Aston Villa vs Manchester City Premier League 2024-25 Highlights | City's turmoil continues in a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park
Catch the highlights of the Aston Villa vs Manchester City match in Premier League 2024-25 at the Villa Park, Birmingham, as Villa defeated City by 2-1.
Duran and Morgan Rogers scored for Villa. Image | Premier League
Hello and welcome to another LIVE coverage of Premier League 2024-25 on Sportz Point. Tonight, we will be covering the exciting fixture of Aston Villa vs Manchester City in Premier League 2024-25 at the Villa Park, Birmingham.
Villa with 25 points in 16 games are at number seven in the points table while a struggling Manchester City are at number five position with 27 points in the same number of games.
As both teams are fighting for form at the moment, this fixture is expected to be a great contest. So, sit back and relax as Koushik Biswas brings you all the LIVE updates, news and scores for you.
LIVE Updates
Dec 21, 2024, 12:35 PM
LIVE Score
Dec 21, 2024, 2:29 PM
Full time | Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City
This is the sixth league defeat for Manchester City, double the number they conceded last season. City's tribble run continues.
Morgan Rogers with a goal and assist for Villa before Phil Foden tried to bring the game back to level. But, there was not enough time for that.
City moves down to 6 while Villa moves up to number five in the points table.
Dec 21, 2024, 2:24 PM
90+3' | Foden puts one in | AVL 2-1 MCI
Savinho did well to find Foden inside the box with a side of the boot pass. Post that, Digne stepped on the ball and that gave Foden the chance to go for the shot.
Villa 2-1 City.
Dec 21, 2024, 2:20 PM
90' | Change for Aston Villa
Morgan Rogers leave the field with a standing ovation from the Villa fans.
Dec 21, 2024, 2:18 PM
88' | Four minutes would be added
4 minutes would be added.
Dec 21, 2024, 2:18 PM
87' | Grealish gets the yellow card
Jack Grealish gets the yellow card for fouling John McGinn.
Dec 21, 2024, 2:17 PM
85' | Foden tries with left foot but Martinez blocks it out
From the left, Foden tries his luck with his left foot. But, Martinez comes out and punches the ball away.
65' | Morgan Rogers extends the lead | AVL 2-0 MCI
Rogers the extend the lead. Superb, clinical finish to give the home side the lead.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:50 PM
60' | Morgan hits the woodwork
Morgan Rogers hits the woodwork!
Dec 21, 2024, 1:46 PM
56' | Akanji is injured
Akanji falls on his shoulder and his injured.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:42 PM
52' | Foden misses the target
Foden goes to his favorite left-foot but he misses the target.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:41 PM
51' | Duran scores but it is offside
City were caught off guard again. But Duran was a bit offside this time.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:38 PM
49' | Cash hits side net
Huge chance for Villa to extend the lead. He hits the side net with a right footed shot.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:37 PM
47' | Yellow card
Yellow card for Rico Lewis as he tried to stop Youri Tielemans from behind.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:35 PM
46' | Second half starts
Change for City. Walker comes in for City. John Stones goes out.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:19 PM
Half-time | AVL 1-0 MCI
Manchester City had the most of the balls but Villa with the most number of chances and most importantly goal. They leave the field leading by 1-0 as Maritnez and Grealish started a brawl in the middle.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:18 PM
45' | Chance for Villa
Morgan Rogers on the left of the box had the chance to go for the far post. However, he chose to go for the middle of the goal and his shot was blocked.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:16 PM
43' | Nearly from Gvardiol
Curving cross from Grealish from left and the defender with most goals in Premier League this season, Gvardiol tried to sneak in for a header. However, his header went over the bar and Pep has his hands over his head.
Jack Grealish's right footed shot from the left of the box towards the far post is saved by Emi Martinez.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:09 PM
37' | Yellow card
Yellow card for Cash for a foul on Haaland.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:08 PM
36' | City getting caught in the run again
Jack Grealish let the ball go in the midfield and Villa had nearly taken the advantage.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:07 PM
35' | Save from Martinez
Excellent from Lewis to find Foden on the run in the left. Foden, upon receiving the pass went for the shot with his left-foot. But, Martinez was good enough to go low and to his right to make the save. Corner for City.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:05 PM
34' | Nearly for Villa again
Amadou Onana nearly had sneaked inside the box from a Morgan Rogers pass. However, Gundogan was there to block him and win the foul.
Dec 21, 2024, 1:03 PM
The battle of the good hair!
