Features
MAR 17.02.2015
The UEFA Champions League is back, as the competition’s round of 16 gets up and running. Three teams from the Liga BBVA are out to extend Spanish football’s hold on the trophy lifted in Lisbon on 24 May 2014, when Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid ensured the continental showpiece was a La Liga-only affair. In addition, FC Barcelona are looking for their fourth European crown in the last decade.
In the past six years, the Liga BBVA has provided half of the winners of the Champions League. Barça’s 2-0 triumph against Manchester United in Rome in 2009 began a period of success for Spain, with La Liga delivering in the two other finals it has been present in since: the azulgranas’ 3-1 victory again over United, and the all-Spanish final in Lisbon in which Madrid saw off Atlético 4-1.
Besides boasting the European Cup’s most decorated club (Real Madrid, ten trophy wins) and being the country with the highest number of tournament victories (14), the current period the Liga BBVA is enjoying is ideal to once again see it represented at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 6 June.
La Liga has three triumphs from the trio of finals in which it has been involved from the 2008/09 season onwards, while both the Premier League and the Bundesliga have only enjoyed success in one of the three finals they have been present in over the last six editions of the competition.
This domination on the pitch is also in evidence when it comes to individuals. The Liga BBVA has scooped the Champions League top scorer award in each of the past six seasons, with Lionel Messi taking four and Cristiano Ronaldo the last two. In the present campaign, Luiz Adriano (FC Shakhtar Donetsk) leads the goal charts (nine), but Messi currently has eight and Karim Benzema, Cristiano and Mario Mandžukić are all on five.
So Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Barça are a safe bet for success in this year’s edition of the Champions League, which is seeking out one winner from the 16 clubs still alive in the tournament.
© LALIGA - 2015