The final of the Champions League has been an occasion that has drawn supporters, irrespective of the teams taking part in the showpiece, around the globe. The club competition has been a spectacle and pioneer of club tournaments in Europe since its formation in 1955 as the European Cup. It has been a pride, prestige and legacy built for the winning side setting themselves as ‘Kings of Europe’ for that season or beyond. A total of 23 clubs have won the Champions League/European Cup. Among them, only six have managed to taste success multiple times. Real Madrid holds the record for most titles with 15 and won the first five contests since the competition’s inauguration.
Los Blancos also appeared in 18 of the 69 finals played so far, dominating the era between 1955 to 1960 and 2014 to 2018. As a case, Spanish teams have been the most successful in Champions League history with their rivals Barcelona winning five titles in addition to Real Madrid’s unprecedented achievements. The final has been the spotlight on both players and managers. Real Madrid’s Francisco Gento has won six titles from the European Cup days while modern-day football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has won four honors in the same colour and one with English giants Manchester United. Carlo Ancelloti also tasted success in the Champions League as a player but his manager career is more highlighted having won the title a record five times.
Stats and records of the European Cup/ Champions League final:
- Most titles won: Real Madrid (15)
- Most titles won by a player: Francisco Gento, Toni Cross, Nacho Fernadez, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal (6)
- Most titles won by a player with two clubs: Cristiano Ronaldo (5)
- Most titles won by a manager: Carlo Ancelloti (5)
- Most titles won by a nation: Spain (20)
- Most titles won by a nation with different clubs: England (6)
- Most consecutive titles won by a manager: Zinedine Zidane (3)
- Most appearances in a final by a club: Real Madrid (18)
- Most consecutive appearance by a club in a final: Real Madrid (5)
- Most successive title wins: Real Madrid (5)
- Most appearances in a final by a player: Francisco Gento and Paolo Maldini (8)
- Most appearances in a final by a player with two clubs: Cristiano Ronaldo (5)
- Most appearances in a final by a coach: Carlo Ancelloti (6)
- Most appearances in a final managing multiple clubs: Carlo Ancelloti (4)
- Most final reached by a nation: Spain (31)
- Most finalists from a nation with different clubs: England (9)
- Teams with the most final appearances without losing: Nottingham Forest and Porto (2)
- Team with the most final appearances without winning: Atletico Madrid (3)
- Most final loss by a club: Juventus (7)
- Most goals scored by a club in final history: Real Madrid (45)
- Most goals conceded by a club in final history: Real Madrid (23)
- Player with the most goals in final history: Alfredo Di Stéfano (7)
- Player who have scored more than once in a final: Ferenc Puskás (4)
- Biggest win in a European Cup/Champions League final: AC Milan 4-0 Steaua (1989), AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona (1994)
- Highest-scoring game in a European Cup/Champions League final: Real Madrid 7-3 Frankfurt (1960)
- Oldest player to appear in a European Cup/Champions League final: Dino Zoff (41 years, 86 days)
- Oldest scorer in a European Cup/Champions League final: Paolo Maldini (36 years 333 days)
- Oldest player to win a European Cup/Champions League final: Paolo Maldini (38 years 331 days)
- Youngest player to appear in a Champions League/European Cup final: António Simões (18 years 139 days)
- Youngest scorer in a Champions League/European Cup final: Patrick Kluivert (18 years 327 days)
- Youngest player to win a European Cup/Champions League final: António Simões (18 years 139 days)