Image | Aston Villa
Dec 21, 2024, 1:00 PM
28' | City looks to be cute, Martinez stays solid
Grealish to GvardioL, GvardioL to Kovacic to John Stones and then to Gundo to bring out the defenders. Gundogan was able to get a cute pass in between the defenders for Haaland to go deep inside the box. But, Martinez was ready to come out and grab the ball.
Dec 21, 2024, 12:57 PM
25' | Grealish misses the target
Grealish, on the left, after receiving the ball, tried to go inside the box and went for a right-footed shot past Cash. However, he could not get his shot from the right part of the boot and it went above Haaland's reach on the far post.
Duran scores for Aston Villa. Unselfish from Morgan Rogers, who took the advantage of a let of by Manchester City defenders in the middle.
Moragn Rogers ran away with the ball and with Duran being along in the right, it was an easy assist and finish from Villa.
They take the lead and this City team looks really venerable during counter-attacks.
Dec 21, 2024, 12:47 PM
Villa fans woos Grealish for every touch
Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Dec 21, 2024, 12:46 PM
14' | City trying to be back in groove
A few corners, a few crosses from the left from Jack Grealish and short passes between the midfielders and a shot from Kovacic, which went straight to Emi Martinez, and City are looking good at the moment.
Dec 21, 2024, 12:40 PM
8' | Save from Ortega
Durán looks to get a snapshot away early, but Ortega gets down quickly to hold.
Dec 21, 2024, 12:39 PM
3' | Missed chance
Amadou Onana (Aston Villa) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Youri Tielemans with a cross following a corner.
Dec 21, 2024, 12:38 PM
1' | Ortega makes a save
Jhon Durán (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
John Stones will be available for selection for the Aston Villa vs Manchester City match. Image | Man. City/X
Ruben Dias and Ederson along with long-term absentees Nathan Ake, Oscar Bobb and Rodri will miss the fixture. Meantime, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Rico Lewis will be available for selection.
Dec 21, 2024, 10:38 AM
Team News | Aston Villa
Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings returned to the playing squad but Jacob Ramsey will miss tonight's contest.
Dec 21, 2024, 10:08 AM
Aston Villa vs Manchester City recent meetings
Image | Premier League
Match Results
Date
Venue
Home Team
Score
Away Team
Wednesday 03 April 2024
Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Man City
4 - 1
Aston Villa
Wednesday 06 December 2023
Villa Park, Birmingham
Aston Villa
1 - 0
Man City
Sunday 12 February 2023
Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Man City
3 - 1
Aston Villa
Saturday 03 September 2022
Villa Park, Birmingham
Aston Villa
1 - 1
Man City
Sunday 22 May 2022
Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Man City
3 - 2
Aston Villa
Dec 21, 2024, 10:06 AM
Aston Villa vs Manchester City: Head-to-head
In the 48 matches in the Premier League era, Manchester City have won 30 times and Aston Villa won 8 games. 10 games between these two teams have been drawn.
Aston Villa
Total Wins: 8
Home Wins: 6
Away Wins: 2
Man City
Total Wins: 30
Home Wins: 20
Away Wins: 10
Dec 21, 2024, 9:59 AM
How to watch the match?
The Indian fans can watch the Aston Villa vs Manchester City LIVE on Disney+Hotstar with a paid plan and Star Sports Select HD on television.
Till now, 9 European clubs (Under UEFA) have managed to win a treble, which includes the premier national league competition, the main national cup competition, and the UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League.
In football, a team wins a treble when they win three major trophies in a single season. Winning the continental treble means winning the premier national league competition, the main national cup competition, and the main continental trophy, for UEFA, which is the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League.
Though winning the Europa League is also considered a treble, it is not accepted wholeheartedly by the pundits and fans as winning the UEFA Champions League.
Till now, 9 European clubs have been able to win the continental treble. Before we discuss all the European treble winners in men's football history, we must know about the types of Trebles we have in football.
Barcelona is the only club to win multiple trebles with both their men's and women's team, completing the feat in 2024.
Continental treble
This is considered the actual treble in football where a team go on to win the national league, national cup competition and the main continental trophy. Celtic Football Club in 1966-67 became the first team in football history to win a Continental treble. Till now, 22 men's teams have won the Continental Treble, with 30 being the total number of times. In Europe, only 8 football teams have been able to accomplish the feat.
