See the file on European Cups Trivia for additional clubwise data on quarterfinal appearances.
(according to number of cups won): up-to-date as of Sep 30, 2020 (after Super Cup final 2020) Cups Won Diff Winners Finals Diff Finalists Semifinals Diff Semis SC IC Country C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt Spain 18 7 18 43 2 4 6 6 29 14 26 69 4 6 9 10 57 19 43 119 7 7 13 16 15 11 England 13 8 13 34 5 7 8 13 22 13 24 59 8 9 13 18 42 21 36 99 10 10 14 19 8 3 Italy 12 7 10 29 3 6 5 9 28 11 19 58 6 6 8 10 37 20 38 95 6 11 12 15 9 9 Germany 8 4 6 18 3 4 5 8 18 8 14 40 6 7 10 12 34 17 41 92 9 13 14 19 2 4 Netherlands 6 1 4 11 3 1 3 3 8 2 7 17 3 1 5 5 14 8 10 32 3 4 5 5 3 3 Portugal 4 1 2 7 2 1 1 3 9 2 7 18 2 2 4 4 11 5 11 27 2 3 5 5 1 2 Belgium 3 1 4 2 1 2 1 7 4 12 1 4 2 5 4 12 9 25 3 7 6 11 3 Scotland 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 4 3 9 1 2 3 4 8 8 7 23 5 4 6 8 1 Ukraine 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 2 4 1 2 3 3 2 5 10 1 1 3 3 1 France 1 1 2 1 1 2 7 3 5 15 5 2 3 7 17 9 11 37 8 6 9 12 Sweden 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 2 4 2 1 2 Russia 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 6 3 10 1 3 3 5 1 Serbia 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 2 4 2 4 10 2 2 3 5 1 Romania 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 4 1 2 7 2 1 2 3 1 East Germany 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 6 2 8 5 2 6 Slovakia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 Georgia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 Hungary 1 1 1 1 2 4 6 2 3 4 3 3 7 13 3 3 4 6 Croatia 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 5 2 2 2 Turkey 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 1 3 3 1 Austria 3 1 4 2 1 3 2 4 3 9 2 2 2 4 Greece 1 1 1 1 3 1 4 1 1 2 Poland 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 2 2 3 Switzerland 3 3 6 2 3 5 Czech Republic 1 3 2 6 1 3 2 5 Bulgaria 2 2 4 1 2 2 Wales 1 1 1 1 Bosnia-Herz. 1 1 1 1 Denmark 1 1 1 1 Totals 65 39 62 166 22 32 36 62 256 156 248 660 46 33 130 78 124 332 41 51 69 102 75 94 117 172 Notes: 1.There were no semifinals in the 1991/92 and 1992/93 editions of the Champions Cup. 2.C1=Champions' Cup (League), C2=Cup Winners' Cup, C3=Fairs' Cup/UEFA Cup/Europa League. 3.SC=Super Cup, IC=Intercontinental Club Cup/FIFA Club World Championship/FIFA Club World Cup.
NB: only finals against foreign opposition are included. Czechoslovakia 1/ 1 = 1.00 Turkey 1/ 1 = 1.00 Soviet Union 6/ 8 = 0.75 [includes (since split) Russia 2/ 2, Ukraine 1/ 2] Sweden 2/ 3 = 0.67 Spain 35/53 = 0.66 [8 inter-Spanish finals; 43/69 = 0.62] Netherlands 11/17 = 0.65 England 30/51 = 0.59 [4 inter-English finals; 34/59 = 0.58] Italy 24/48 = 0.50 [5 inter-Italian finals; 29/58 = 0.50] Romania 1/ 2 = 0.50 Germany 16/36 = 0.44 [2 inter-German finals; 18/40 = 0.45] Yugoslavia 2/ 5 = 0.40 Portugal 6/16 = 0.38 [1 inter-Portuguese final; 7/18 = 0.39] Belgium 4/12 = 0.33 Scotland 3/ 9 = 0.33 East Germany 1/ 3 = 0.33 Hungary 1/ 6 = 0.17 France 2/15 = 0.13 Greece 0/ 1 = 0.00 Poland 0/ 1 = 0.00 Austria 0/ 4 = 0.00 Note that among the "top five" (countries with 10 or more cups), the Netherlands and Spain have won almost two thirds of their finals (only counting those with foreign opposition), while French clubs fail at the final hurdle with impressive consistency.
