60 Years of the Champions League

Book excerpt: Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Union of European Football Associations Champions League with this handsome history, including new interviews and a stats section The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League celebrated its diamond jubilee in 2005. The first match was played on September 4, 1955, when Sporting Lisbon played Partizan Belgrade. The Yugoslavs advanced to the next round by winning 8-5 on aggregate, but lost to the eventual champions, Real Madrid, giving the first glimmering of the Spanish club's legendary status. Real have won the Champion Clubs Cup/UEFA Champions League (the name changed in 1992) 10 times, three more successes than their nearest rival, Milan. Fully updated, this book covers every season's competition with a full report and statistical summary of the Final up to, and including, the 2015 final in Berlin. There are specially commissioned interviews with a soccer legend from each decade from the 1950s to the present. The book also includes a full statistical section, listing every result and all major record-holders, both club and individual.