48 Fun Facts About Champions League

Which Liverpool goalkeeper wobbled his legs to put off Roma's penalty takers in the 1984 final?

Bruce Grobbelaar's 'spaghetti legs' act rattled Francesco Graziani, who shot over the bar, and Liverpool won the shootout 4-2.

The editor of which French newspaper, Gabriel Hanot, proposed the creation of the European Cup?

L'Équipe's Gabriel Hanot, with colleague Jacques Ferran, also conceived football's Ballon d'Or, first awarded in 1956.

Whose extra-time free kick at Wembley won the last final before the Champions League rebrand?

Ronald Koeman's free kick beat Sampdoria 1-0 in 1992, and in 2020 the Dutch defender returned to the same club as manager.

Which Brazilian scored for Real Madrid in both the 2022 and 2024 Champions League finals?

Vinícius Júnior scored the only goal against Liverpool in 2022 and struck again at Wembley, as Real Madrid reached 15 titles.

Whom did Real Madrid beat 4-3 in the inaugural 1956 final at the Parc des Princes?

Stade de Reims led 2-0 inside ten minutes, but Real Madrid levelled by half-time and won with Héctor Rial's late second goal.

The 1960 final, the highest-scoring ever, saw Real Madrid beat which team 7-3 at Hampden Park?

Ferenc Puskás scored four and Alfredo Di Stéfano a hat-trick.

Which club ended Real Madrid's five-title run by knocking them out in the 1960-61 first round?

Barcelona then lost the final 3-2 to Benfica; the trophy left Iberia for the first time only in 1963.

Which club in 1967 became the first British winner, with a team all born within 30 miles of Glasgow?

Celtic's Lisbon Lions went a goal down to a Mazzola penalty, then beat Inter 2-1 through Gemmell and Chalmers.

Which team was the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4-1 in 1968?

Manchester United won it ten years after the Munich air disaster, with crash survivors Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes in the side.

Which Dutch forward, the face of Total Football, starred in Ajax's three straight European Cup wins from 1971?

Johan Cruyff scored both goals in Ajax's 2-0 win over Inter in the 1972 final, the match hailed as Total Football's greatest moment.

Which club, English champions only once, won back-to-back European Cups under Brian Clough?

Nottingham Forest won the league the season after promotion, then beat Malmö and Hamburg in the 1979 and 1980 finals.

Why were English clubs banned from European competition for five years from 1985?

The Heysel Stadium disaster killed 39 people before the 1985 final, which still went ahead, and Liverpool were banned for six years.

Which Romanian club won the European Cup in 1986?

Steaua București won 2-0 on penalties in Seville, as goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved all four kicks he faced.

Which club won the 1996-97 Champions League, the last edition before league runners-up were allowed to enter?

Borussia Dortmund won the final 3-1 in Munich, and substitute Lars Ricken scored just 16 seconds after coming on.

The Champions League anthem, written by Tony Britten in 1992, is an adaptation of which Handel work?

Handel wrote Zadok the Priest for King George II's coronation in 1727, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed Britten's version.

What is the name of the Champions League's logo, created by Design Bridge in 1991?

By 1999 it reportedly had a 94 percent recognition rate among fans.

Which nickname has the Champions League trophy earned?

Big Ears comes from the trophy's huge handles, and Spanish fans call it La Orejona for the same reason.

Which manager led Inter to the 2010 title, completing the first treble by an Italian club?

José Mourinho's Inter beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in Madrid, and within a week he had left to take over Real Madrid.

Who is the all-time top scorer in the competition with 140 goals?

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 140 for three clubs and finished as the competition's top scorer in a record seven seasons.

Which two players share the record of eight appearances in finals?

Gento's were all for Real Madrid between 1956 and 1966; Maldini's all for Milan between 1989 and 2007.

Which manager has won the competition a record five times?

Carlo Ancelotti won it twice in Italy and three times with Real Madrid, in 2014, 2022 and 2024.

Who scored the fastest goal in the competition's history, after 10.12 seconds, in 2007?

Roy Makaay's goal for Bayern Munich helped knock Real Madrid out in the round of 16.

The 2005 final in Istanbul saw Liverpool come back from 3-0 down at half-time against which team?

AC Milan led 3-0 through an early goal and Hernán Crespo's double, but Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko's decisive kick in the shootout.

Which two substitutes scored the 1999 winners' injury-time goals to beat Bayern Munich?

