The European Champion Clubs' Cup or as it is know known as, The UEFA Champions League, is a seasonal club football competition organised by UEFA since 1992 (or its original format since 1955) for the most successful football clubs in Europe. The prize, the European Cup, is the most prestigious club trophy in the sport.
The tournament consists of several stages. In the present format it begins in mid-July with three preliminary knockout qualifying rounds. The 16 surviving teams join 16 seeded teams in a group stage. Eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout rounds, which end with the final match in May. Previously only the champions of their respective national league could participate in the competition; however, this was changed in 1997 to allow the runners-up of the stronger leagues to compete as well.
The title has been held by a number of different clubs, where some have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holder is Real Madrid with their nine wins. AC Milan have won it seven times, Liverpool FC five times, Ajax and Bayern Munich four times, and Manchester United three times.
The current holders are Manchester United F.C. who beat Chelsea F.C. 6-5 on penalties, 1-1 after extra time, in Moscow on the 21st May 2008.
The competition began as the 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 1992. In the 1992–93 season, the tournament was renamed UEFA Champions League and in 1997/98, eligibility was expanded to include not just domestic champions but also the best performing runners up according to UEFA's coefficient ranking list
The UEFA Champions league is open to the league champions of all UEFA member associations (except Liechtenstein, which has no league competition), as well as to the clubs finishing from second to fourth position in the strongest leagues. Since January 2007 the two lowest-ranked league competitions can also represent their domestic champions in the Champions League
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