English football clubs in international competitions

International competitions

European competitions

With 50 UEFA club competition trophies won, English football clubs are the joint second-most successful in European football, tied with Italy and behind only Spain (67). In the top-tier, the UEFA Champions League, a record six English clubs have won a total of 15 titles and lost a further 11 finals, behind Spanish clubs with 20 and 11, respectively. In the second-tier, the UEFA Europa League, English clubs are joint-second, with ten victories and nine losses in the finals. In the former second-tier UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, English teams won a record eight titles and had a further five finalists. In the non-UEFA organized Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, English clubs provided four winners and four runners-up, the second-most behind Spain with six and three, respectively. In the newly created third-tier UEFA Conference League, English clubs have a record two titles so far. In the former fourth-tier UEFA Intertoto Cup, England won four titles and had a further final appearance, placing it fifth in the rankings, although English clubs were notorious for treating the tournament with disdain, either sending "B" squads or withdrawing from it altogether.{{cite web| url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/history/index.html | publisher=UEFA | title=UEFA Intertoto Cup history | access-date=7 June 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060503020611/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/history/index.html |archive-date = 3 May 2006}} In the single-tie UEFA Super Cup, England has ten winners and eleven runners-up, the second-most behind Spain with 17 and 15, respectively.

Heysel ban

English teams have participated in UEFA competitions every year except for 1955–56 and the years between 1985 and 1990, when in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster all English clubs were banned from Europe by UEFA; Liverpool, who had been playing at the Heysel Stadium against Italian side Juventus, were banned for six years, until 1991.

Intercontinental competitions

English clubs made a total of six appearances in the single-tie Intercontinental Cup organized by UEFA and CONMEBOL, winning only one of them, and withdrew a further three times. Despite its international status of the Club World Championship, English teams did not take the competition seriously enough. English clubs have won the FIFA-organized Club World Cup five times, the second-most behind only Spain, with eight.

Upton Park represented Great Britain in the football tournament at the 1900 Summer Olympics, which at that time was organized solely by the International Olympic Committee, and won the gold medal.

Other competitions

Prior to the establishment of official UEFA competitions in the 1950s, England had been pioneers in early continental football, organizing the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, which was won by West Auckland when they defeated Juventus in 1909. In 1969, due to the non-top-flight Swindon Town winning the Football League Cup, the Anglo-Italian League Cup was created to allow alternative European football outside UEFA regulations. It continued off-and-on until 1976.

Qualification for UEFA competitions

From the 2021–22 season, the various permutations allow for a maximum of five English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, three for the UEFA Europa League and one for the UEFA Conference League. From the 2018–19 season, the top four clubs in Europe's four highest ranked leagues qualify directly to the group stage. These nations are currently England, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The minimum quota is for four English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and two for the UEFA Europa League.

Wales-based clubs

Note that some Football League clubs are not based in England. Because they are members of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the question of which country clubs like Cardiff City and Swansea City should represent in European competitions has caused long-running discussions in UEFA. Despite being a member of the FAW, Swansea took up one of England's three available places in the UEFA Europa League in 2013–14, thanks to winning the League Cup in 2012–13. The right of Welsh clubs to take up such English places was in doubt until UEFA clarified the matter in March 2012.

Title winners

Liverpool are the most successful English and British team internationally with fourteen honours, winning the most prestigious Champions League six times, also English and British records. A full list of winners is below.

English clubs by number of international honours

Chronology

Full record

Note: Clubs in bold won the corresponding competition that season.

European Cup/UEFA Champions League

English clubs have won the competition fifteen times and been runners-up on eleven occasions.

Note: UEL denotes entrance to the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

UEFA Cup/Europa League

English clubs have won the competition ten times and reached the final on nine other occasions (including 1972, 2019 and 2025 when both finalists were from England).

Note: UECL denotes entrance to the UEFA Europa Conference League.

UEFA Conference League

English clubs have won the competition twice.

European/UEFA Super Cup

English clubs have won the competition ten times and taken part on eleven other occasions (only two clubs qualify).

European/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

English clubs won the now defunct competition a record eight times and reached the final on five other occasions.

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

English clubs won the now defunct competition four times and reached the final on four other occasions.

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy play-off

Single match play-off between the most successful clubs to decide the permanent keepers of the trophy. Leeds lost to Barcelona.

UEFA Intertoto Cup

English clubs won the now defunct competition four times.

FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup (or the FIFA Club World Championship, as it was originally called) has been won by English clubs five times (Manchester United in 2008, Liverpool in 2019, Chelsea in 2021 and 2025, and Manchester City in 2023). Liverpool and Chelsea were also runners-up once each.

Intercontinental Cup

Before being supplanted by the FIFA Club World Cup, the now defunct Intercontinental Cup served as a de facto annual world club championship contested by the European and South American club champions. Manchester United won it in 1999, the only time an English team won. English clubs contested the cup on five other occasions (1968, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1984), losing each time.

Additionally, English clubs have initially qualified for the Intercontinental Cup but withdrew from participation, namely Liverpool in 1977 and Nottingham Forest in 1979. Both berths were eventually taken by the respective European Cup losing finalists. Liverpool also qualified for the 1978 edition but they and opponents Boca Juniors declined to play each other, making it a no contest.

Olympic Games

Performance summary by competition

European Cup/UEFA Champions League

Six English clubs have won either the European Cup or UEFA Champions League. Liverpool have won six times, which is the most of any English club.

UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League

Five English clubs have won either the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have each won three times, which is the most of any English club.

UEFA Conference League

Two English clubs have won either the UEFA Europa Conference League or UEFA Conference League. West Ham United and Chelsea have each won one time.

European/UEFA Super Cup

Six English clubs have won either the European Super Cup or UEFA Super Cup. Liverpool have won four times, which is the most of any English club.

European/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Seven English clubs have won either the European Cup Winners' Cup or UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Chelsea have won two times, which is the most of any English club.

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Three English clubs have won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Leeds United have won two times, which is the most of any English club.

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Four English clubs have won the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Newcastle United, West Ham United, Aston Villa, and Fulham have each won one time.

FIFA Club World Cup

Four English clubs have won the FIFA Club World Cup. Chelsea have won two times, which is the most of any English club.

Intercontinental Cup

Manchester United are the only English club that have won the Intercontinental Cup. They have won one time.

Olympic Games

Upton Park represented Great Britain at the 1900 Olympic Games and won the gold medal.

European Cup and UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League (previously known as the European Cup) is a seasonal club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. The prize, the European Champion Clubs' Cup, is considered the most prestigious club trophy in the sport.

As of the end of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League season, English clubs have fifteen European Cup wins. The most recent English win came in 2023 when Manchester City defeated Inter Milan 1–0 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium. A record six English clubs have won Europe's premier club competition: Liverpool six times, the first English team to retain the cup (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005 and 2019), Manchester United three times and the first English team to win the European Cup (1968, 1999 and 2008), Nottingham Forest twice, being the second English team to retain the European Cup (1979 and 1980), Chelsea twice (2012 and 2021), Aston Villa once (1982) and Manchester City once (2023). English clubs also hold the records for the most consecutive tournament victories by clubs from one country (six wins between 1977 and 1982 by Liverpool, Forest and Villa) as well as the most consecutive defeats in the final (four teams were runners-up once each between 2006 and 2009).

History

Wolves' formative steps

Wolverhampton Wanderers were a dominant English side in the 1950s, being league champions three times (1953–54, 1957–58 and 1958–59), under the management of Stan Cullis. Wolves also finished League runners-up on five occasions, most recently in 1959–60. In 1954, before anyone had really expanded the borders of domestic football, after recently winning the first division for the first time Wolves thought they would test themselves against Hungarian giants Honved.

At the time, Honved had Ferenc Puskás, who was a star player on the world stage. The match was part of Wolves' series of 'floodlit friendlies' which turned out to be the spark that created the European Cup as it came to be known. Wolves won 3–2, playing under the rare sight of floodlights in England, and it attracted attention all over Europe. The game was also broadcast live on the BBC and would become possibly the moment that the European Cup was truly born.

Wolves had also beaten a Spartak Moscow side earlier in the series, and the Daily Mail crowned them 'champions of the world' after sinking the Hungarians. But Gabriel Hanon, editor of L'Equipe at the time, hit back, saying the English side needed to win in Budapest or Moscow before they could claim that title. Hanon was at Molineux for the match and enjoyed it so much he started a campaign to introduce a competition where Europe's elite clubs would face off against each other regularly.

