat Real Madrid after a replay.
13. Both Chelsea and Manchester City have conceded just four goals in the Champions League this season. For the first time since the 2005/2006 season, both teams participating in the final have four or fewer goals conceded in the entire tournament. Then Arsenal conceded two goals to the final, and Barcelona four.
14. Manchester City have won 11 Champions League matches this season. In the event of a victory over Chelsea, the "citizens" will equal the record of "Real" - 12 matches in the 2001/2002 season.
15. It has been 51 years since Manchester City last played in a European Cup final. In the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, the "citizens" defeated "Gornik" from Zabrze with a score of 2: 1. Manchester City broke the record for the longest gap between finals for one team. Prior to this, Sporting owned the record: the Portuguese had a pause of 41 years between the Cup Winners' Cup final (1964) and the UEFA Cup final (2005).
16. Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola could win his third Champions League trophy. He previously won in 2009 and 2011 with Barcelona. Pep will become only the third manager to win the Champions League three times, after Carlo Ancelotti (2003, 2007, 2014) and Zinedine Zidane (2016, 2017, 2018).
17. During his coaching career, Guardiola suffered the most defeats in all competitions against Chelsea (7).
18. Tuchel became the first manager to reach the Cup/Champions League final in two consecutive seasons with different clubs. A year ago, the German specialist headed PSG and lost to Bayern.
19. Tuchel became the third manager to lose the final in two consecutive seasons, after Marcello Lippi (1997 and 1998, Juventus) and Hector Cooper (2000 and 2001, Valencia).
20. Phil Foden of Manchester City will be 21 years and one day old at the time of the final. He could become the third youngest Englishman to reach a Champions League final after Bayern's Owen Hargreaves (20 years, 123 days) in 2001 and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold who played in 2018 and 2019.
21. Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has kept eight clean sheets out of 11 Champions League matches this season. Only two goalkeepers could not miss in nine meetings of one season - Santiago Canizares (Valencia, in the 2000/2001 season) and Keylor Navas (Real Madrid, in the 2015/2016 season).
22. Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scored in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of this season's Champions League. The last time two players scored for the same team was in the quarter-final, semi-final and final of a single Cup/Champions League competition in the 1959/1960 season - Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas of Real Madrid.
23. In September 2018, Bernardo Silva from Manchester City lost to Lyon - 1:2. After that, the Portuguese was unbeaten with his team in 26 Champions League matches (23 wins, three draws). This is the longest unbeaten streak in tournament history. Foden is second in the longest streak, having gone unbeaten in 21 consecutive matches (18 wins, three draws) since losing to Basel in March 2018.
24. Chelsea defender Thiago Silva was in the Champions League final last season with PSG. The Brazilian could become the fifth player to play in the final twice in a row with different teams after Marcel Desailly (1993 Marseille, 1994 AC Milan), Paulo Souza (1996 Juventus, 1997 Borussia Dortmund), Samuel Eto'o ( 2009 Barcelona, 2010 Inter) and Alvaro Morata (2014 Real Madrid, 2015 Juventus).
25. If Sergio Aguero plays in the final, it will be his last match for Manchester City. The Argentine has scored 13 goals against Chelsea for the Citizens. But he has not scored in any of his last four matches against the Blues since a hat-trick in February 2019.
26. Ilkay Gundogan is the only current Manchester City player who has already participated in the Champions League final (his Borussia Dortmund lost to Bayern in 2013).
27. Madrid is the venue for the second English UEFA Champions League final. Tottenham Hotspur will take part in the final for the first time in their history at this stage, while Liverpool will try to forget the pain of losing to Real Madrid in the 2018 season.
28. Both teams were able to make impressive semi-final comebacks to reach the Estadio Metropolitano, home of Atlético Madrid. Each of the finalists managed to go further and rehabilitate after three missed goals. While Liverpool won 4-0 in their second match against Barcelona at Anfield to go 4-3 on aggregate, Lucas Moura's hat-trick at the Johan Cruyff Arena gave Spurs the opportunity to beat Ajax from score 3:2 in Amsterdam.
29. Liverpool are aiming to claim their sixth European title - and celebrate their second UEFA Champions League triumph since their memorable comeback in Istanbul against AC Milan in 2005, while Tottenham have never made it to the final before. In fact, Spurs' only semi-final before this season came in 1961/62, and their best previous UEFA Champions League campaign, in 2010/11, ended in the round of 16.
30. There have been six UEFA Champions League finals between clubs from the same country, all since 2000. Real Madrid have won all Spanish finals: in 2000 (Valencia), 2014 and 2016 (both Atlético), while Milan beat the Italian opponent Juventus on penalties. Also in 2003, Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 all-German final.
31. The only previous English final was at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in 2008, when Manchester United beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after regular and extra time ended 1-1.