Domestic treble
Generally, for most of the footballing nations, winning a domestic treble is not possible since they do not allow first-division teams to win any secondary cup or league. A domestic treble includes winning three national competitions, including the national league title, the national cup competition, and one secondary competition. Countries which were under British or French possessions once allowed domestic trebles to happen. Celtic with 8 domestic trebles, and Rangers, with 7, are the most successful teams when it comes to winning domestic trebles.
European treble winners in men's football history
1. Celtic | 1966-67
Celtic team with their 1966-67 European Cup trophy. Image | Celtic Star
In the 1966-67 season, Celtic became the first team ever to win the continental treble when they won the Scottish Football League, Scottish Cup and European Cup (UEFA Champions League now).
Celtic with 58 points in the Scottish Football League went past Rangers to clinch the national league. In the Scottish Cup, they defeated Aberdeen Football Club by 2-0 in the final to win the trophy. William Wallace was the goalscorer for them in the final.
In the European Cup, Celtic defeated Inter Milan by 2-1 in Lisbon to become the first-ever Treble winner in football history. Thomas Gemmell and Thomas Chalmers were the scorers for Cletic that day.
2. 1971-72 | Ajax
Ajax 1971-72 team that won the European Treble | Image: X
Ajax, the football club from the Netherlands became the second European team to win the treble in the 1971-72 season. They won the Eredivisie, their national league and then won the KNVB Cup and later on won the European Cup to complete their treble. That season, Ajax were nearly the invincible team losing just one game in the whole season.
In the Eredivisie, Johan Cruyff became their top goal scorer with 25 goals. Ajax with 63 points, 8 points cleared Feijenoord in the second position. In the KNVB Cup, they defeated FC Den Haag in the final by 3-2 to win the cup. Cruyff had scored the opener in that game also and scored three goals in the tournament.
In the European Cup, they defeated Inter Milan by 2-0 with Johan Cruyff scoring a brace for them. In all together Cruyff had scored 33 goals for them that season in the three tournaments.
In the 1987-88 season, PSV became the second team from the Netherlands to win the historical treble. That season they won the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the European Cup. They won their 10th Eredivisie title with 59 points, 9 points clear of Ajax in the league table. Wim Kieft scored 29 goals in that season for PSV in the league.
In the KNVB Cup final they defeated Roda JC by 3-2 in the extra time. Then, they went on to win the European Cup by defeating Benfica in the final by a 6-5 penalty shootout. Ronald Koeman came out as one of the standout performers for PSV that season.
Manchester United players with their 1999 UEFA Champions League trophy. Image | FC Barcelona
It took 11 more years for any team to win the European Treble and Manchester United became the first team from England to achieve that feat. United, under Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premier League, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League after not winning any trophies in the previous season. The treble is regarded as the achievement in his career, and he was awarded the knighthood in November 1999 after that success.
They won the Premier League with 79 points, 1 point more than Arsenal. Dwight Yorke with 18 goals was their and League's joint-highest goal scorer in that season. In the FA Cup, despite facing difficult opponents throughout the tournament, Ferguson's men kept on fighting back, and after two semi-final replays against Arsenal and a final against Newcastle United, they won the FA Cup. Paul Scholes and Teddy Sheringham scored for them in a 2-0 win in the final.
In the Champions League, they were drawn into the group of death alongside FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Brondby. They qualified for the knockouts as the runner-up from the group and defeated Inter Milan and Juventus in the quarter and semi-finals, respectively, before beating FC Bayern Munich in a historic comeback in the final. In front of 91000 people in Barcelona, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored in the added minutes to hand Manchester United a terrific 2-1 win over Bayern.
Barcelona players with their 2009 UEFA Champions League trophy. Image | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona in the 2008-09 season became the first Spanish team to win the European Treble. Under their former captain, and Barcelona B coach Pep Guardiola, the Spanish giants reached their peak in that season winning the La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. They are still the only Spanish team to win the European Treble.
After selling players like Deco and Ronaldinho, Barcelona started to reorganise their shape as a club and Lionel Messi alongside Samuel Eto'o became their hero at the front. They won La Liga with 87 points, 9 points clear of Real Madrid. Samuel Eto'o with 30 goals in the league was their top scorer.
In the Copa del Rey final, they defeated Athletic Bilbao by 4-1 as Yaya Toure, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Bojan scored for them after conceding an early goal.
In the 2008-09 Champions League, Barcelona had to clear the qualifying round first to enter the group stage. They defeated Wisła Kraków in a two-legged qualifying round before entering the group stage alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP and Basel.
That header from Lionel Messi that saw FC Barcelona win the 2009 Champions League.