Early years: 1955–1967

As champions of The Football League in 1954–55, Chelsea were scheduled to become England's representatives in the inaugural European Champions' Cup competition, to be staged the following season. Indeed, they were drawn to face Swedish champions Djurgården in the first round. However, Chelsea were denied by the intervention of The Football League, in particular their secretary Alan Hardaker, who persuaded them to withdraw, insistent that pan-European tournaments are a mere distraction to the English domestic season.{{Cite news | access-date =30 May 2009}}{{Cite news | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110805092558/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article385542.ece | url-status = dead | archive-date = 5 August 2011 | access-date =30 May 2009 | location=London}}

Instead, the 1955–56 league champions, Manchester United, became the first English club to compete in the new tournament, with their manager Matt Busby determined time overcome objections from The Football League. They faced Anderlecht in the preliminary round, winning the first leg 2–0 away from home. Dennis Viollet scored the opening goal, the first for an English club in the European Cup, and he went on to become the tournament's top scorer that season, scoring nine goals. Four goals from Viollet and a hat-trick from Tommy Taylor helped United to achieve a 10–0 second leg victory as they progressed 12–0 on aggregate.{{Cite web | access-date =4 July 2009}} United's first three home ties of the competition were played at Manchester City's Maine Road ground, since the floodlights at Old Trafford were still in the process of being installed and were not switched on until March 1957.{{cite book | last = Inglis | first = Simon | title = The Football Grounds of England and Wales | orig-year = 1983 | edition = Paperback

Tottenham Hotspur reached the semi-finals of the 1961–62 tournament, but were knocked out by Benfica.

The next two seasons were less successful in terms of progress by English clubs. Ipswich Town began the 1962–63 competition with a 14–1 aggregate victory over Floriana (including a 10–0 second leg win), but lost in the first round to AC Milan, who went on to win the final at Wembley. A year later Everton were beaten by another Milan club, Inter, in the preliminary round.

Manchester United win at Wembley: 1967–1976

Leeds United centre forward Mick Jones was the top scorer in the 1969–70 tournament; his eight goals helped his club to reach the semi-final stage, where they lost to Celtic. Jones scored a hat-trick in Leeds' 10–0 first round first leg win over Lyn Oslo, a match in which his teammate Michael O'Grady had opened the scoring after just 35 seconds, at the time believed to be the fastest goal in European Cup history.{{Cite web | access-date =15 July 2009}} In 1970–71, Everton reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Panathinaikos on the away goals rule. In the early rounds, Everton had won the competition's first ever penalty shootout when they eliminated Borussia Mönchengladbach.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051204083550/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1970/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 December 2005 | access-date =15 July 2009}} Arsenal made their first European Cup appearance in 1971–72. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Ajax, who went on to win the second of three consecutive European Cups, while Arsenal would not feature in the competition for another twenty years. In 1975, Leeds United faced Bayern Munich, of Germany in the final of the tournament in Paris. The game emerged as one of the most controversial matches in football history as it transpired that match fixing played a part in the latter's 2–0 victory with both goals benefiting from dubious refereeing decisions. Leeds United supporters often sing at both home and away matches proclaiming themselves 'champions of Europe,' after feeling aggrieved by the injustice of that night.

Derby County returned to the competition in 1975–76, but this time were defeated at the second round stage by Real Madrid. A Charlie George hat-trick gave Derby a 4–1 first leg victory, but Madrid progressed thanks to a 5–1 extra time win in the second leg.{{Cite web | access-date =21 July 2009}}

English domination: 1976–1984

Liverpool led the way with domination in the late 1970s and until the mid 1980s. Beating any team out in front of them, they were unstoppable. Whereas the early to mid-1970s had seen three successive European Cup victories each for Ajax and Bayern Munich, the competition was dominated by English clubs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1977 and 1982, English teams won a record six successive finals. The sequence began when Liverpool, managed by Bob Paisley, beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 in the 1977 European Cup Final, in what was striker Kevin Keegan's last game for the club.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051211122804/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1976/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 11 December 2005 | access-date =20 July 2009}} Keegan's replacement Kenny Dalglish scored the only goal of the 1978 final against Club Brugge as Liverpool became the first English club to retain the trophy.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://archive.today/20070202040325/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=1977/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2 February 2007 | access-date =20 July 2009}} Meanwhile, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest had succeeded Liverpool as English champions, and the two teams faced each other in the first round of the 1978–79 European Cup in the first meeting of two English clubs in the competition. Nottingham Forest won the tie on the way to reaching the final, where they beat Malmö 1–0. Forest was the third club to win the tournament at their first attempt, after Real Madrid in 1955–56 and Inter Milan in 1963–64.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111203140307/http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=1978/overview/index.html#197879+forest+join+elite+club | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 December 2011 | access-date = 20 September 2012}}

