Image by Luke Robinson via Flickr
Going elite – the UEFA Champions League
What is the Champions League? It is a European soccer tournament where only the very best of the soccer clubs play amongst each other in order to determine Europe’s champion. If playing in this championship says a lot about your favorite club, think about what winning it would say! Who gets to participate in the Champions League? The top 16 teams don’t go through the qualification rounds and go straight to the group rounds. Here teams are separated into eight groups (A through H each group consisting of four teams). This means there are a total number of 32 places for clubs to compete in the group stage (16 of which are automatically given to the top clubs). After the other 16 clubs (the ones that survived the qualifications) have been determined a draw is made to find out how the teams will be spread in the groups. The winner of the Champions League gets to keep the trophy for one year. If that club has won the trophy for three years in a row, or five times all together, than that club gets to keep the trophy forever (at which point UEFA makes a new one). Clubs who possess the actual trophy are Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munchen, AC Milan, and Liverpool.
