The Champions League is the world’s most prestigious club competition and has featured some of the biggest names in football history including Johan Cruyff, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Since the inaugural season in 1960-61, thirty-two teams have competed for the championship whose name was changed from European Cup to UEFA Champions League in 1992-93. Its format was also revamped during this period with the addition of a group stage and an overhaul of the qualifying criteria where clubs from the highest ranked national associations are allowed to enter four times.

A randomized draw determined the eight groups of four teams in the group stage with a restriction on placing two or more teams from the same national association in the same group and a coefficient-based seeding system used to create competitive balance. Each team in the group played each other twice a home and away, earning three points for a win and one point for a tie. The top team in each group qualified for the knockout stage where a re-ranked bracket was applied with teams ranked 1-4 guaranteed to play their second leg at home.

During the modern era of the tournament from its rebranding in 1992-93 through the 2023-24 seasons, Real Madrid have been the most dominant club winning fifteen titles both in the Champions League and its predecessor European Cup. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have also won multiple titles in the competition’s modern era with several other teams including Valencia, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all making more than one appearance in the final but failing to win the championship.