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The Champions League, also referred to as the UEFA Champions Tournament or
European Cup or European Champion Clubs' Cup, was first played in 1955 in a
two-level format with each team playing one game at home and one away.
Champions League betting is hugely popular with punters all over the world
and needless to say, fans get quite passionate about backing their teams.
To qualify to play in this prestige tournament, a team had to have won their
national league championships. The current European Cup holder automatically
qualified.
The popularity of the Champions League resulted in a name change in 1992 to
the UEFA Champions League and the best runners up in the national league
championships were invited to join the fun.
Betting on the Champions League is great fun because the winner really does
take all. The winning UEFA Champ automatically qualifies for the FIFA Club World
Cup, which just goes to show the respect accorded the tournament.
Like many of the top soccer champion leagues, the UEFA Champions League is
sponsored by a number of multinational conglomerates. When the league was first
created, it was decided that while it was preferable not to allow a single
sponsor to reap all the rewards of sponsorship, a maximum of eight companies
would be allowed to sponsor the event. The tournament's main sponsors include
Ford, Vodafone, Master Card, Sony and Heineken.
Real Madrid (Spain) was the first winner of the European Cup in 1956. In 1999
the tournament was renamed the UEFA Cup and, whether inspired by the new name or
not, Manchester United (Great Britian) took top honours. In 2007, AC Milan
(Italy), vying for the trophy re-named the Championship League cup, did the
victory lap and in 2008 in Moscow ,Manchester United FC (UK) beat Chelsea (UK),
bringing the honours back to England whichever way you look at it.
If you're a betting man, or woman, and you believe actions speak louder than
words and true greatness shows, Italy, England and Spain are the countries to
watch. These three great soccer playing nations have each won the UEFA Champions
League 11 times. Germany and the Netherlands have won the UEFA League 6 times
each. Sweden, Greece and Belgium have slunk away after each tournament with no
wins to their credit but a potentially huge financial killing if you place a bet
to win on one of them. If you're betting on the players, statistically the top
goal scorers come from teams in Spain and England.
The 2010 final will be played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
Home turf is an advantage to many teams; even more so when the country's already
surfing on the European Soccer success wave.
Check back here for all the latest UEFA Champions League betting news and information.
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