Champions League March 2011

Champions League: Best in Europe, Fourth in the World

Ozren Podnar

In past times before UEFA colluded with ruthless capitalists, the European champions' title could only go to the national championship winning team or to the previous European Champions' Cup or Champions League winner. It seems this was the original point of this competition initiated in 1955, just look at the names.

Since UEFA granted entry in 1997 to more than one club from the same country, in six of the latest 13 editions the trophy went to a team that under the old rules would not have qualified in the first place. Not only have some of the Champions League titles been won by national league runners-up, but even by fourth-placed teams on two occasions. It could happen again this season, as the quarter-final line-up features four non-champions - Real Madrid, Tottenham, Manchester United and Schalke 04.

Manchester United was incidentally the first Champions-League-winning team which entered the 1998/99 tournament without having won the national championship or the Champions League the season before. Still, they proved worthy of their 1999 continental prize, as around the same time they also collected the Premier League and the FA Cup, plus the Intercontinental Cup before the year was over. They were followed by Real Madrid, which picked up the 2000 Champions League as the Spanish La Liga runners-up. After two "normal" seasons, it was AC Milan's turn to reach the top of Europe even though they had only been fourth in Serie A the season before.

Two year later, AC Milan's feat was repeated by Liverpool, another team launched to the European throne from the fourth spot in their country's domestic league. Milan again went against the old rule when they took their seventh Champions league although they had been just third in Italy. Finally, Barcelona were crowned European champions as national non-champions in 2009, on the tenth anniversary of the first such case. Curiously, their rivals on the day was Manchester United and even more curiously, Barcelona also confirmed their newfound superiority by winning the national League and Cup double, to which they added the World Club Cup and both Supercups, all in the space of eight months.

The following table shows the European champions from 1997/98 until 2009/10 and the relevant national champions from the previous seasons. In brackets are the national league positions of the Champions-League-winning teams from which they qualified for the premier continental competition. For instance, in 1999 the Champions League was won by Manchester United, who were second in the Premier League the year before, while Arsenal were the English champions.

Champions League Results and Draw

Round of 16

Arsenal vs Barcelona 2-1 1-3
Roma vs Shahtar Donetsk 2-3 0-3
Milan vs Tottenham 0-1 0-0
Lyon vs Real Madrid 1-1 0-3
Inter Milan vs Bayern 0-1 3-2
Valencia vs Schalke 04 1-1 1-3
Kobenhavn vs Chelsea 0-2 0-0
Marseille vs Manchester Utd. 0-0 1-2

Quarter-finals

Real Madrid vs Tottenham April 5 and 13
Inter Milan vs Schalke 04 April 5 and 13
Chelsea vs Manchester Utd. April 6 and 12
Barcelona vs Shahtar Donetsk April 6 and 12

Semi-finals

Real/Tottenham vs Barcelona/Shahtar
Inter/Schalke vs Chelsea/Man Utd

* Note on spelling - Shahtar is so spelt rather than Shakhtar.

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