TOP FIVE British Clubs With The Most Match Wins In European Cup/Champions League History

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2 years ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester City News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Celtic, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Rangers, Sheffield United, Southampton, spurs, West Ham, wolves

Playing in the Champions League is the ultimate goal of every club in European football. Most see the European Cup as the biggest prize in club football due to the high standards required to win the competition.

The fortunes of British clubs in Europe have ebbed and flowed over the last 67 years but the finances that came with the introduction of the Premier League back in the 90s did propel English teams well ahead of their rivals in Scotland, as well as many on the continent.

Winning in Europe is still a major achievement for any club, though, and our list today highlights the teams who have been very successful over the years.

Press the next page as we count down the five British clubs who have won the most games in the Champions League.

5) Chelsea – 189 Wins

The Blues’ 2-1 win over Lille yesterday evening was the club’s 189th in Europe’s top club competition since its inception in 1955.

Chelsea’s first appearance should have actually been in the inaugural event but they were pressured into rejecting the invitation by the Football League due to fears of fixture congestion. They had to wait until 1999 to make their debut where they made it all the way to the quarter-final.

4) Arsenal – 201 Wins

The Gunners haven’t actually played in the competition for five years now but, under the management of Arsene Wenger, they qualified for 19 consecutive seasons.

After first playing in the European Cup all the way back in the 1971/72 campaign, they have never managed to win Europe’s top prize, although they did make the final in 2006.

3) Celtic – 216 Wins

The Hoops last featured in the group stages of the Champions League back in 2013/14 but the fact that they are regular winners of the Scottish Premiership means they have participated in the qualifying rounds.

Celtic did win the old European Cup all the way back in 1967, and also reached the final for a second time in 1970, so it is not a surprise they are so high up on this list of British teams.

2) Liverpool – 235 Wins

The Reds are England’s most successive team in Europe with six European Cups/Champions Leagues, with the first coming in 1977 and their last being in 2019.

Liverpool did not regularly participate in the tournament in the 90s, and there have been times over the last decade where they have been conspicuously absent too, so that explains why they are not top of this list.

1) Manchester United – 293 Wins

The Red Devils are first by quite a wide margin. Successes in the early years of the European Cup, combine with the regular participation during the dominant era under Sir Alex Ferguson, mean they have won almost 300 games.

After struggling this season, though, there are doubts over whether United will be involved in the 2022/23 edition of the competition.