NB: not adjusted for "internal meetings". Sweden 2/ 4 = 0.50 Spain 43/119 = 0.36 Netherlands 11/ 32 = 0.34 England 34/ 99 = 0.34 Italy 29/ 95 = 0.31 Soviet Union 6/ 22 = 0.27 [includes (since split) Russia 2/ 5, Ukraine 1/ 6] Portugal 7/ 27 = 0.26 Turkey 1/ 4 = 0.25 Germany 18/ 92 = 0.20 Belgium 4/ 25 = 0.16 Romania 1/ 7 = 0.14 Scotland 3/ 23 = 0.13 Yugoslavia 2/ 16 = 0.13 Czechoslovakia 1/ 8 = 0.13 [includes (since split) Czech Republic 0/ 1] East Germany 1/ 8 = 0.13 Hungary 1/ 13 = 0.08 France 2/ 37 = 0.05 Denmark 0/ 1 = 0.00 Wales 0/ 1 = 0.00 Bulgaria 0/ 4 = 0.00 Greece 0/ 4 = 0.00 Poland 0/ 4 = 0.00 Switzerland 0/ 6 = 0.00 Austria 0/ 9 = 0.00 Again, the French record is woeful beyond belief, while the Hungarians and Austrians also made little or no impact beyond the semifinal stage. Alone among the "top five" (countries with 10 or more cups), the Germans score under 20%, while the other four have a success rate of about one in three.
It currently is customary to refer to the "Top Five" European leagues as those of (in alphabetical order) England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. While this may seem justified in terms of financial prowess, population of the countries (ignoring Russia) and position on UEFA's coefficient ranking in recent years, historically this is blatantly absurd – to put it mildly. Of course, as can be seen above, Spain, England, Italy and Germany (in that order) have been the most successful leagues in terms of cups won, finals played, and semifinals reached, and the four are at a roughly comparable level (although Germany's success rate at the semifinal stage makes poor reading compared to the other three).
However, the inclusion of France with the other four is clearly ludicrous. In terms of cups won, they barely managed 10 percent of Germany's total (the least successful of the top four) and lag far behind both the Netherlands and Portugal. Even Belgium won twice as many European cups as France, and that is excluding the three Super Cups that Anderlecht and KV Mechelen secured together. If we would include those, countries such as Romania, Sweden and Turkey all won exactly as many European trophies as la Grande Nation, while Scotland and the Ukraine managed double the Gallic total.
And while the numbers look a little better in terms of finals played (15 for France, as compared to 40 for Germany and nearly 60 or more for the top three countries), still the French clubs only manage a meagre seventh place, below Portugal (18) and the Netherlands (17). Only when we start looking at semifinals reached, France are in fifth place, somewhat ahead of the Netherlands and Portugal but far, far behind the top four (less than 40 for France, more than 90 for each of the top four). Going down to the number of quarterfinals reached does not change the picture: Spain lead with over 180, while England, Germany and Italy all boast more than 150, more than double France's total (73) which is only insignificantly higher than the corresponding numbers for Portugal (69) and the Netherlands (66). (All numbers as after the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, or 65 years of European competition.)
In conclusion, including France among the "Top Five" European football leagues is every bit as nonsensical as the (mostly British) habit of referring to the "Big Four" tennis players of the first two decades of the twenty-first century, as those four include three all-time greats with more than 15 Grand Slam titles each and one British player who has, in that respect, been equally successful as the second best Swiss player of the era. Thus, "The Big Four", apart from quite possibly the worst work of detective fiction ever written by Agatha Christie, is one of the most outrageously ridiculous misnomers in contemporary sports writing. It would make far more sense when referring to European football leagues.