Teddy Sheringham equalised in stoppage time and Ole Gunnar Solskjær poked in the winner moments later, completing the treble.

Zinedine Zidane's famous volley won the 2002 final at Hampden Park against which German club?

Bayer Leverkusen also finished second in the Bundesliga and lost the German Cup final that season, earning the tag 'Neverkusen'.

Which club became the first from London to win the Champions League, beating Bayern on penalties in 2012?

Chelsea won in Bayern's own stadium, after Didier Drogba's 88th-minute header and Petr Čech's extra-time save from Arjen Robben.

Who scored a second-minute penalty in the 2019 final against Tottenham?

Mohamed Salah converted after Moussa Sissoko's handball, and Divock Origi added a late second for Liverpool.

Which club won the 2025 Champions League final 5-0, the biggest margin ever in a final?

Paris Saint-Germain won their first European Cup, the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993, with Désiré Doué scoring twice.

What replaced the Champions League groups from 2024-25?

A 36-team table replaced the eight groups of four, and each club plays eight different opponents, four at home and four away.

Who scored five goals against RB Leipzig in March 2023, equalling the Champions League record for one match?

Erling Haaland did it in 57 minutes, matching the five-goal hauls of Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano.

Which coach took over Bayern Munich in November 2019 and won that season's Champions League?

Hansi Flick stepped up when Niko Kovač left in November 2019, and Bayern completed a treble with a 1-0 final win in Lisbon.

Which club won the Champions League in 2023 to complete an English treble?

Manchester City beat Inter 1-0 in Istanbul for their first European Cup, with Pep Guardiola in charge.

Which club has lost a record seven finals despite winning only two?

Juventus won only in 1985 and 1996, and lost back-to-back finals in 1997 and 1998.

Which club has appeared in three finals without ever winning, in 1974, 2014 and 2016?

Atlético Madrid lost the 1974 replay to Bayern, then lost to city rivals Real Madrid in both 2014 and 2016.

Which goalkeeper was named man of the match as Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the 2022 final?

Thibaut Courtois made nine saves, the most in a final since Opta began keeping records in 2003-04.

Which manager holds the record for most Champions League matches with a single club, 190?

Alex Ferguson took charge of 190 of them over 26 years, winning the trophy in 1999 and 2008.

Which player made a record 163 appearances for a single club, Bayern Munich?

Thomas Müller overtook Xavi's one-club record of 151 appearances, and left Bayern level with Lionel Messi's career total of 163.

Whose 93rd-minute header in Lisbon forced extra time in the 2014 final, setting up Real Madrid's tenth title?

Sergio Ramos headed in Luka Modrić's corner, and Madrid won 4-1 after extra time for La Décima.

Which club won the trophy on its European Cup debut in 1982 and has never returned to a final?

Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam with Nigel Spink in goal, after first-choice Jimmy Rimmer went off injured.

Which two Real Madrid greats share the record for most goals in finals, with seven?

Ferenc Puskás scored four in 1960 and three in 1962, while Alfredo Di Stéfano scored in each of Real Madrid's first five finals.

Which competitions does the Champions League winner automatically qualify for?

The UEFA Super Cup pits the winner against the Europa League holders, and a FIFA Club World Cup place follows too.

Which club beat Marseille on penalties to win the 1991 European Cup final in Bari?

Red Star Belgrade won 5-3 on penalties after a goalless draw, in the club's first European Cup final.

Which Scottish club was among the 16 entrants of the inaugural 1955-56 European Cup?

Hibernian had only finished fifth in Scotland, but the club had floodlights and went on to reach the semi-finals.

Whose brace at Wembley in 1963 took the trophy out of Iberia for the first time?

José Altafini scored twice after Eusébio's opener, ending Benfica's run of two straight titles.

Whose stoppage-time winner completed a second-half hat-trick in Amsterdam and sent Tottenham to the 2019 final?

Lucas Moura overturned a 3-0 aggregate deficit on his own, scoring the winner in the 96th minute for Tottenham's first final.

Which Greek club did Ajax beat in the 1971 final?

Panathinaikos lost 2-0 at Wembley, and no other Greek club has reached a European Cup final.

Which World Cup-winning goalkeeper lost Champions League finals in 2003, 2015 and 2017?

Gianluigi Buffon won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, and the first of those three final defeats came in a penalty shootout.

Who scored the only goal of the 2023 final in Istanbul?

Rodri side-footed in Bernardo Silva's pull-back in the 68th minute and was named player of the match.