There is no higher honour than winning the Champions League if European club football is taken into consideration. The competition at the elite level has showcased some of the best clubs around Europe with some of the greatest names in the sporting history to ever kick the ball. Since its rebranding in 1992, earlier known as the European Champion Club’s Cup, it has surpassed its overwhelming price tag. Various records were made and broken in the ultimate stage of Europe’s premier competition as it comes with a bag full of surprises in each game.
The current edition of the tournament came to an unexpected halt as almost the entirety of mankind is waging a war with an unprecedented pandemic. Despite hard times, the apex body has promised to declare its winner once the competition resumes on Saturday of this weekend. So in the meantime, we decided to shuffle some of the pages of the competition’s record book to find out the clubs who enjoyed the most number of victories in the club football’s grandest stage.
5) Juventus (140 wins)
The Bianconeri is the undisputed Italian football stalwart for quite a while now and won the competition twice in 1985 and 1996. They were finalists in seven occasions, most recently in 2016/17 campaign. Although the club lost more finals than any other club in the competition history, there is no denying that they are one of the most formidable sides. For that, they have notched up more wins than six-time winners Liverpool and their arch-rivals AC Milan who won the tournament seven times.
The club enjoyed most of those victories under the tutorship of Serie A great, Giovanni Trapattoni. Juventus have also scored 439 goals that propelled most of their wins and had earned a maximum points of 349 points till now. Hence, the Old Lady of Turin holds its name in terms of superiority in the competition.
4) Manchester United (154 wins)
After becoming the first English side to enter the competition in 1956, Manchester United had lifted the trophy on three occasions. They last won in the year 2008 defeating fellow English opposition Chelsea on penalties. Despite the club tasting endless success domestically, they never reached the feet of claiming the silverware more times than their rivals Liverpool at the European stage.
However, the Red Devils had fancied a greater number of victories than the Merseyside outfit. Club’s legendary managers, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson shared a fair share of victories with over 500 goals scored and earning a point total of 374 until now.
3) FC Barcelona (187 wins)
Next on the list is Spanish juggernaut, FC Barcelona. Known for their philosophy of tiki-taka or short-passing football, the Catalonians became one of the feared sides in the Champions League. The side from La Liga became a consistent performer on the main stage with their breath-taking playing style allowing them to score more than 600 goals and obtain 447 points till now.
They also became one of the most resilient forces by making records and building grandeur moments for their fans to revel in. Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola presented the club with a combination of 3 titles in their prosperity days with the two much-loved geniuses displaying captivating brilliance. They have racked up 187 wins in over 317 games and claimed the major honour five times.
2) Bayern Munich (202 wins)
The German locomotives are another side to shower praise upon. Like Barcelona, they have 5 titles to their name with the last one coming in 2013. Thus, Bayern have savoured over 200 wins proving to be a warrior at the mega stage.
With domestic success, Bayern made their presence felt in Europe’s premier competition by scoring a total of 708 goals and gaining 476 points by doing so. Ottmar Hitzfeld and Dettmar Cramer managed most of those victories with modern-day Jupp Heynckes keeping the admirable status of the club.
1) Real Madrid (262 wins):
The ultimate king of the Champions League is Real Madrid. An absolute destroyer on the pitch, the Spanish giants have made this competition their playground by claiming 262 victories out of 438 games which they had played until now.
Also prizing themselves with an untouchable feat of 13 Champions League titles and becoming the only side to win it three consecutive times, twice since the inception of the competition, they became the true monster of the lot.
Jose Villalonga and Miguel Munoz made this club the dominant force in the mid-1900s but the chunk of appreciation is given to French Legend, Zinedine Zidane for three back to back triumphs the club had under him. This spectacular side has scored a staggering 972 goals, registering 600 points overall with no signs of relent.
