This Blog is about union betting
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Champions League Betting 2011 - Champions League History
The UEFA Champions League began life as the European Champion Clubs' Cup referred to as simply the European Cup and was originally conceived as a knockout competition between the champion club of each country. It's format has been considerably expanded since then and it now regarded as the premier club football competition in the world.
The tournament began in 1955 as a reaction to claims in the British press that Wolverhamptom Wanders were the 'Champions of the World' after a successful run of wins in friendlies against European competition in the early fifties. A formal competition began in the season 1955 -56 with teams playing two matches, home and away to progress to the the next knockout stage.
Real Madrid soon dispelled Wolves' claim, winning the trophy for the first five years on the trot and Real have since won it nine times in total, the current record. But English clubs did come to dominate the competition in the 1970s and early 1980s when Liverpool won it four times and Nottingham Forest twice. Champions League Betting 2011
A controversial five year ban for English clubs following the Heysel disaster in 1985 ended that dominance and it was not until Manchester United won the competition in 1999 for the second time that English clubs would again come out on top.
Overall, Italian clubs have the best record with 12 wins and 14 runners-up, Spain are next with 12 wins and 9 runners-up, whilst English clubs have 11 winners. Germany and Holland share six winners each.
Nowadays, the format of the tournament has greatly expanded such that the strongest European Leagues provide as many as four entrants.
There are several preliminary rounds prior to the round robin group stages with the top teams in each group progressing to a two leg knockout stage progressing to the showcase final. Italy's Internazional are the current UEFA Champions League holders having beaten Germany's Bayern Munich 2 - 0 in the 2010 final. Champions League
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