32. Tottenham will be the eighth English club to appear in a European Cup final, more than any other country; Italy and Germany are next on the list with six finalists.
33. Real Madrid have scored the most goals - 439
34. And conceded the most with 231 goals
35. Porto has suffered the most defeats - 51
36. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Nicolas Anelka, Javier Saviola each played for 6 different teams
37. Ryan Giggs is the player with the most Champions League appearances (19 draws)
38. Iker Casillas played the most minutes (13,450)
39. Raul is the fielder with the most game minutes (11,999)
40. Thierry Henry misses most penalties (5)
41. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Luiz retired the most - 4 times
42. Marco Balotta - the oldest goalkeeper (43 years and 253 days)
43. Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most wins in a row (14)
44. Peter Ofori-Kvaie is the youngest scorer (17 years and 195 days)
45. Arsene Wenger is the coach with the most appearances (19 draws)
46. Carlo Ancelotti has coached the most teams (6)
47. Alex Ferguson is the manager with the most Champions League appearances (190)
48. Arsene Wenger is the manager with the most defeats (49 matches)
49. Real Madrid (winner of the 2013/2014 season) with the most goals per match (3.15)
50. Total played 2533 matches in the Champions League
Manchester City and Chelsea will play for the trophy in the third UEFA Champions League final which brings two clubs from England face to face. The first took place in 2008, in Moscow, where Manchester United won against Chelsea, and the second was in the 2018-2019 season, in Madrid, between Liverpool and Tottenham, ending with the victory of the team coached by Jurgen Klopp .
For Manchester City, this is the first Champions League final in the club's history, while the Londoners from Chelsea were the winners of the 2012 final clash with Bayern Munich. Also, according to the digisport.ro website, this year will be the 94th direct confrontation between Manchester City and Chelsea. In the 93 games played so far, there have been 43 victories for the Londoners, 19 draws and 31 successes for Manchester City.
6,000 fans of each team will be present at the "Dragao" stadium in Porto. The Champions League final was originally scheduled in Istanbul, but UEFA decided to move it to Porto to allow English fans to take part in the match. This would have been very difficult in Turkey, due to the restrictions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
1.Make it double
2.Goal
3.Hah that’s cool
4.Something good
5.Who you are
6.A controversial one
7.Difference
8.Such empty
9.UEFA
10.Football experts
11.Defenders
12.Another trophy
13.Tomorrow
14.Final team
15.Can’t skip
16.Mussolini?
17.Can I copy your homework
18.Kante
19.No time to blink
20.Class stuff
Football fans have never looked forward to an international tournament for so long. The European Championship was supposed to be held in 2020, but due to a sudden pandemic, the competition was postponed to 2021, albeit with the previous name - Euro 2020. Bemorepanda has collected the most interesting facts about the main football tournament of 2021, which started on June 11.
€ 1.25 billion
was the cost of the players of the England national team, the most expensive national team of Euro 2020
France is located nearby - € 1.03 billion, Germany (€ 936.5 million), Spain (€ 915 million) and Portugal (€ 872 million).
Three others are: Hungary (€ 74.85 million), North Macedonia (€ 61.8 million) and Finland (€ 44.6 million).
Almost € 1 billion was the
Total cost of the 11 most expensive footballers of the tournament
The total cost of the most expensive footballers in terms of positions for Euro 2020 was € 990 million.
On the bench in terms of positions: Romelu Lukaku (€ 100 million), Raheem Sterling (€ 90 million), Bruno Fernandes (€ 90 million), Phil Foden (€ 80 million), Marcus Llorente (€ 80 million), Rodri (€ 70 million), Raphael Varane (€ 70 million) , Milan Shkrinjar (€ 60 million), Ben Chilluel (€ 45 million), Rhys James (€ 40 million).
€ 40 million
was the cost of the most expensive football player of Euro 2020 not from the top 5 championships
This is 18-year-old defender Nuno Mendes from Sporting Portugal. The second is 19-year-old Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax, worth € 33 million (Netherlands). The third is Nikola Vlašić from CSKA, which TM estimates at € 30 million (Croatia).
120 players at Euro 2020 - from the Premier League
This is more than from any other championship.
The following tournaments are listed:
● Bundesliga - 89;
● Series A - 71;
● La Liga - 38;
● RPL - 32;
● League 1 - 29;
● Championship (Division 2 of England) - 29;
A total of 42 leagues of various levels are represented.
The most atypical:
● Championship of Albania: Ferhan Hasani - North Macedonia
● Bosnia and Herzegovina: Krste Velkovski - North Macedonia
● Japan: Thomas Vermaelen - Belgium
● English League 1 (3rd division): Chris Gunter from " Charltona - Wales & Annecy Jakkola of Bristol Rovers - Finland
● English Ligue 2 (4th Division): Matt Smith Man City U-23 - Wales
17 Chelsea footballers featured at Euro 2020
More than from any other team.
