The Champions League is the preeminent club competition that sees top-division European soccer clubs vying for the title of the European champions.
The Champions League is known as one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and was originally known as the European Cup with its origins in 1955 when 16 sides took part in the competition.
The sixteen teams that participated in the first European Cup were: Milan (Italy), AGF Aarhus (Denmark), Anderlecht (Belgium), Djurgården (Sweden), Gwardia Warszawa (Poland), Hibernian (Scotland), Partizan (Yugoslavia), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rapid Wien (Austria), Real Madrid (Spain), Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany), Saarbrücken (Saar), Servette (Switzerland), Sporting CP (Portugal), Stade de Reims (France), and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary).
The tournament expanded over the years and in the 1992/93 season was renamed to the Champions League. In the 2015/16 season the Champions League saw a total of 78 clubs entering for a chance to be crowned the winner.
Qualification games start in July with three rounds, thereafter a play-off takes place that eliminates a number of teams up until only 32 remain. The remaining teams begin their group stage in September with clubs drawn into eight groups of four. Each club then plays one home and one away match against each other club in their group.
The top two sides in each group then move on to the round of 16 and then start off the knockout phase, while the third-placed team drops into the UEFA Europa League. The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are all played over two legs that sees each side playing home and away with the team scoring the greater aggregate of goals in the two matches progressing onwards.
The UEFA Champions League final is then hosted by a neutral stadium which is selected in advance and is played as one single match.
The most successful club in the competition's history is without a doubt, Real Madrid with the team having claimed no less than 12 titles, including the European Cup’s first five seasons.
Since 1955, Spanish soccer clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories in the tournament with 17 wins, followed by English soccer clubs and Italian soccer clubs, both boasting 12 wins.
The UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide which bodes extremely well for the burgeoning sports betting industry as soccer punters are afforded the luxury of betting on televised matches from the comfort of their own homes.
Sun International’s online sportsbook, Sunbet offers soccer punters a wealth of betting option when it comes to the Champions League. With a number of betting markets that range from the simplest 3-way bet that requires the punter to predict which team will win or if there will be a draw, all the way to more sophisticated bets such as the Double Chance. This particular bet allows soccer punters to cover two of the three possible outcomes of a particular match that includes home team and draw, away team and draw as well as home team and away team to win the soccer match.
Sunbet also offers all of the popular soccer bets that include, Correct Score, Halftime/Fulltime, European Handicaps, Match Flow and much more.
If that wasn’t enough Sunbet also offer live in-play betting or in-running betting, on a large selection of Champions League matches giving punters the opportunity of assessing the form of each team whilst the match is being played live. Betting live in-play largely removes the guesswork and minimises the risk in comparison to striking a pre-match bet.
Sunbet is the ideal South African online soccer sportsbook that regularly offers soccer promos and competitions, not forgetting an extensive local and international soccer coupon.
