UEFA Champions League
The main focus of the changes was to enable champions coming from associations ranked 13 to 53 much easier access to the main tournament through a separate qualifying route, rather than going head-to-head with non-champions from associations ranked 1 to 12. Five teams will enter into the group stage from each new route.
22 teams will now directly qualify for the group stage, the additional 6 teams being champions of associations ranked 10 to 12, and 3rd placed teams in associations ranked 1 to 3. It was also decided that the final would be played on the Saturday evening in calendar week 20 (20:45 CEST) from 2009/10 onwards, instead of the Wednesday evening.[3]
Wembley Stadium in London was looking likely to host the event that year, only a week after the FA Cup Final would be played there. This caused some criticism and it was later announced that the 2010 final would be played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.[4]
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Sponsorship
Like the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League is sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, in contrast to the single main sponsor of either the Barclays Premier League, the Copa Santander Libertadores or Serie A TIM. When the Champions League was created in 1992, it was decided that a maximum of eight companies should be allowed to sponsor the event, with each corporation being allocated four advertising boards around the perimeter of the pitch, as well as logo placement at pre- and post-match interviews and a certain number of tickets to each match. This, combined with a deal to ensure tournament sponsors were given priority on television advertisements during matches, ensured that each of the tournament's main sponsors was given maximum exposure.[5]
The tournament's current main sponsors are:
- Ford
- Heineken
- MasterCard
- Sony
- The PlayStation series also sponsors the tournament as one of Sony's brands
- Vodafone
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Media coverage
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European Cup and Champions League finals
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aet = after extra time; asdet = after sudden death extra time
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Records and statistics
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By nation
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All-time top goalscorers
Including qualifying games
| Rank | Nation | Player | Goals | Games | Debut in Europe | Clubs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Raúl González | 61 | 118 | 1996 | Real Madrid |
| 2 |  |
Andriy Shevchenko | 59 | 103 | 1994 | Dynamo Kyiv, Milan, Chelsea |
| 3 |  |
Ruud van Nistelrooy | 57 | 76 | 1997 | PSV, Manchester United, Real Madrid |
| 4 |  |
Thierry Henry | 53 | 115 | 1996 | Monaco, Arsenal, FC Barcelona |
| 5 |  |
Alfredo di Stefano | 49 | 58 | 1955 | Real Madrid |
Players in Bold are still active.
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All-time top appearances
| Rank | Nation | Player | Games | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
Raúl González | 118 | Real Madrid |
| 2 |  |
Roberto Carlos | 117 | Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe |
| 3 | |
Thierry Henry | 115 | Monaco, Arsenal, FC Barcelona |
| 4 |  |
Paolo Maldini | 107 | Milan |
| 5 |  |
Ryan Giggs | 104 | Manchester United |
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See also
- European football records
- International club competition records
- UEFA competition records
- European Cup and Champions League history
- European Cup and Champions League finals
- European Cup and Champions League records and statistics
- European Double
- European Treble
- List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers
- Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup
- UEFA Super Cup
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
- UEFA Cup
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- UEFA Club Football Awards
- UEFA Team of the Year
- Sport in Europe
- UEFA Champions League Hymn
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References
- ^ Matthew Spiro (2006-05-12). Hats off to Hanot (English). UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
- ^ uefa.com - UEFA Champions League
- ^ "Champions League changes agreed", UEFA, 2007-12-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Madrid and Hamburg awarded 2010 finals", UEFA, 2008-03-28. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ Thompson, Craig; Magnus, Ems (February 2003). "[http://www.ekospor.com/Sports-Marketing/Sport%20Marketing%20uefa.pdf THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MARKETING]". FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE: pp.49-50.
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External links
- UEFA Official Site
- MP3 of the UEFA Champions League Music
- Soccermogul
- RSSSF European Cups Archive
- Football Teams
- UEFA European Cup Football - independent site with regularly updated statistics including club and country rankings, tournament seedings, and match results.
- European Cup History
- (Italian) Enrico Siboni Web Site - Winners of UEFA Champions League
- All time statistics with link to all results
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