The Road to Madrid in the UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is a tournament that features 32 of the best teams from around Europe. Teams are divided into groups of four for the initial stage of the competition — which continues for about three months. Sides play each other home and away and then the top two from each group progress onto the knockout round. Draws are made for the knockout stage and the quarter-finals, so it’s not certain who plays who till the last minute.

The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium hosts this year's final. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

And it is these latter stages where things get really interesting. Teams play each other on a home and away basis (two legs) with the team scoring the greater number of goals going through. But there is a catch. Away goals are like gold dust for visiting teams. In case of a drawn scoreline over two legs — the greater number of away goals tilt the balance. The final though is a spectacle on it’s own. It is played as a single game at a neutral venue and is apparently one of the most watched sports event in the world — ahead of the superbowl. Venues in the past few years have included Rome, Paris, Istanbul and Athens. This year’s final will be staged in Madrid at the home of Real Madrid — the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

All European countries respective football leagues have a set number of slots in the competition depending upon their ranking with UEFA — the sport’s continental governing body. England, Germany, France and Italy get the bulk of the places with other countries including Romania, Greece, Portugal and Russia filling out the others.

Apart from the automatic qualification slots (for the group stages), each league also has a designated number of places for teams that go into the qualifying rounds. These are a series of games before the group stages — and can account for more or less teams from a particular country. It especially benefits teams from smaller states.

But despite the presence of the minnows, it’s been the European powerhouses that have predictably dominated the competition. Spain’s Real Madrid are the most successful side having won the tournament nine times, followed by AC Milan (7), Liverpool (5), Bayern Munich (4), Manchester United (3) and Barcelona (3). Barcelona are the defending champions.

As with any sport, the real excitement is in watching the game with friends. And as I’ve learned in this country that can only be achieved at a pub. They’re the next best thing to the stadium to experience the passion, atmosphere and thrills of football. My search for country-specific pubs hasn’t gotten too far yet, though I did manage to find a German pub called Octoberfest — which is also the official one, for one of the country’s biggest football teams Bayern Munich.

Other bars such as Famous Three Kings in Kensington show games from all football leagues and other sports such as cricket (something for those from the Asian sub-continent). And if anyone is an avid Arsenal supporter like myself they can make their way to the Gunners Bar on Blackstock Road (Highbury) — just a few steps from the team’s stadium.

SEMI-FINALS (prospective winners):

Barcelona Vs Inter Milan (Barcelona)

Bayern Munich Vs Lyon (Bayern)

The semi-finals start in about a fortnight and the prospects are mouth-watering (in one case at least). History suggests that no team has mounted a successful defence of the trophy and I think that trend will continue this season. Even though Barcelona seem like the best team by a good distance in Europe, I think Bayern Munich could surprise everyone — we’ll just have to wait and see.