Liverpool was again eliminated in the first round in 1979–80, while Forest retained the trophy, beating Hamburg 1–0 in the final. The following season it was Nottingham Forest's turn to make a first round exit as Liverpool went all the way to the final, where they beat Real Madrid 1–0 to secure their third European Cup under Bob Paisley. Liverpool's Terry McDermott and Graeme Souness were the tournament's joint top scorers, alongside Bayern Munich's Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, with six goals apiece.{{Cite web | access-date =21 July 2009}} Liverpool failed to retain the trophy on this occasion as they were beaten in the quarter-finals by CSKA Sofia in the 1981–82 competition. A sixth successive English victory was still achieved however, as Aston Villa, playing in the European Cup for the first time, beat Bayern Munich 1–0 in the final in Rotterdam.{{Cite web | access-date =21 July 2009}} The run of victories by English clubs came to an end in 1982–83 when both Liverpool and Aston Villa went out at the quarter-final stage after losing to Widzew Łódź and Juventus respectively.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051124004839/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1982/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 November 2005 | access-date =16 July 2009}} In the 1983–84 competition, Liverpool once again reached the final, where they faced Roma in the latter's home stadium, the Stadio Olimpico. The match finished 1–1 after extra time and Liverpool won the subsequent penalty shootout 4–2 to lift their fourth European Cup. It was the first time that the final had been settled by spot kicks.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051126204411/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1983/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 26 November 2005 | access-date =19 July 2009}}

Heysel and its repercussions: 1984–1992

Liverpool's participation in the 1984–85 European Cup marked their ninth successive season in the competition. They again made it to the final, but lost out 1–0 to Juventus after Michel Platini scored a second-half penalty. 1985 was the year of the Heysel Stadium disaster, which led to all English clubs being banned from European competitions for the next five seasons. The ban was lifted in 1990, but there was no English representation in the 1990–91 European Cup due to English champions Liverpool being excluded from European competitions for an additional season.

In the 1991–92 season, Arsenal were the first team to represent England in the European Cup after English teams were allowed back in. The Gunners lost out over two legs in the second round to Benfica.

1990s: Champions League introduced

The 1992–93 season saw the competition rebranded as the UEFA Champions League, a move that formalised the mini-league format that had been introduced the previous year.{{Cite web |access-date = 12 July 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070102183853/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season%3D1992/intro.html |archive-date = 2 January 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051124013501/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1993/round=54/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 November 2005 | access-date =12 July 2009}}

A further change to the competition occurred in 1994–95, when the first and second rounds were replaced by four mini-leagues of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the quarter-finals.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://archive.today/20070104215531/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=1994/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 January 2007 | access-date =13 July 2009}} As one of eight seeded teams, Manchester United were given a bye directly to the group stage, but missed out on the quarter-finals after finishing third, behind Barcelona on goal difference.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060314204625/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=1994/round=64/group=7.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 14 March 2006 | access-date =13 July 2009}} In 1995–96, Blackburn Rovers were England's Champions League representatives, but their campaign was not a successful one as they won just one of their six group games and failed to qualify for the latter stages.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051024090851/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1995/round=70/Group=12.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 October 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}}

Manchester United's return to the Champions League in 1996–97 was the first of 18 consecutive seasons in which Manchester United qualified to enter the competition. They progressed through the group stages for the first time and went on to reach the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051103062200/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1996/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 November 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}} United topped their mini-league in the following season's group stages,{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051021024222/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1997/round=1141/Group=900.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 21 October 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}} but were defeated by AS Monaco on away goals in the quarter-finals.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051103075931/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1997/round=1167/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 November 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}} Also representing England in 1997–98 were Newcastle United, after the runners-up from Europe's top eight leagues were allowed to enter for the first time.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051103062232/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1997/intro.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 November 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}} Newcastle successfully negotiated the second qualifying round, but could only finish third in their group, despite a victory over Barcelona in the opening group game.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051021024313/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/history/Season=1997/round=1141/Group=901.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 21 October 2005 | access-date =13 July 2009}}

2000s: rise to European dominance and subsequent decline

Premier League teams gradually improved their performance in the Champions League until a peak centred on the 2008 season, followed by a significant decline thereafter. They had no semi-finalists for the first four seasons (1993 to 1996). They then had four semi-finalists (Manchester United in 1997, 1999, and 2002, and Leeds United in 2001) over the next seven seasons (1997 to 2003), one of whom went on to become champions (Manchester United in 1999). They then had four semi-finalists (Chelsea in 2004 and 2005, Liverpool in 2005, and Arsenal in 2006) in the next three seasons (2004 to 2006), with Arsenal going on to be runners-up in 2006 and Liverpool winning in 2005.