They topped the group stage and then went on to beat Lyon, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea in the knockouts before beating Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in the final in Rome. Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi scored one goal each as Barcelona scripted history. Messi finished with 38 goals in all competitions that season. That season saw Lionel Messi win his first Ballon d'Or award with a record margin of 240 points than second-position Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barcelona in 2009 became the first team to win a "sextuple" in European football history.
6. 2009-10 | Inter Milan
Inter Milan players after their historical 2009-10 European Treble
Right after Barcelona's historical 2008-09 season, Inter Milan created their history as they became the first and still the only Italian team to win the European treble. They were the sixth European Treble winners in the men's football history. It was the "special one", Jose Mourinho's second and last season with the club that helped the Italian giants create history.
After a historical season with FC Barcelona, Samuel Eto'o was swapped with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and was sold to Inter Milan. Eto'o that season went on to become the only player to win back-to-back European Treble. That season Inter Milan won their fifth consecutive Serie A title, Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Champions League.
They first won the Coppa Italia by beating Roma in the final. Diego Militao scored the lone goal for them in the final. Then, they won the Serie A on the final match day with 82 points, 2 points more than Roma.Diego Militao scored 22 goals in the league season for them.
In the UEFA Champions League, they were clubbed with Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv and Rubin Kazan and progressed to the knockout stage as the runner-up of the group. In the knockouts, they defeated Chelsea, CSKA Moscow and Barcelona before winning 2-0 against Bayern Munich in the final. Militao scored a brace for them and won the player of the match award as well.
FC Bayern Munich with the UEFA Champions League 2012-13 trophy
In the 2012-13 season, FC Bayern Munich became the first and only German team to win the European Treble. Under head coach Jupp Heynckes, they won their 22nd Bundesliga title, and 5th UEFA Champions League title alongside the DFB-Pokal title.
Before the season they brought in players like Xherdan Shaqiri, Dante, Claudio Pizarro, Mitchell Weiser, Tom Starke and Mario Mandzukic alongside Javi Martinez for a then-record signing fee.
In the league, they acquired a record-breaking 91 points as Mario Mandzukic finished with 15 goals against his name. In the DFB-Pokal, they defeated VfB Stuttgart in the final by 3-2 as Mario Gomez scored a brace for them.
In the Champions League, they were grouped with Valencia, BATE Borisov and Lille. They moved to the next stage as the group champions and then faced Arsenal, Juventus and Barcelona in the knockouts. In an all-German final, they defeated Borrusia Dortmund by 2-1 to complete their treble. Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben scored for them in the final.
8. 2014-15 | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona players after winning the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League. Image | FC Barcelona
Under head coach Luis Enrique, FC Barcelona in the 2014-15 season became the first team in European football history to win the treble more than once. In the summer, Barcelona signed Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez which helped them create one of the most successful trios in football history in M-S-N with Messi, Suarez and Neymar. They had also signed Marc-André ter Stegen and Ivan Rakitic same season.
They won the La Liga narrowly with 94 points, 2 points clear of Real Madrid. Lionel Messi (43) was outscored by Cristiano Ronaldo (48) in the league that season. Neymar also scored 22 goals for Barcelona in the league that season.
In the Copa del Rey final, they defeated Athletic by 3-1 as Messi scored a brace and Neymar netted once.
In the Champions League, they faced PSG, Ajax and APOEL in the group stage and advanced to the knockout stage as the champions of the group. They then went on to beat Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich before beating Juventus by 3-1 in the final. Neymar, Rakitic and Suarez scored in that final. Messi with 58 goals in all competitions was their top scorer. After that performance, Messi went on to beat Ronaldo and Neymar to win his 5th Ballon d'Or.
9. 2019-20 | FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich won their second European Treble in the 2019-20 season
Post Barca's remarkable success in the 2014-15 season, German club FC Bayern Munich went on to equal their records as the second team in European Football history to win the treble more than once. Under coach Hansi Flick they went on to become the second team in European football to win the "sextuple".
Niko Kovac was the manager for FC Bayern Munich when they started the season, and then Hansi Flick was named as the interim manager. In a season hit by Covid-19, Bayern were forced to play behind closed doors.
However, that did not restrict them from being their brutal best. Robert Lewandowski broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga season (34) as Bayern lifted the league for the 29th time.
In the DFB-Pokal final, they defeated Bayer Leverkusen by 4-2 as Robert Lewandowski scored a brace for them.
