About the Champions League
The UEFA Champions League is UEFA's most prestigious club competition. Originally known as the European Cup, its name and format were changed in 1992. Real Madrid have been the most successful side in the competition, winning the title nine times in all.
The top two teams in the Premier League go straight into the hat for the following season's Champions League competition, while the third placed team in the Premiership must survive three qualifying rounds in order to get their names into the hat for the draw for the group stages.
32 teams contest the group stage of the competition (eight groups of four teams). Each group winner, along with the runner-up, progress into the knock-out stage of the tournament, while the eight third placed teams move into the UEFA Cup.
The last 16 teams compete on a 2-leg knock-out basis 'cup style', playing home and away in each tie and the final two teams compete in the final which takes place at a different venue each year.