English teams then peaked with nine semi-finalists (Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool in both 2007 and 2008, and Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in 2009) in the next three seasons (2007 to 2009), with Liverpool (2007), Chelsea (2008), and Manchester United (2009) going on to be runners-up, and Manchester United going on to win an all-English final against Chelsea in 2008, a year in which none of the four English teams were eliminated by anybody except another English team. Around this time, then-UEFA president Michel Platini began to make statements which resulted in a widespread perception that he was anti-English, which some attributed to his alleged fear of English domination in European club competition.

However, this dominance did not produce a corresponding number of titles. At its most dominant, from 2007 to 2009, the Premier League had 75% (9 out of 12) of the semi-finalists, 67% (4 out of 6) of the finalists, 100% (3 out of 3) of the runners-up, but only 33% (1 out of 3) of the winners (Manchester United in 2008), with the other two titles going to Milan in 2007 and Barcelona in 2009. And English dominance did not last, with the Premier League managing only two semi-finalists (Manchester United in 2011, and Chelsea in 2012) over the next four seasons (2010 to 2013), although Manchester United went on to be runners-up in 2011, and Chelsea won in 2012. In 2013, no Premier League side reached the last eight for the first time since 1996 (in a time when England were only entitled to one Champions League place compared to 2013's four), only two (Manchester United and Arsenal) made it to the last 16, and Chelsea became the first defending champions to fail to make it past the group stage of the Champions League, although by finishing third in their group they did manage to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, which they went on to win.

At that time, it was noted that if the decline continued for long enough, it could in theory eventually deprive the Premier League of its entitlement to have four teams in the Champions League each year, which it has had since 2005, but the coefficient tables gave little cause for concern from an English perspective, as all England's relevant coefficients were ahead of fourth-placed Italy's, and this did not change until 2018, when the quotas were adjusted by UEFA to guarantee four Champions League places to each of the top four nations, with those clubs going into the group stage directly rather than having to navigate qualifying rounds.

Late 2010s and early 2020s: renewed success

The following years would see two all-English finals, as well as Liverpool losing both the 2018 and 2022 finals to Real Madrid. In 2023, Manchester City won the tournament for the third English victory in five years.

2018–19

The downward trend was reversed in 2018–19, when all four Premier League entrants (including Liverpool, who had reached the 2018 final as a sign of impending English resurgence) progressed to the quarter-finals. Despite the general decline in the levels of success from what English clubs had enjoyed a decade earlier, and the consistent high levels for other nations, particularly Spain, England remains the only nation to have four of the last eight participants in the competition, with 2018–19 joining 2007–08 and 2008–09 in that regard (Liverpool and Manchester United were involved in all three campaigns). In addition, English sides sealed all of the final places in both UEFA competitions in the 2018–19 season. Liverpool won their sixth European Cup by defeating fellow English side Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019 Champions League final. An early penalty converted by Mohamed Salah and a late Divock Origi goal ensured a 2–0 victory for Jürgen Klopp's team. Both finalists had achieved unlikely comebacks in their semi-finals, with Liverpool overcoming a first-leg 3–0 defeat by Barcelona with a second-leg 4–0 win and Tottenham scoring the three second-half goals they required to defeat Ajax in the second leg in Amsterdam and also on away goals.

2020–21

The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit with a condensed schedule. Porto and Chelsea were unlikely heroes when they won against Juventus and Atlético Madrid, respectively. Defending champions Bayern Munich were knocked out on away goals by previous finalists Paris Saint-Germain, after missing Robert Lewandowski with injury, in a rematch of the 2020 final. Chelsea made the semi-finals for the first time in seven years, facing Real Madrid for the first time. Manchester City defeated PSG 4–1 on aggregate en route to their first appearance in the final, while Chelsea defeated Real Madrid 3–1 on aggregate to set up the second all-English final in three years. Chelsea won the title for the second time after defeating City 1–0 at the Estádio do Dragão thanks to a goal by Kai Havertz.

2021–22 and 2022–23

Liverpool returned to the final in 2022, where they narrowly lost to rivals Real Madrid 1–0. In 2023, Manchester City advanced to their second final in three years, defeating the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way. In the final, they faced Inter Milan, winning 1–0 for City's first-ever European Cup. Furthermore, the Blues became the second-ever English men's club to achieve a rare continental treble.

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