In the past tournament was officially called the "European Champion Clubs' Cup". European Champion Clubs' Cup was usually referred to simply as the "European Cup". Initially the competition was a strait knockout competition open only to the champion club of each country. The UEFA Champions League should not be confused with the UEFA Europa League, formally known as the UEFA Cup.
UEFA Champions League tournament consists of several stages. In the present format, it begins in mid July with three knockout qualifying rounds and a playoff round. The ten surviving teams join 22 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners up enter the final knockout phase, which culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The reigning champion of the competition is Spanish club Barcelona. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament nine times; including the first five seasons it was contested. Spanish clubs have accumulated the most amounts of victories with 13 wins. The title has been won by 21 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, with Milan being the last club to defend successfully their title, in 1990.
As of 2010-11 Seasons, UEFA awards €2.1 million to each team in the play-offs round. For reaching the group stage, UEFA awards €3.9 million, plus €550,000 per group match played. A win in the group is awarded €800,000 and a draw is worth €400,000. In addition, UEFA pays teams reaching the first knockout round €3 million, each quarter finalist €3.3 million, €4.2 million for each semi-finalist, €5.6 million for the runners-up and €9 million for the winners.
The competition attracts an extensive television audience, not just in Europe, but throughout the world. The matches are broadcast in over 70 countries with commentaries in more than 40 languages each year With an estimated audience of 109 million people, the 2009 UEFA Champions League final surpassed that year's Super Bowl for the first time as the most watched annual single sport event in the world.
The current seasons 2011-12, UEFA Champions League is the 57th season of the European Cup and the 20th season in its current Champions League. Barcelona is the defending champions. The winner earns a berth at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup. Champions League Tickets are available at FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com for affordable price. Football fans can buy or sell Football Tickets especially UEFA Champions League Tickets at safe and guaranteed system of FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com easily.
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