In the UEFA Champions League round of 16, they defeated Chelsea. Then, they humiliated Barcelona by an 8-2 win (the biggest margin in a UEFA Champions League knockout game) and thrashed Lyon by 3-0 before beating PSG by 1-0 in the final. Kingsley Coman scored the all-important goal for them in the final.
10. 2022-23 | Manchester City
Manchester City with their first-ever Champions League trophy in 2022-23 season
In the 2022-23 season, Manchester City became the second English team and 8th overall team to win a European Treble. Pep Guardiola created one of his records as he became the first coach in European history to win the treble more than once.
Manchester City were coming into the season as the Premier League defending champions and signed players like Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez to strengthen their squad. Erling Haaland went on to break the record for the most Premier League goals scored in a single season as he scored 35 goals in the whole season. City went on to win their 7th Premier League title with 89 points.
In the FA Cup final, City's captain Iikay Gundogan scored the fastest goal in the FA Cup final's history as they defeated Manchester United by 2-0 in the final.
The Haaland riot continued in the UEFA Champions League as well as he scored four goals against RB Leipzig in the round of 16. They then went on to beat Bayern in the quarters and Real Madrid in the semis before beating Inter Milan in the final by 1-0. Rodri scored the lone goal for them in the final and was named player of the final as well.
Erling Haaland scored 52 goals in his 53 games for Manchester City that season. However, despite that performance, he could not beat Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or trophy.
11. 2024-25 | PSG
PSG became the latest team to win the European treble under Luis Enrique as they clinched their first-ever Champions League trophy, and also lifted the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France trophies.
In Ligue 1, they clinched the French Championship with 84 points, as Ousmane Dembele, with 21 goals, won the Ligue 1 Golden Boot.
In the Coupe de France final, they defeated Reims by 3-0 as Bradley Barcola scored a brace and Achraf Hakimi scored another goal to seal the win.
In their historic Champions League season, Dembele finished as their top scorer of the season while Desire Doue scored a stunning brace to help them lift the title. Achraf Hakimi scored in all quarters, the semis and the final to become one of the heroes for them.
With this win, Luis Enrique became the second manager to win two European trebles with two different teams.
After Luis Enrique became only the sixth football manager to win the Champions League with different clubs, we present you with some interesting football facts about managers with the most UCL titles in their careers.
In Europe, the Champions League is seen as the most demanding title among players, managers, and clubs from all over Europe. The Giant clubs compete for this specific trophy every year, with the prestige and financial rewards received from the tournament being among the biggest in club football.
Achieving success in this competition is usually seen by most players and managers as the benchmark of club-level achievement in Europe. For many managers, winning the Champions League is the ultimate goal.
Some managers, however, have managed to win the competition multiple times, some with multiple teams as well. Without further due, here are the interesting football facts of the five managers with the most Champions League titles.
Many regard Pep Guardiola as the greatest manager of his generation due to his success with all the clubs he has managed. The Spanish manager has won the competition thrice in his managerial career, two times with FC Barcelona and once with Manchester City.
Guardiola won his first Champions League title in his first season in charge of Barcelona, with his side defeating Manchester United 2-0 in 2008-09 as part of their first-ever treble. The former Barcelona midfielder was 38 years old at the time, making him the youngest manager to win the competition to date.
He won his second title two years later in the 2010-11 season, defeating the same opponent 3-1 in the final. Lionel Messi was the star of both triumphs, scoring both times.
Then he managed Bayern but wasn't able to bring any Champions League titles to the German Club. Finally, his 12-year wait came to an end when Manchester City defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in the Final of the UCL 2022-23 season.
Zinedine Zidane led Real Madrid in its most dominant period of the 21st century. The Frenchman won three titles with Los Blancos in three years in charge of the club.
Zidane won his first title just four months after he replaced Rafael Benitez as manager of Real Madrid. He led the side to defeat Atletico Madrid on penalties in the 2015-16 final.
The next season, Real Madrid defeated Juventus 4-1 in the final for their 12th crown.
Zidane led Real Madrid to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the 2017-18 final. The Frenchman is the only manager in history to win the competition three consecutive times. He is also the first and only French manager to win the competition to date.
Bob Paisley | 3 European Cups
Bob Paisley was a Liverpool soccer player, manager, and administrator for almost 50 years.
No football manager demonstrated the art of leading quietly and without ego more than Bob Paisley. He won twenty trophies in nine years for Liverpool Football Club between 1974 and 1983.
