The UEFA Champions League is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments in sports. Here’s everything you need to know about the world’s premier club soccer tournament, which has been held annually since 1955.
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The UEFA Champions League is a soccer tournament in which 32 teams compete in five rounds for the title of the best club in Europe.
Since the 2009-10 season, the UEFA Champions League has provided two “streams” of qualification for teams that do not receive direct entry into the tournament.
The two streams are divided into teams that qualified as domestic league champions and those that qualified as second through fourth in their domestic league. Each qualifying stream sends five teams to the group stage.
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The group stage is a double round-robin format in which the 32 teams compete. The winners and runners-up from each group advance to the round of 16, the first round of the knockout phase. The teams are ranked according to their points total.
For the round of 16, a draw is held. The remaining 16 clubs are divided into two pots of eight, one containing the winners of each group from the group stage and the other containing the runners-up.
Two teams are drawn together for each round of the knockout phase, apart from the final. The teams play two matches, with each squad playing one match at home. The team with the most goals after two legs advances to the next round.
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