This is a tournament record. Chelsea players are on 10 national teams: England, Germany, France, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Wales, Scotland and Belgium. Following the winner of the Champions League are:
● Manchester City - 15
● Bayern - 14
● Juventus - 12
● Manchester United and Dynamo K - 11
14 years and 10 months
Joachim Loew leads the German national team - the longest of the coaches for Euro 2020
The closest pursuers don't even have 10 years:
● France - Didier Deschamps (8 years and 10 months);
● Switzerland - Vladimir Petkovich (6 years and 10 months);
● Portugal - Fernando Santos (6 years and 8 months);
● North Macedonia - Igor Angelovski (5 years and 7 months);
● Sweden - Janne Anderson (4 years and 11 months);
● Ukraine - Andriy Shevchenko (4 years and 10 months);
● Belgium - Roberto Martinez (4 years and 10 months);
● Russia - Stanislav Cherchesov (4 years and 9 months);
● England - Gareth Southgate (4 years and 6 months);
17 years and 243 days
Kasper Kozlovsky - the youngest footballer of Euro 2020
Next on the list - Englishman Bellingham, German Musiala, Spaniard Pedri and two Ukrainians: Zabarny and Sudakov.
96.2% of the
national teams in Finland and Hungary are represented by players from outside the national championships.
Finland and Hungary still have one player from the local championships. This is followed by:
● Austria and Belgium - 92.3%;
● Sweden and North Macedonia - 88.5%;
● Switzerland, Poland and Scotland - 84.6%;
● France and Wales - 80.8.
The smallest percentage of "legionnaires":
● England - 11.5% (Trippier, Bellingham, Sancho);
● Italy - 15.4% (Emerson, Florenzi, Veratti, Jorginho);
● Russia - 15.4% (Kudryashov, Golovin, Miranchuk, Cheryshev);
● Ukraine - 30.8% (Zinchenko, Sobol, Makarenko, Malinovsky, Bezus, Yarmolenko, Zubkov, Yaremchuk);
● Germany - 34.6% (Leno, Rudiger, Koch, Gosens, Kroos, Gundogan, Havertz, Werner, Volland).
Now the Euro can play ...
... even those who did not get into the final application of
Previously, the Euro application could fit 23 players, but the modern tournament requires modern solutions. UEFA has prepared and released some covid additions to the regulations ahead of the tournament. You probably know that the rosters have been expanded to 26, so that the teams have more room to maneuver. But this is not the only measure. Player rosters may change before the tournament, and even during.
For example, in case of injury or serious illness, a player from the application can be replaced with another one before the starting match of the team for Euro, and goalkeepers can be changed after the first game.
In this case, any additional applications must be agreed, the diagnosis of the excluded player must be confirmed by the UEFA medical specialist. The number of such substitutions is not limited, the main thing is to fit into the deadline (for field players - before the start of the tournament). The regulations clearly state: the national team must go to the match if it has at least 13 players, including one goalkeeper. If 13 is not recruited, then you can even call those who are not included in the application 26.
A few days before the tournament, covid problems appear. So far, Spain is suffering the most. Sergi Busquets passed a positive test and disrupted the friendly match - since all the other players were at risk, they had to release the youth team for the game with Lithuania. And on the morning of June 9, it turned out that the defender Diego Llorente was also infected.
As a result, the coaches create a "plan B" - at the same time they assemble a squad of 17 players (there is Kep, but no Nacho, Saul and Aspas). All of them will come to the national team, but they will live in a "parallel bubble" without contact with the main team. In which case, any of them will be added.
A part-time Youtube blogger, a failed mortgage consultant ...
... and 7 more interesting facts about Euro stars
In the summer of 2012, English defender Tyrone Mingsretirement was considered at age 19. The fact is that it was problematic for him to combine training with the work of a bartender and a mortgage consultant, but he still continued to perform. After 7 years, he achieved a call-up to the England national team.
Spain's left-back, Jordi Alba, only got a driver's license at 31 and started using his car. Before that, the Spaniard came to trainings by taxi or with the help of relatives and friends.
Dutchman Donnie van de Beck has been dating the daughter of the legendary Dennis Begkamp for several years, and he took the 34th number in Manchester United in honor of Ajax footballer Abelha, who had been in a coma for almost three years.
Until the age of 14, Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea was not a goalkeeper at all. He generally played mini-football, where he played the role of a forward. In those days, he pumped the game with his feet, which helps him in big football. He parried a lot of punches thanks to futsal skills.