Cups Won Finals Reached Semis Reached Country SC IC Club C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt C1 C2 C3 Tt 45 33 1-2 [10 or more cups] Real Madrid 13 2 15 16 2 2 20 29 2 3 34 Spain 1 4 7 Barcelona 5 4 3 12 8 6 4 18 17 6 8 31 Spain 2 5 3 3-5 [8 or 9 cups] Milan 7 2 9 11 3 14 13 3 2 18 Italy 1 5 4 Liverpool 6 3 9 9 1 4 14 11 2 6 19 England 1 4 1 Bayern München 6 1 1 8 11 1 1 13 20 4 4 28 Germany 1 2 3 6-9 [6 or 7 cups] Ajax 4 1 1 6 6 2 2 10 9 2 3 14 Netherlands 1 3 2 Internazionale 3 3 6 5 5 10 8 10 18 Italy 2 3 Juventus 2 1 3 6 9 1 6 16 12 3 8 23 Italy 3 2 2 Sevilla 6 6 6 6 6 6 Spain 3 1 10-14 [4 or 5 cups] Manchester United 3 1 1 5 5 1 1 7 12 2 3 17 England 2 1 2 Chelsea 1 2 2 5 2 2 2 6 7 4 3 14 England 3 1 Porto 2 2 4 2 1 2 5 3 1 2 6 Portugal 1 1 2 Atlético Madrid 1 3 4 3 3 3 9 6 5 6 17 Spain 4 3 1 Valencia 1 3 4 2 1 4 7 2 1 7 10 Spain 5 2 15-18 [3 cups] Feyenoord 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 2 7 Netherlands 2 1 Anderlecht 2 1 3 4 3 7 2 4 3 9 Belgium 1 2 Parma 1 2 3 2 2 4 2 3 5 Italy 4 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1 2 3 1 1 3 5 2 2 4 8 England 4 19-22 [2 cups, at least 1 EC1] Benfica 2 2 7 3 10 8 2 4 14 Portugal 2 Nottingham Forest 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 England 5 1 Hamburger SV 1 1 2 2 2 1 5 3 2 4 9 Germany 2 Borussia Dortmund 1 1 2 2 1 2 5 4 1 3 8 Germany 3 1 PSV 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 1 6 Netherlands 3 23-29 [2 cups, no EC1] Dynamo Kyiv 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 6 Ukraine 1 1 Arsenal 1 1 2 1 3 3 7 2 3 4 9 England 6 Real Zaragoza 1 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 5 Spain 6 Leeds United 2 2 1 1 3 5 3 1 5 9 England 7 Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 2 1 4 5 2 1 5 8 Germany 4 IFK Göteborg 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 Sweden 1 30-34 [1 EC1] Olympique de Marseille 1 1 2 3 5 3 1 3 7 France 1 Celtic 1 1 2 1 3 4 2 1 7 Scotland 1 Steaua Bucuresti 1 1 2 2 3 1 4 Romania 1 1 Crvena zvezda Beograd 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 6 Yugoslavia 1 1 Aston Villa 1 1 1 1 1 1 England 8 1 35-42 [1 EC2, more finals] Fiorentina 1 1 1 2 1 4 1 3 3 7 Italy 5 Rangers 1 1 3 1 4 1 3 2 6 Scotland 2 FC Paris Saint-Germain 1 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 6 France 2 Sampdoria 1 1 1 2 3 1 3 4 Italy 6 West Ham United 1 1 2 2 3 3 England 9 Sporting CP 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 5 Portugal 3 Werder Bremen 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 5 Germany 5 SS Lazio 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 Italy 7 1 43-49 [1 EC2, no other finals] Manchester City 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 England 10 Aberdeen 1 1 1 1 2 2 Scotland 3 1 KV Mechelen 1 1 1 1 2 2 Belgium 2 1 Dynamo Tbilisi 1 1 1 1 2 2 Georgia 1 Everton 1 1 1 1 1 1 England 11 1.FC Magdeburg 1 1 1 1 1 1 East Germany 1 Slovan Bratislava 1 1 1 1 1 1 Slovakia 1 50-62 [1 EC3] Roma 1 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 6 Italy 8 Ferencváros 1 1 1 2 3 1 4 5 Hungary 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 5 Germany 6 Bayer Leverkusen 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 Germany 7 Dynamo Zagreb 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 Croatia 1 Schalke 04 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 Germany 8 Napoli 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 Italy 9 Shahtar Donets'k 1 1 1 1 3 3 Ukraine 2 Galatasaray SK 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Turkey 1 1 Newcastle United 1 1 1 1 2 2 England 12 CSKA Moskva 1 1 1 1 1 1 Russia 1 Ipswich Town 1 1 1 1 1 1 England 13 Zenit Sankt-Peterburg 1 1 1 1 1 1 Russia 2 1 63-69 [reached EC1 finals] Stade Reims 2 2 2 2 France 3 AS Monaco 1 1 2 4 2 1 7 France 4 Club Brugge KV 1 1 2 1 1 2 4 Belgium 3 Panathinaikos 1 1 3 3 Greece 1 AS Saint-Etienne 1 1 2 2 France 5 Malmö FF 1 1 1 1 Sweden 2 Partizan Beograd 1 1 1 1 Yugoslavia 2 70-82 [reached EC2 finals] Rapid Wien 2 2 1 2 3 Austria 1 VfB Stuttgart 1 1 2 1 3 4 Germany 9 Austria Wien 1 1 1 2 3 Austria 2 Dynamo Moskva 1 1 3 3 Russia 3 Standard Ličge 1 1 1 2 3 Belgium 4 Carl Zeiss Jena 1 1 2 2 East Germany 2 1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig 1 1 1 1 2 East Germany 3 MTK Budapest 1 1 1 1 2 Hungary 2 Antwerp 1 1 1 1 Belgium 5 Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 1 1 1 Germany 10 Górnik Zabrze 1 1 1 1 Poland 1 RCD Mallorca 1 1 1 1 Spain 7 TSV 1860 München 1 1 1 1 Germany 11 83-102 [reached EC3 finals] Birmingham City 2 2 3 3 England 14 Athletic Bilbao 2 2 2 2 Spain 8 Espanyol 2 2 2 2 Spain 9 1.FC Köln 1 1 1 1 6 8 Germany 12 FC Girondins de Bordeaux 1 1 1 1 1 3 France 6 Újpesti Dózsa 1 1 1 1 1 3 Hungary 3 FC Twente 1 1 1 2 3 Netherlands 4 Dundee United 1 1 1 1 2 Scotland 4 Torino 1 1 1 1 2 Italy 10 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 1 1 1 2 England 15 Austria/RB Salzburg 1 1 2 2 Austria 3 AZ '67 1 1 2 2 Netherlands 5 Alavés 1 1 1 1 Spain 10 SEC Bastia 1 1 1 1 France 7 SC Braga 1 1 1 1 Portugal 4 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1 1 1 1 Ukraine 3 Fulham 1 1 1 1 England 16 London Select XI 1 1 1 1 England 17 Middlesbrough 1 1 1 1 England 18 Videoton Székesfehérvár 1 1 1 1 Hungary 4 103-122 [EC1 semifinalists] Olympique Lyonnais 2 1 1 4 France 8 Villarreal CF 1 3 4 Spain 11 CSKA Sofia 2 1 3 Bulgaria 1 Spartak Moskva 1 1 1 3 Russia 4 FC Zürich 2 2 Switzerland 1 Deportivo La Coruńa 1 1 2 Spain 12 Dinamo Bucuresti 1 1 2 Romania 2 Dukla Praha 1 1 2 Czech Rep 1 Legia Warszawa 1 1 2 Poland 2 FC Nantes 1 1 2 France 9 Dundee 1 1 2 Scotland 5 Hibernian 1 1 2 Scotland 6 Derby County 1 1 England 19 ETO Györ 1 1 Hungary 5 RB Leipzig 1 1 Germany 13 Real Sociedad 1 1 Spain 13 Spartak Trnava 1 1 Slovakia 2 Vasas Budapest 1 1 Hungary 6 Widzew Lódz 1 1 Poland 3 BSC Young Boys 1 1 Switzerland 2 123-138 [EC2 semifinalists] Lokomotiv Moskva 2 2 Russia 5 Hajduk Split 1 1 2 Croatia 2 Atalanta 1 1 Italy 11 Banik Ostrava 1 1 Czech Rep 2 Bayer Uerdingen 1 1 Germany 14 Beveren 1 1 Belgium 6 Cardiff City 1 1 Wales 1 Dunfermline Athletic 1 1 Scotland 7 BFC Dynamo 1 1 East Germany 4 1.FC Nürnberg 1 1 Germany 15 OFK Beograd 1 1 Yugoslavia 3 Sachsenring Zwickau 1 1 East Germany 5 Slavia Sofia 1 1 Bulgaria 2 Sparta Praha 1 1 Czech Rep 3 THOR Waterschei 1 1 Belgium 7 Vicenza 1 1 Italy 12 139-172 [EC3 semifinalists] Bologna 2 2 Italy 13 1.FC Kaiserslautern 2 2 Germany 16 AEK 1 1 Greece 2 AJ Auxerre 1 1 France 10 FC Basel 1 1 Switzerland 3 Beograd XI 1 1 Yugoslavia 4 Boavista FC 1 1 Portugal 5 Bohemians Praha 1 1 Czech Rep 4 Brřndbyernes IF 1 1 Denmark 1 Cagliari 1 1 Italy 14 Celta (Vigo) 1 1 Spain 14 Dynamo Dresden 1 1 East Germany 6 Fenerbahçe 1 1 Turkey 2 Genoa 1893 1 1 Italy 15 Göztepe Izmir 1 1 Turkey 3 Grasshopper Club 1 1 Switzerland 4 Hertha BSC 1 1 Germany 17 Karlsruher SC 1 1 Germany 18 Kilmarnock 1 1 Scotland 8 Lausanne Sports 1 1 Switzerland 5 RC Lens 1 1 France 11 FC Ličge 1 1 Belgium 8 MSV Duisburg 1 1 Germany 19 Osasuna (Pamplona) 1 1 Spain 15 Radnicki Nis 1 1 Yugoslavia 5 RWD Molenbeek 1 1 Belgium 9 Slavia Praha 1 1 Czech Rep 5 FC Sochaux 1 1 France 12 CD Tenerife 1 1 Spain 16 FC Tirol 1 1 Austria 4 Union St. Gilles 1 1 Belgium 10 Universitatea Craiova 1 1 Romania 3 Waregem 1 1 Belgium 11 Zeljeznicar Sarajevo 1 1 Bosnia-H 1
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 29 Sep 2020
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