The Champions League begins! Do you know which club is the biggest 'loser'? Has the most victories in this competition, without ever winning it ...
The new season of the Champions League begins, 32 clubs are in the hunt for the 'big ears' trophy, and the title is defending Chelsea
Everyone knows that the most successful club in this competition is Real Madrid, which has been the champion 13 times, followed by Milan with seven, Bayern and Liverpool with six each and Barcelona with five trophies.
But few people know which teams are actually the biggest “losers” in the Champions League, that is, which clubs have achieved the most victories in the strongest club competition, without ever going all the way.
In this infamous category, from which a team can only be removed by winning trophies, at the very top is Arsenal, which is not even in the Champions League this year. 'Gunners' celebrated 83 times in UEFA's competition… Far behind them in the number of victories, and without winning the Champions League is PSG with 66, then Lyon with 58, Manchester City with 49, and in the division of fifth and sixth place are Valencia and Atlético Madrid with 48 each. Also, in the Top 10 are Olympiacos (40), Benfica (37), and Roma and Bayer, who have reached 36 victories.
Now, traditionally, 32 clubs will fight for a place in the finals, which will be played in St. Petersburg at the Krestovsky Stadium. The 67th edition of the strongest European club competition begins this week, and the 30th since it was called the Champions League.
The teams are divided into eight groups of four teams, and the two best from each group will be placed in the knockout phase.
The European title is defended by Chelsea, which has been strengthened before the new season. According to bookmakers, the favorites to win the Champions League are PSG and Manchester City with odds of 4.00, while behind them are Bayern Munich and the current champion Chelsea with odds of 8.00. The supercomputer calculated that Manchester City, then Bayern, then Chelsea, and Liverpool have the best chances of winning the most elite European competition.
Check the odds for the favorites to win the Champions League at 1xBetOne thing is for sure, a totally unpredictable season awaits us. Be careful, in addition to the mentioned favorites, there are also clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter, Borussia, Milan, Seville, Leipzig, Atalanta, and the winner of the European League Villarreal. We know that an exciting season awaits us also because the two main favorites, Manchester City and PSG, will play against each other in the so-called “group of death”. There is also Leipzig in it, which can mess up everyone's accounts, and “unfortunately” Club Brugge, which will have hard time scoring points, is in that group.
As of this season, the away goal rule will not apply in the Champions League, which should bring much more excitement and attacking play in the knockout phase of the competition, which starts on February 15.
The matches of the eighth-finals are played from February 15 to March 16, the quarterfinals are scheduled from April 5 to 13, and the semifinal matches are from April 26 to May 4.
The final will be played on May 28 in St. Petersburg at the Krestovsky Stadium.
The new beginning of the Champions League will be marked by the new beginnings of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi arrived in Paris Saint-Germain this summer and could play his first game for the new club in this competition when the French club will visit Bruges, in the first round of Group A.
On the list of the best scorers of this competition, Ronaldo leads against Messi with 134: 120.
The most-watched and most prestigious club competition of the season is back, and it’s hard not to be excited when we look at what awaits us.