So, umm, with FM20 upcoming and a lot of free time during the weekend I caught myself thinking what historic club should I start managing when it finally comes out. And ultimately decided to compare how many times have clubs won matches in the UEFA European Cup/Champions League.
Here is the sheet if anyone else would like to take a look: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m8ZrwqqwKlVkfl8A-gh7wGpyE6YSFQ0rLnaGBJpzzAc/
P.S. Data was collected through wikipedia, so there might be some accidental mistakes in determining club's continuity or wrong placement that eluded me, though I tried to triple check everything.
While it's true that the Super Cup isn't exactly on the same tier as other European trophies, it's still a nice piece of silverware to add to one's trophy case, sort of like an additional exclamation mark. Champions League winners don't always win the Super Cup and it may not be a huge loss, but it's still kind of nice to win too.
Every such double won is listed below. Until the 2010s, this double actually wasn't as common as you'd think it was and I'm surprised by how much parity has shifted towards the Champions League-winning team in this competition especially because it's not meant to be taken as seriously. I've also italicized teams that earned a nice treble with the FIFA World Cup that same calendar year as well; you may notice that earning a UEFA double has basically guaranteed an international treble in recent years. With that being said, here we go:
- 1973 Ajax
- 1977 Liverpool
- 1979 Nottingham Forest
- 1982 Aston Villa
- 1986 FCSB
- 1987 Porto
- 1989 AC Milan
- 1990 AC Milan
- 1992 Barcelona
- 1994 AC Milan
- 1995 Ajax
- 1996 Juventus
- 2002 Real Madrid
- 2003 AC Milan
- 2005 Liverpool
- 2007 AC Milan
- 2009 Barcelona
- 2011 Barcelona
- 2013 Bayern Munich
- 2014 Real Madrid
- 2015 Barcelona
- 2016 Real Madrid
- 2017 Real Madrid
- 2019 Liverpool
Teams participating in the draw:
All teams can be drawn against each other - there are no restrictions
Quarterfinal Draw
Ajax vs Juventus
Liverpool vs FC Porto
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
Manchester United vs FC Barcelona - was originally drawn as FCB v MANU, but was reversed due to crowd concerns in Manchester
Semifinal Draw
Tottenham Hotspur OR Manchester City vs Ajax OR Juventus
Manchester United OR FC Barcelona vs Liverpool OR FC Porto
Final Draw
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs Winner of Semifinal 2
Random shower thought. What drives this difference? Is it because Europeans are more conservative? Is it because Americans have the mentality that they're the best in the world? NBA, MLB, and NFL are top tier leagues. But then again, so is the CL.
It's interesting because Real Madrid or Barcelona are way more of a global powerhouse team than the Cavaliers or the Cubs, yet they would never address themselves as "world champions".
I guess if you win the FIFA Club World Cup then you are a "world champion" in soccer, but then again nobody really cares about that competition.
