The UEFA Champions League is perhaps the most prestigious professional soccer league in Europe. This historic league was founded over fifty years ago in 1955. A French Sports Journalist, Gabriel Hanot, suggested the development of the league for those clubs that were champions of their national soccer leagues. Mr. Hanot was also the editor of L'Equipe, a French newspaper. His idea rapidly spread throughout the landscapes of Europe, eventually spawning the inaugural year of the European Cup.
The original format for the cup was a two-leg knockout competition. This involved teams playing two matches and the team with the highest aggregate score advanced. Only teams that won their national league championships were permitted to join the tournament up until 1992. In 1992, the format was changed to include a group stage as well as a two-leg knockout phase. At this point in time, the competition was renamed to the UEFA Champions League. Since this change, numerous modifications have been made regarding which teams are eligible for the league. In recent years, runners up of national soccer leagues were allowed to enter the league. At the same time, this usually only applied to higher ranked countries. Recently, the UEFA Football (Soccer) committee recognized a need to seed teams based on their countries performance over the past five years.
The reason for this is that there were numerous complaints from some of the top leagues within Europe. They argued that teams from their league should have a higher seed since it is more difficult to win their league compared to other leagues throughout Europe. As a result, many of the smaller leagues are required to play extra rounds to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. This has been the format of the competition for at least the last five years.
The original format for the cup was a two-leg knockout competition. This involved teams playing two matches and the team with the highest aggregate score advanced. Only teams that won their national league championships were permitted to join the tournament up until 1992. In 1992, the format was changed to include a group stage as well as a two-leg knockout phase. At this point in time, the competition was renamed to the UEFA Champions League. Since this change, numerous modifications have been made regarding which teams are eligible for the league. In recent years, runners up of national soccer leagues were allowed to enter the league. At the same time, this usually only applied to higher ranked countries. Recently, the UEFA Football (Soccer) committee recognized a need to seed teams based on their countries performance over the past five years.
The reason for this is that there were numerous complaints from some of the top leagues within Europe. They argued that teams from their league should have a higher seed since it is more difficult to win their league compared to other leagues throughout Europe. As a result, many of the smaller leagues are required to play extra rounds to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. This has been the format of the competition for at least the last five years.
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