History of UEFA European Football Championship

The tournament was in 1955 at the suggestion of the French sports journalist and editor of L'Équipe Gabriel Hanot, who conceived the idea of receiving the reports of its journalists during the extremely successful Campeonato Campeones 1948 Sudamericano inaugurated by. In reaction to a statement from the British press from Wolverhampton Wanderers to be "World Champions" After a good European kindly in the 1950s, it Hanot finally managed to persuade UEFA to a continental tournament in the implementation scale. The tournament was designed as competition for the winners of European football leagues, such as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, abbreviated to European Cup.

The competition started as from 1955 to 1956 with a knockout format with two legs, where the teams play two games, is one home and one away game and the team with the highest overall score qualifying for the next round of competition. Until 1992, was refused entry to teams that have won national championships, as well as the current holder of the European Cup limited the national champion. In the season 1992/93 the format has been modified to include a group stage and the tournament was renamed the UEFA Champions League.

There have been many changes to the eligibility for the competition, the number of qualifying rounds and the structure of the group. In 1997-98 eligibility has been expanded to include the finalists of some countries according to the UEFA coefficient rankings. The examination system is such that countries participating in the junior national champion in one or more qualifying rounds before the group restructured stage, while the finalists of the rise of divided countries in later rounds. Up to four teams from the top of the countries currently have the authorization given to the competition.

Between 1960 and 2004, the winner of the tournament qualified for the now defunct Intercontinental Cup against the winner of the Copa Libertadores of South America. Since then, the winner automatically qualifies for the FIFA World Cup held in clubs with other winners of continental championships.