Top 5 Champions League Winners

As we all know Barca fans share a strong hatred for Real Madrid, many Catalans considering themselves firstly "Anti-Real fans" and after that F.C. Barcelona fans. The main reason for that is the fact that in the first years of the Champions League the tournament was played by only 16 teams. The teams that played in the tournament were the first placed in each country and as the Madrilens were the "royal" team (real = royal in Spanish) everyone considered that they were helped by more than their own forces to reach it, mostly in the detriment of Barca.

The Catalans managed to be crowned European champions 4 times and made it into the finals on 3 other occasions. Their first title came quite late, given their history, in 1992, with a 12 years break until the next in 2006. The other two trophies were won in 2009 and 2011.

Their best all time scorer is the Argentinian Lionel Messi, with a staggering 67 goals in 85 games, achieving a goal ration of 0.788 goals per match. Barcelona scores well in the appearances chapter as well, with Xavi debuting in 1998 and accumulating 145 games played (2nd in the history of the competition) and Carles Puyol debuting in 1999 and accumulating 120 appearances.

The Catalans are also runners-up for the top ranking clubs according to the UEFA coefficients in points gathered over periods of 5 consecutive years, achieving the 1st position 8 times.

The Reds won the prestigious cup 5 times and made it to the final round on 2 other occasions, being the best ranked English team in the competitions history.

Liverpool managed to offer one of the most memorable finals ever played in the Champions League, on the 25^th of May 2005 in Istanbul. After a first half that ended with a 3 goals handicap the Reds managed to restore the balance in only 6 minutes (54’, 56’ and 60’) and steered the match to over-time, where they won in the penalty shoot outs with a score of 3 to 2.

In the UEFA coefficients ranking for the over 5 year period Liverpool is in the 9^th place, being top ranked 2 times.

With a number of trophies equal to that of Liverpool’s, Bayern Munich ranks higher due to 3 more finals that they played, but which they finally lost.

The Bavarians had their greatest period during the ‘70s when they won 3 consecutive Champions League titles, with then captain Franz Beckenbauer, being the third team in history to achieve this. They would make it to the finals on three other occasions that century, but win none.

In the 5 year ranking by UEFA, Bayern is in the 5th place, being the top club 3 times.

A.C. Milan is the runner-up in this top, being the team that managed to climb to the top of the competition on 7 different occasions and made it into the final on 3 other occasions.

The Rossoneri scores well in the goals department as well, having had players like Andriy Shevchenko (5^th place – 59 goals, 32 for Milan) and Filippo Inzaghi( 7^th place – 50 goals, 33 for Milan). Paolo Maldini is the 4^th player in ranking on number of appearances with 140 games played (all of them in Milan’s kit) while Clarence Seedorf, the current coach of the team, ranks the 6^th, having 131 appearances (not all for Milan).

Milan’s most famous game in the Champions League is the 1994 final against Barcelona, which they won with a whooping 4-0 score.

Real Madrid is the football team crowned the best in Europe more time than any other team that has played the game. The royals played in 13 Champions League finals and eventually won 10 of them, in the beginnings of the competition showing true dominance with 5 year consecutive winnings.

Its players dominate the score board as well, with Raul achieving 71 goals (1^st place - 66 for Real), Cristiano Ronaldo 68(2^nd place - 52 for Real), Ruud van Nistelrooy 60(4^th place- 13 goals for Real) and Alfredo Di Stefano 49( 8^th place). Regarding games played Raul is the 3^rd in the history of the competition, with 144 games played, other mentionable names being Iker Casillas (137), Clarence Seedorf (131) and Roberto Carlos (128).

The richest club in the world tops the 5 year period ranking done by UEFA, leading with a score of 14, 6 over the arch-rivals Barcelona.