He brought 3 European Cups, six League Championships (including three in a row in 1981, 1982, and 1983), three League Cups, 6 Charity Shields, one UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup.
Paisley is the only British manager to win the European Cup three times. Bob is now regarded as one of the best soccer managers of all time.
Carlo Ancelotti | 5 Champions League titles
Carlo Ancelotti is one of football's managerial greats of the 21st century. The Italian manager has won five Champions League titles in his time as a manager, having also won the competition twice as a player.
Ancelotti won his first Champions League title in the 2002-03 season with AC Milan as his side defeated Juventus on penalties in the final. He won his second title in the 2006-07 season as AC Milan defeated Liverpool 2-1.
Ancelotti won his third title with Real Madrid in the 2013-14 season after his side defeated Atlético Madrid 4-1. His fourth title came in the 2021-22 season with Real Madrid once again after a 1-0 victory over Liverpool.
Most Champions League titles won by Football Clubs
Real Madrid are the most successful team in UEFA Champions League history with 15 titles. Here are the football clubs with the most Champions League titles.
Europe has the best and the toughest club competition in the world. The only thing which separates an elite club from a normal club is the Champions League title. Clubs all around Europe dream of winning this competition. Clubs with the most Champions League titles earn more bragging rights than the others. Let's take a look at the top clubs that have won the most number of Champions League titles in the tournament's history.
Champions League Finalists and Winners List since 1956
Top clubs with the most Champions League titles (3 or more)
1. Real Madrid CF (15 UCL titles)
Everyone considers Real Madrid C.F. as the most successful club in world football. This club has achieved great heights both in recent times and in the past. Real Madrid won the first-ever European Cup in 1955-56 which was also the founding year of the competition. Back then it was formally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup. The current format has been around since 1992. Real Madrid has won 15 UEFA Champions League titles which is more than any club in the world.
They won the tournament five consecutive times in the first five seasons of the tournament. Their recent achievement includes a three-peat of winning the UCL under Zinedine Zidane (2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
Cristiano Ronaldo was their star performer with the most impact in the competition. He further tops the chart of the most goal scorers and assists providers in the competition as well.
Paolo Maldini lifting the Champions League 2006-07 season.
AC Milan is an Italian giant with a rich history and glories. They produced players like Maldini, Dida, Nesta and many more. They dominated world football in the past few decades, but things have changed drastically since then.
Milan has fallen from the ranks of great clubs in recent times, but their UCL glory is still more than others, just behind Real Madrid. They have beaten the likes of Juventus, Liverpool, and Barcelona to win the Champions League in the past. Milan has won the Champions League 7 times in their history.
Bayern Munich has been the dominant force in Europe for quite a long time. They dominate the Bundesliga and the domestic cup titles, too. Recently, they have been one of the most prominent sides in Europe to deal with. Bayern humiliated Barcelona with an 8-2 defeat in the UCL quarter-finals and won the 2019-20 Champions League, beating PSG comfortably by 1-0.
Robert Lewandowski was their main man in recent years, with the most goals. However, they have consistently produced players like Robben, Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and others who helped them win the trebles and sextuples.
Bayern Munich's Title winning years
Winning year
Opponent Team
Scoreline
Venue
1973-74
Atletico Madrid
0-4
Brussels
1974-75
Leeds
2-0
Paris
1975-76
St- Etienne
1-0
Glasgow
2000-01
Valencia
1-1 (5-4) Pen
Milan
2012-13
Borussia Dortmund
1-2
London
2019-20
PSG
0-1
Lisbon
All 6 titles of FC Bayern Munich
4. Liverpool FC (6 UCL titles)
Trophy Cabinet of Liverpool including 6 UCL titles. Image - This is Anfield
Liverpool has turned the tables beautifully in recent times. They were a great force in the European competition but suddenly went numb. Liverpool had a rough patch where they went trophyless for many years. With the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager, Liverpool slowly redeemed themselves. In the 2017-18 season, they reached the UCL finals but failed to win against Real Madrid.
Next season they came back stronger, from a 3-0 defeat in the first leg to win 4-0 in the second leg and knocked Barcelona out of the UCL semis. Liverpool went on to be the champions defeating Spurs by 2-0 in the all-English final to win their 6th UCL trophy. Their great comeback against Milan in 2005 at Istanbul still gives goosebumps to every football fan.