In July 2020, the English “Birmingham” assigned the 22nd number for 17-year-old Jude Bellingham. Thus, the club thanked the talented guy for 10 years in the team. Bellingham became Birmingham's most expensive transfer - it was sold to Borussia Dortmund for € 25 million.
In 2012, Italian Federico Bernardeschi refused to star in a reality show about the life of promising Fiorentina players. They persuaded him for a long time, hinting that the captain should take part in the picture and that this would raise his recognition. “I just wanted to play football, I didn't think about the rest,” Federico recalled.
Black Spaniard Adam Traore has been famous for speed since a young age. To prevent the winger from being grabbed by the arms, the Wolverhampton coaching staff came up with the idea of smearing them with baby oil. And it helped! Now the reactive footballer cannot be kept up, and he began to receive much fewer injuries due to fouls.
The star of the Netherlands national team Memphis Depay, in addition to football, is engaged in music. More than 500 thousand people have subscribed to his YouTube channel. The total number of video views has already exceeded 36 million.
English defender Bukayo Saka spent his childhood on the street. To quickly send his son home, the father and brother had to lose his "battle" in the garden. Also, the future Arsenal player was famous for his excellent academic performance. His favorite subjects were business, mathematics and English. Saka passed all exams with good or excellent marks.
At a young age, Belgian Napoli star Dries Mertens nearly became a physical training teacher when he was expelled from Anderlecht due to his modest physical abilities. The player was saved by the coach of the youth team of Ghent, who took Mertens to the club of the third Belgian division.
Giorginio Wijnaldum is a cousin of Royston Drenthe, who in 2013 played 6 matches for Alania Vladikavkaz. As a child, the midfielder did not like football and was fond of acrobatics. Everything changed when his grandmother sent Giorginio to the Rotterdam Sparta school and accompanied him to all training sessions.
Belgian defender Tom Meunier, in his youth, combined the game in the third Belgian league with work at the factory. Tom is also very fond of painting, and in 2015 he developed a design for sun awnings for the American company Winsol.
The UEFA Champions League is considered the most prestigious European club competition. It has been called the Champions League since 1992, before that the tournament was called the European Champions Cup, and the format of the tournament has also changed: it moved from the playoff system to the group stage, and only then the knockout games followed. It was first held in 1955, where Real Madrid won.
From 1960 to 2004, the winner of the Champions League took part in the Intercontinental Cup, where they faced the winner of the South American Copa Libertadores. At the moment, the winner of the tournament gets the right to play at the Club World Championship.
The number of teams in a draw depends on the association's position in the UEFA coefficient table:
- associations ranked 1st to 3rd in the table represent the first 4 teams of the
- association, ranked 4th to 6th in the table, represent the first 3 teams of the
- association ranked from 7 in the table 15th place, represent the first 2 teams of the
- association, ranked from 16th and below in the table, is represented by 1 team
The tournament itself consists of several stages: four qualifying rounds, a group tournament, playoffs.
Each team that qualifies for the UEFA Champions League receives 3 million euros from UEFA in reward, and an additional 2.4 million is given for participation in the group stage. At the group stage, 600 thousand euros are given for each victory. In addition, each participant in the quarter-finals receives 2.5 million, the semi-finals 3 million, the finalist receives 4 million, and the winner of 7 million.
The winner of the Champions League for 10 months receives the won cup. In memory of the victory, the team receives a smaller copy of the trophy. The club that won 5 times or 3 times in a row has the right to keep the trophy forever. This right was received by Real Madrid, which won 5 victories in a row.
Only five teams won the right to keep the cup:
- Real Madrid. 5 victories in a row
- "Ajax". 3 wins in a row
- Bayern Munich. 3 victories in a row
- Milan. 5 wins
- Liverpool. 5 victories
The most titled club in the Champions League is Real Madrid, with 10 victories, the last of which dates back to 2014.
Interesting facts:
- During the entire period of the Champions League, only 22 clubs have won it, and only 12 of them have won more than once.
- Since the tournament was renamed the Champions League, no one has won the tournament twice in a row.
- Bayern Munich, Benfica and Juventus are the most unlucky teams, losing 5 times in the final.
- 5 English teams have won the Champions League, more than any other country.
- Real Madrid have passed the group stage twice without losing points (2011/12, 2014/15).
- Manchester United were unbeaten in 25 games in a row from 19 September 2007 to 27 May 2009.
- Bayern won 10 matches in a row in the Champions League - from April 2, 2013 to December 10, 2013.
- Biggest tournament win: Dinamo Bucharest 11-0 Crusaders (1973/74 season).
- The fastest Champions League goal was scored 10 seconds in the 2006/07 season. Goal scorer - Roy Makai.
- Most goals in one match: Lionel Messi, Luiz Adriano - 5 each.
