UEFA Champions League - Qualification

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition for Europe's most successful clubs. It is one of the most prestigious club trophies in the sport along with South America's Copa Libertadores. The current holders are Liverpool F.C. The UEFA Champions League is not to be confused with the UEFA Cup, the second most important championship for European club teams. The Adidas Finale is the official match ball of this competition The UEFA Champions League 2005-06 is currently playing. UEFA Champion ...

Including:

• UEFA Champions League - Structure
• UEFA Champions League - Qualification
• UEFA Champions League - History
• UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals
• UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League statistics
• UEFA Champions League - Trivia

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia - UEFA Champions League

Qualification for the competition is decided by competitor teams placing in their domestic league championship, on a quota system, with countries with stronger domestic league competition allocated more teams. Clubs that play in stronger domestic leagues also enter at later stages of the competition. For example, the three strongest domestic leagues, as rated by UEFA, place their champions and runners-up directly into the group phase, and their third-and ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Structure, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League statistics, UEFA Champions League - Trivia

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - Qualification

UEFA Champions league is open to the league champions of all UEFA member associations (except Liechenstein, Andorra and San Marino), as well as to the clubs finishing from second to fourth position in the strongest leagues. The number of places in the competition depends on the association's rank in the UEFA coefficients table: associations ranked 1-3 have four positions, associations ranked 4-6 have three positions, associations ranked 7-15 have two positions, as ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Format, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - Financial

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - Qualification

The tournament consists of several stages. The competition begins with three knockout qualifying rounds. Different teams start in different rounds, according to their position in domestic league and the coefficient of their league. In each round, participating teams are paired, with winner proceeding into the next round. Qualifying rounds span from mid-July to late August. The 16 winners of the third qualifying round are joined by 16 other teams to participate in the group stage. They are drawn into 8 groups of four. Each team ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Format, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - Financial

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - Format

Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply abbreviated as the European Cup, the competition began in 1955/56 using a two-leg knockout format where the teams would play two matches, one at home and one away, and the team with the highest overall score qualifying for the next round of the competition. Entry was restricted to the teams that won their national league championships, plus the current cup holder. The competition is organised and run annually in a simila ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Structure, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League statistics, UEFA Champions League - Trivia

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - Structure

The Champions League final is the most important match of the season in European club football. The stadium to host the final is selected by UEFA two years before the match. The next UEFA Champions League final will be held at Stade de France on May 17, 2006. The 2006-07 season final will take place at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Real Madrid CF has won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are A.C. Milan (6 titles), Liverpool FC (5 titles), Bayern Munich and AFC Ajax (4 titles). For complete list of the wi ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Format, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - Financial

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals

Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply abbreviated as the European Cup, the competition began in 1955/56 using a two-leg knockout format where the teams would play two matches, one at home and one away, and the team with the highest overall score qualifying for the next round of the competition. Entry was restricted to the teams that won their national league championships, plus the current European Cup holder. This qualification system continued until 1997. From the 1997/98 season, the rules were chang ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Format, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - Financial

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - History

The Champions League final is the most important match of the season in European club football. The stadium to host the final is selected by UEFA two years before the match. The next UEFA Champions League final will be held at Stade de France on May 17, 2006. The 2006-07 season final will take place at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Real Madrid CF has won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are A.C. M ...

See also:

UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League - Format, UEFA Champions League - Qualification, UEFA Champions League - History, UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals, UEFA Champions League - Financial

Read more here: » UEFA Champions League: Encyclopedia II - UEFA Champions League - European Cup and Champions League finals