The world’s greatest club competition,the UEFA Champions League(UCL), did not happen instantaneously, but it took the brilliance of a French footballer and a journalist called Gabriel Hanot.
Born in Arras, a city in northern France, Gabriel, together with his colleague Jacques Ferran at L’Équipe Newspaper, spearheaded the establishment of the UEFA Champions League, formerly the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, known in French as the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens and also commonly known as the European Cup. It was, however, formed in 1955.
Originally,only the winners of Europe’s domestic leagues were eligible for the straight knockout competition, with the winner being recognized as the European club champion. But with the addition of a round-robin group stage in 1991 and the ability to accept multiple entries from certain nations starting with the 1997–1998 season, the competition adopted its current name (UEFA Champions League) in 1992.
Since then, the tournament has evolved, allowing the greatest leagues in Europe to enter up to four teams, while most national leagues on the continent can still only enter their champion. After failing to qualify for the Champions League, clubs that place second or third in their respective national leagues can compete in the second-tier UEFA Europa League tournament and, started in 2021, the third-tier UEFA Europa Conference League.
The current Champions League schedule consists of two legs for the preliminary round, three qualifying rounds, and the play-off round. The 26 teams that qualified ahead of the six remaining teams join them in the group stage. The 32 teams compete amongst themselves in a double-round robin format after being divided into eight groups of four teams. Eight group winners and eight runners-up go to the knockout stage, which ends with the championship game. The Champions League winner automatically qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League the following year.
Spanish giant Real Madrid still leads the pack with fourteen champions league titles, with AC Milan having seven and Liverpool with six titles.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Hanot is also the brainchild of the prestigious annual football award, Balon d’or, which is given to the best player every year.
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Story by: Gabriel Tecco Mensah |univers.ug.edu.gh
