Football
Champions League history
How the competition came to look the way it does.
One league phase, then the knockout
The competition began as a straight knockout between national champions and grew, in stages, into a longer tournament open to more clubs from the strongest leagues.
Group stages replaced pure knockout football for three decades, before the single league phase replaced the groups in turn.
Each format change has had the same effect: more matches between the largest clubs, earlier in the season.
Season-by-season champions, records and historical tables need a licensed historical data source. Until we have one, this page carries written history only.