Liverpool's Title winning years
Winning year
Opponent Team
Scoreline
Venue
1976-77
Monchengladbach
3-1
Rome
1977-78
Club Brugge
1-0
London
1980-81
Real Madrid
1-0
Paris
1983-84
Roma
1-1 (2-4) Pen
Rome
2004-05
AC Milan
3-3 (2-3) Pen
Istanbul
2018-19
Tottenham Hotspur
2-0
Madrid
All 6 titles of Liverpool FC
5. FC Barcelona (5 UCL Titles)
FC Barcelona bagging their 5th UCL title. Image - 90MIN
FC Barcelona are one of the biggest clubs in Europe with a great history in the UCL. They have won the title 5 times, while three of them came in the last decade. Their famous Lamasia - The FC Barcelona academy produced world-class players at the time. Players like Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and many more were a part of the academy.
Coach Pep Guardiola conquered the world with some beautiful football. He managed to win both the Treble and Sextuple during his reign. A few years later Luis Enrique guided them to their 5th UCL title and also a treble. That was Barcelona's last high run in the UCL. After that, they have faced some problems and have not been able to continue their dominance in European football.
AFC Ajax has a great history. They are the only team to win the UCL 4 times which is not from the top 5 leagues. Football maestro Johan Cruyff was from this team, he later changed the definition of playing football. Introducing Tiki-taka football to the world, Ajax had a great run in the past. He later influenced Barcelona to play that type of football which brought them huge success in the end.
They last won the title in 1995 when the likes of Van der Sar, and Rijkaard used to play for them. Since then they have reached the UCL semifinal in 2019 upsetting big teams and then lost to the Spurs in the semifinal in the dying minutes. Ajax's run is considered one of the greatest underdogs in the history of the UEFA Champions League.
Ajax's Title winning years
Winning year
Opponent Team
Scoreline
Venue
1970-71
Panathinaikos
2-0
London
1971-72
Internazionale
2-0
Rotterdam
1972-73
Juventus
1-0
Belgrade
1994-95
AC Milan
1-0
Vienna
All 4 titles of AFC Ajax
7. Manchester United (3 UCL Titles)
Manchester United one of the greatest clubs in the world has won three Champions League titles. They looked like the best team in the world during their reign. Players like David Beckham, Ryan Gigs, and Wayne Rooney were part of the golden team when United lifted their 3rd European title. Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of this team is one of the greatest ever in the history of the sport. He introduced one of the recent footballing greats Cristiano Ronaldo in top-flight football, who was also part of that 2007-08 team.
Manchester United have also won the treble and enlisted themselves in an elite list in World Football. Since then they qualified for two Champions League finals but faced defeat against FC Barcelona.
Internazionale won two of their three trophies back in the 1960s. Since then, they have been having a disappointing year in and year out. Their recent UCL title was in 2009-10 when Jose Mourinho took charge. They were not the favourites in that season, yet they went on to win the UCL.
Jose Mourinho at that time was emerging as one of the best coaches in the world. He played typical defensive football, frustrating his opponents, which created mistakes. They capitalised on those mistakes and went on to win their 3rd Champions League. They defeated the heavyweights Barcelona in the semis and Bayern Munich in the final to clinch their title.
Internazionale's Title winning years
Winning Year
Opponent team
Scoreline
Venue
1963-64
Real Madrid
3-1
Vienna
1964-65
Benfica
1-0
Milan
2009-10
Bayern Munich
0-2
Madrid
All 3 titles of Inter Milan
Clubs with less than three Champions League titles:
Premier League teams to qualify for Champions League every season since 2016
Here are the Premier League teams to qualify for UEFA Champions League every season since 2016. A record six Premier League teams have already qualified for Champions League 2025-26.
The English Premier League, or the Premier League, has been the best football league in Europe for a long now. As per UEFA Club Coefficients, the Premier League is the best football league on the continent, with the best standard of football and competitiveness.
The competitiveness not only makes it tough for teams to finish at the summit of the points table, but the battle for the UEFA Champions League spot also intensifies. This season, Liverpool FC, Arsenal FC, Manchester City, Chelsea FC, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League from the Premier League.
This is the first time six teams from any league have qualified for the Champions League. Not only that, there is also a chance that another team can qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season, depending on Chelsea's performance in the Conference League final this season.
How do teams qualify for the Champions League from a league?
Till the 2022-23 season, every top-four team from the European Leagues used to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Along with the top four teams, the Europa League winners also qualified for the Champions League next season.
But, from the 2024 season, along with the top four teams and Europa League/Conference League winners, leagues started getting an additional European Performance Spot. EPS is awarded to the league with strong UEFA coefficient performances, which the Premier League earned this season as well.
