The Champions League is one of the world’s most prestigious football club championships. The event, which began in the 1955-1956 season and is now in its 67th edition, is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). In the final phase of the tournament, numerous Brazilians will compete.
With 34 athletes, Brazil is the fifth country with the most players in the Champions League round of 16 despite being distant from the Old Continent. In comparison to the two prior seasons, the number is greater (33 Brazilians each). With 83 players, Spain is the first place finisher.
If striker David Neres, for example, had not swapped the classified Ajax of Holland for the already eliminated Shakhtar of Ukraine, the number of Brazilians may have been much higher. Lucas Verssimo of Benfica would have been an additional name if he hadn’t been injured and left off the Portuguese club’s subscription list.
The campaign began on June 22, 2021, and will conclude on May 28, 2022, with a single game held in Saint Petersburg’s Krestovsky stadium. The qualifying teams are now competing in home and away matches in the round of 16, which spans from February 15 to March 16. After that, we have the quarterfinals and semifinals, each of which will be played in two games, before the major decision.
The following are the current matches:
- Bayern Munich, Germany vs. Red Bull Salzburg, from Austria;
- Sporting, Portugal vs. Manchester City, from England;
- Benfica, Portugal vs. Ajax, from the Netherlands;
- England’s Chelsea vs. Lille, from France;
- Atletico Madrid, Spain vs. Manchester United, from England;
- Villarreal, Spain vs. Juventus, from Italy;
- Inter Milan, Italy vs. Liverpool, from England;
- PSG, France vs. Real Madrid from Spain.
Brazilians in the Champions League
Check out the list below to see which Brazilians are competing in the European Champions League’s round of 16 stage.
- Ajax: Antony and Danilo Pereira;
- Atlético Madrid: Felipe, Matheus Cunha and Renan Lodi;
- Benfica: Everton Cebolinha, Gilberto, Helton Leite, Morato and Rodrigo Pinho;
- Chelsea: Kenedy and Thiago Silva;
- Juventus: Alex Sandro, Danilo and Arthur;
- Liverpool: Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino;
- Manchester City: Ederson, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Kayky;
- Manchester United: Alex Telles and Fred;
- PSG: Marquinhos and Neymar;
- Real Madrid: Casemiro, Éder Militão, Marcelo, Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior;
- Red Bull Salzburg: Bernardo;
- Sporting: Matheus Reis and Bruno Tabata.
Countries with the most representatives
The countries having the most players in the European Champions League round of 16 are shown in the table below.
| Ranking | Country | number of players |
| 1 | Spain | 83 |
| 2 | Portugal | 66 |
| 3 | England | 57 |
| 4 | France | 43 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 40 |
| 6 | Italy | 38 |
| 7 | Brazil | 34 |
| 8 | Germany | 30 |
| 9 | Argentina | 16 |
| 10 | Belgium | 11 |
The Champions of Champions
The European Champions League final is the most viewed athletic event on the planet every year. The final of the 2012-2013 season, which was between Bayern Munich (champion) and Borussia Dortmund (runner-up), had the largest viewership to date, with over 360 million viewers.
Real Madrid is the first and greatest winner of the world’s wealthiest, most popular, and most prestigious interclub tournament, having won 13 times between 1956 and 2018. Take a look at the list of all-time champions below.
- 13 titles: Real Madrid (Spain);
- 7 titles: Milan (Italy);
- 6 titles: Bayern Munich (Germany) and Liverpool (England);
- 5 titles: Barcelona (Spain);
- 4 titles: Ajax (Netherlands);
- 3 titles: Manchester United (England) and Inter Milan (Italy);
- 2 titles: Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Chelsea (England), Nottingham Forest (England) and Porto (Portugal);
- 1 title: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Celtic (Scotland), Hamburg (Germany), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), Olympique Marseille (FRA), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Aston Villa (England), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Red Star (Serbia).
Since the tournament’s beginning, Brazil have had 52 players win the European Champions League. Marcelo, a left-back from Real Madrid, and Casemiro, a midfielder from the same club, top the list with four championships apiece. The most recent Brazilian athlete to win the competition was Thiago Silva, who won it with Chelsea last year, defeating Manchester City in the final, which included Brazilians Ederson, Fernandinho, and Gabriel Jesus.
