The Champions League is one of the most prestigious club soccer tournaments in Europe. It is a competition that features reigning champions of major European leagues and other high-ranked clubs that earn entry through various qualification streams. The tournament is operated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), one of six regional member confederations of the world soccer governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association.

The tournament began in 1955 as the European Cup and has since become the premier European club tournament. Real Madrid won the inaugural title in 1957 and has been a perennial winner. In total, clubs from thirteen nations have won the competition, and on four occasions a final has been scheduled to be played in the home stadium of the winning team, including the Santiago Bernabeu in 1957 and the Stadio Olimpico in 1985 and 2012.

From the 2024-25 season onwards, a major change was introduced to the competition’s format. The group stage was eliminated and replaced by a new league phase where the thirty-six qualified teams are ranked individually. They are then placed into four seeding pots and a draw system determines matchups. Teams play eight different opponents in the league phase, playing two games against each, with half of their games at home and half away.

Teams that finish in the top eight of their groups advance directly to the round of sixteen. The remaining eight teams qualify through the “Champions path” of the tournament, where they are rewarded spots in the knockout play-offs based on their UEFA coefficient.