Premier League teams to qualify for the Champions League every season since 2016
2015-16
In the 2025-16 Champions League season, Chelsea qualified as the champions of the Premier League 2014-15. Manchester City and Arsenal qualified as the second and third finishers of the league.
Meanwhile, Manchester United qualified for the Champions League play-off round as the UEFA Europa League 2014-15 winners.
Leicester City surprised everyone to win the 2015-16 Premier League after a historic season. They entered the Champions League as the champions of England. Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester City qualified as the second to fourth spot finishers.
Chelsea qualified for the Champions League by winning the 2016-17 Premier League. Spurs, who were very close of a title, finished second to qualify for Europe. Manchester City and Liverpool qualified as the third and fourth place finishers.
Meantime, Manchester United, who were sixth in the league qualified after winning the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League.
Manchester City's domination in the Premier League started with winning the 2017-18 season, as they entered the Champions League 2018-19 as the champions of England. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool were the other teams to qualify for Champions League.
Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur played an all-England final where Liverpool defeated Spurs by 2-0 to win the title.
After winning the Champions League, Liverpool finished second in the Premier League, just one point behind the champions, Manchester City. Chelsea and Spurs qualified as the third and fourth team from Premier League.
Liverpool finally broke City's Premier League domination as they lifted 2019-20 Premier League title with 18 points lead over Manchester City, who finished second. Manchester United and Chelsea were the other teams to qualify for the Champions League.
Manchester City and Chelsea played an all-English Champions League in 2021, where Chelsea won their second UCL title.
Manchester City again won the Premier League title to qualify for Europe, with Manchester United finishing second in the league. Liverpool and Chelsea were the other tequalified as the third and fourth teams from the Premier League.
Liverpool lost the Champions League final against Real Madrid in the 2021-22 season.
City defended the Premier League title in the 2021-22 season and entered the Champions League 2022-23, which they eventually won, beating Inter Milan in the final.
Liverpool, who lost the Premier League race by just one point, qualified alongside Chelsea and Spurs.
City won their third consecutive Premier League title helped them earn the Champions League spot. Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League 2023-24.
Back-to-back four Premier League titles for City ensured them another go at the Champions League. Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa were the other teams from Premier League to qualify for the new format Champions Legaue.
Arsenal were the only team from the Premier League to play semi-final that season.
A record six teams qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League season from the Premier League. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea qualified as the top four teams. The EPS allowed an added spot as Newcastle United qualified as the fifth team.
Who is leading the 2024-25 European Golden Boot race?
Kylian Mbappe is leading the race for the 2024-25 European Golden Boot. However, players like Viktor Gyökeres, Mohamed Salah and a few others are also in race.
The European leagues are up and running and we have already witnessed some great encounters between the top European teams. The hunt to win the European Golden Boot is also taking shape for the 2024-25 season.
Some big names from the Top five European leagues are already in full swing and they are scoring loads of goals to clinch the coveted annual award for the highest goalscorer in Europe. However, some young and talented players have enlisted themselves in the charts as well; even from outside of the top five European leagues.
Sportzpoint brings you all the details about the leading goalscorers in the top five European leagues, details of the UEFA League ranking, and the leading goalscorers competing for the 2024-25 European Golden Boot.
The European Golden Boot Race
Bayern forward Harry Kane won the 2023-24 Golden Boot. (Image Credit | SuperSport))
The Golden Boot is awarded by European Sports Media (ESM) which is a unified association of Football Magazine publications such as Marca, Kicker, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Frankfurter AZ, etc. They took over since 1996-97 season and started a new ranking system based on the position of the league for the respective players.
The UEFA coefficient ranking is considered a measure for weighting points, with the principle being to acknowledge players who score in leagues of higher quality according to rankings, which makes it tougher to find the back of the net.
The number of goals scored in the top five leagues of Europe are counted with a multiplier of two, while those from leagues ranked six to 21 receive a 1.5 multiplier, and goals from all other leagues are counted as one.
This is how the points system works.
⚽️🏆 Players with the Most European Golden Boot Wins:
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi: 6 🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo: 4 🇺🇾 Luis Suarez: 2 🇫🇷 Thierry Henry: 2 🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski: 2
The Ultimate European Golden Boot Race (Among the top 10 European Leagues according to UEFA coefficient rankings)
Considering the players from the top 10 European leagues in this list, this is what the current race of chasing the 2024-25 European Golden Boot looks like: