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The UEFA Champions League needs no introduction. It is one of the most important football tournaments in the world. It is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955. All European countries take part in the tournament. The League is separate from the UEFA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup, which is now defunct.
According to new tournament laws, the two lowest-ranked league competitions can represent their domestic champions in the League.
The UEFA Champions League has several stages and starts with three preliminary qualifying rounds. A total of 16 teams emerge from the preliminary rounds to take part in the final knock-out stage.
2006-2007 CHAMPIONS LEAGUES
The UEFA Champions League trophy is currently held by A.C. Milan which beat Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in Athens (Greece) on 23 May 2007. The League 2006-07 was the 52nd edition of the tournament and 15th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. However, the season was no very smooth. It was first rocked by the Italian Series A scandal. This was followed by the suspension of Hellenic Football Federation.
There were speculations that the participation of Greek teams in this year's tournament following Hellenic Football Federation suspension from all international competition because the government was accused of interfering in the running of the sport in Greece.
UEFA CUP
The UEFA Cup, which is also called as European Cup , (CE3 or C3), is a tournament where only European club teams participate. It is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). This competition too is also very important and is considered to be the second most important international competition for European football clubs. The tournament began in 1971. In 1999 the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup.
Seville FC currently holds the UEFA Cup. They have won it for the second year in a row. They won the tournament on May 16, 2007 beating fellow Spaniards RCD Espanyol on penalties. The final for the 2007-08 seasons will be hosted by Manchester.
UEFA EURO 2004
The UEFA Euro 2004 was the twelfth edition of the tournament. it was held in in Portugal between June 12 and July 4, 2004. A total of sixteen teams contested the final tournament after qualification rounds which began in 2002. The tournament was played in ten venues located in eight cities.
The 2004 event had a lot of surprises. German, Italian and Spanish national football teams were knocked out during the group stage; the title-holders France were also thrown out in the quarterfinals by Greece. Greece won the tournament by beating Portugal. Both the teams had incidentally played the first game.
UEFA SOCCER
The Union Europeans de Football Association or Union of European Football Associations in English is the acronym for UEFA. It is the administrative and controlling panel for European football and represents the national football associations of Europe. A number of soccer associations located in Asia belong to UEFA rather than the Asian Football Confederation. These are Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan and Russia.
As far as the history of European Cup and Champions League is considered, both the tournaments have fifty years of competition finding winners and losers. The competition's format has evolved over the years. The current format, which has the group phase, started in 1991. Another modification was brought about in 1998 known as the multiple national representatives.
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