The UEFA Champions League is the pinnacle of European club football. It’s a tournament where legends are born and heroes are made. In 2025, that narrative remains unchanged.
This year’s instalment of the tournament has headed into its knockout stages, and we have already had a tie for the ages. Real Madrid travelled to the Etihad to face Manchester City in the playoff round, marking the third time in as many campaigns that the two heavyweights have faced off against each other. This time around, as was the case on two of that trifecta of occasions, it was the Spaniards who emerged victorious, thanks to Jude Bellingham’s last-gasp winner.
Online sports betting sites have now catapulted Los Blancos up the odds lists, making them a genuine contender to successfully retain the trophy they won last year at Wembley, and let’s face it, why wouldn’t they? They were priced as long as +3000 with the live sports betting at Bovada feature in that recent clash against the Blues when they trailed 2-1 in the 85th minute, but goals from Brahim Diaz and the aforementioned Bellingham secured the win. Now, they find themselves as the +500 second favourite for the tournament outright, and we’ll have to see how the live sports betting shapes up going forward.
But they are still behind Premier League giants Liverpool, who are the current +400 frontrunners. English clubs have had their fair share of highs and lows on the continental stage in recent years. But which of their teams have reigned supreme?
Liverpool
When it comes to Champions League glory, Liverpool stands head and shoulders above their compatriots. The Reds have won the competition an incredible six times, making them the most successful English side in the tournament. They initially rose to prominence under the legendary Bob Paisley in the late 1970s, with the maverick Scot leading them to back-to-back titles in 1977 and 1978.
They were champions again three years later when they beat Real Madrid thanks to Alan Kennedy’s late winner in the Parc Des Princes. To put how monumental that win was into perspective, Los Blancos haven’t lost a Champions League final since, winning all nine they have played in.
In 1984, The Reds took their trophy haul to four with a penalty shootout victory against Roma in their own backyard. But following that triumph, they were forced to wait for two decades for their next crack of the whip.
That duly came in 2005 when one of the weaker squads in the club’s history embarked upon a fairytale run to Istanbul. There, they met AC Milan, and it looked as though the fairytale run would come to a screeching halt when the Rossoneri raced into a 3-0 lead. But Liverpool weren’t ones to roll over, and in one of the most shocking comebacks of all time, they rallied in the second half, scoring three goals in five minutes and ultimately triumphing in a penalty shootout.
Under Jurgen Klopp, the Reds reached three finals in four years. They lost two of them to Real Madrid but successfully claimed their sixth European Cup in 2019 with a 2-0 victory against compatriots Spurs.
Manchester United
Manchester United lags someway behind their rivals from down the M62, but they are still England’s second most successful club with two titles. The first of those came in 1968, as Sir Matt Busby successfully built a team out of the wreckage of the Munich air disaster ten years before to conquer Europe. The crowning moment was a 4-1 victory against Benfica at Wembley.
The Red Devils would have to wait 31 years for their next triumph, but that came in dramatic fashion. Trailing Bayern Munich by one goal to nil in the Nou Camp in 1999, two goals in injury time from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sealed the trophy and a famous treble.
Most recently, United met Chelsea in the first-ever All-English final in 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring before being cancelled out by Frank Lampard’s equaliser. That allowed Edwin van der Sar to become the hero in a penalty shootout, saving from Nicolas Anelka to take the trophy to Old Trafford for a third time.
Chelsea
That final defeat to United was Chelsea’s first foray into European football’s showpiece fixture. They would have to wait four years for the next, and boy, was it dramatic. After miraculously seeing off Barcelona in the semifinal, The Blues had to defeat the much-fancied Bayern Munich side playing in their own stadium. They fell behind late on, but Didier Drogba’s late header tied things up, and the big Ivorian would then score the decisive spot-kick in the shootout to claim the title against all odds.
Nine years later, the West London side was once again unfancied, this time against Manchester City. However, Kai Havertz’s solitary goal handed the Blues the trophy for a second time in Porto.
Manchester City
It seemed like Manchester City’s wait to win the Champions lasted an eternity. They suffered many embarrassing exits to the likes of Lyon and Spurs on their European journey. However, all that heartache washed away in 2023 when Rodri’s late strike downed Inter Milan in Istanbul.
Nottingham Forest
Back in 1979, Nottingham Forest shocked the footballing world under Brian Clough as they defeated Malmo to win the European Cup, becoming the second-ever English team to do so. The achievement was made all the more unbelievable considering they were playing in the second tier of English football just two years prior. Incredibly, they successfully retained the trophy the following year, beating Kevin Keegan’s Hamburg in Madrid, with John Robertson scoring the decisive goal.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa returned to the Champions League this season for the first time in 42 years. Forty-three years ago, they won it. Back in 1982, they upset the odds as they stunned Bayern Munich in Rotterdam, with Peter White scoring the only goal of the game. Their triumph marked the sixth successive season in which an English club won the tournament, an achievement no other country in history has ever been able to match.
