Let's take a look at the Champions League winners and the history of the competition by day:

The Champions League in the 1950s 

Only one team won the Champions League in the 50's. That's right.

Real Madrid beat Reims in 1956, AC Milan in 1957, AC Florence in 1958 and Reims again in 1959. They had an impressive team and the best footballer of the 1950s, two-time Ballon d'Or winner, Alfredo Di Stefano, who won the first 5 European Cups with Los Blancos from 1956 to 1960.

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The European Champions Cup of the 60s

The 1960s began with a new star of European football, the Black Panther, Eusebio. Benfica won the first two European Cups of the decade. Then it was the turn of the Milan clubs: AC Milan and FC Inter. In 1967 the trophy changed, taking on the characteristics of the current versions, and the first team to win this trophy was Celtic. Finally in 1968 Manchester United (the team of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law) lifted the trophy by defeating Eusebio's Benfica, and in 1969 AC Milan won the Cup again.

Manchester United (the team of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law) won the Cup again.

The 70s Decade of the European Top-Tier Tournament

Only 5 clubs won the Champions League in the 1970s. Feyenoord won their first and only Champions Cup thanks to their coach, the great Austrian Ernst Happel. The trophy stayed in the Netherlands for 3 years, as Cruyff's Ajax won 3 consecutive European Cups thanks to the Total Football of Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. The same feat was achieved by Bayern Munich of Beckenbauer and Müller under Udo Lattek. Bob Paisley brought two Champions League titles to Liverpool in 1977 and 1978. Brian Clough and Peter Taylor wrote a better tale than Robin Hood: Nottingham Forest won the Champions League in 1979, and repeated again in 1980.

The European Champions Cup in the 1980s

In the 1980s the Champions League reached 6 countries. Nottingham Forest won the 1980 edition: the club has more European Cups than Premier League titles. Liverpool FC won their 3rd (1981) and 4th (1984) UCL. Aston Villa were the surprise package of 1982. HSV Hamburg finally won the Champions League in 1983. Juventus won their first European Cup in 1985. The only Romanian football club to win the trophy was Steaua București (1986). FC Porto won the first Champions League in 1987. PSV became the third Dutch club to lift the trophy in 1988. Then, AC Milan of Sacchi dominated the last two years of the competition.

The 1990s and the Birth of Modern Champions League

Red Star Belgrade was a big surprise in 1991. FC Barcelona, Olympique Marseille and Borussia Dortmund won the trophy for the first time in their history. Italian clubs played 8 of the 10 finals: AC Milan won Champions Cup number four and five in their history, Juventus won the second. Real Madrid returned to win the title after 32 years. Sir Alex Ferguson won his first Champions Cup with Man United in 1999.

Champions League – The 2000s

In the 2000s all the clubs that won the Champions League had already won the trophy in the past. Real Madrid, AC Milan, and FC Barcelona lifted the trophy twice in those years; Bayern Munchen, Porto, Liverpool and Manchester United made history again.

The Champions League between 2010 and 2019

In the last 10 years, Real Madrid was the king of the Champions League. By winning 4 trophies they reached the 13th Champions Cup in 2018. But the 2010s also saw a new champion of the competition, being Chelsea of Di Matteo, the surprise package of the 2012 edition. FC Barcelona won the Champions League twice, Bayern won another trophy against their closest rival in Germany Borussia Dortmund. The first and the last of the finals of this decade were played in Madrid: in 2010 FC Inter lifted the Cup at the Bernabéu, in 2019 Liverpool FC won the Champions League again at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.

After another title from FC Bayern Munich and Chelsea FC in 2020 and 2021 the new season has begun and the 2021/22 Champions League round is starting. Who will win the 2021-2022 Champions League?