The UEFA Champions League final is the most important match of the season in European club football. The stadium to host the final is selected by UEFA two years before the match.
The latest UEFA Champions League final was held at Stade de France on 17 May 2006 between Arsenal and Barcelona, which Barcelona won 2-1. In this particular match, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off and two late goals by Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti secured victory for the Spanish side who had previously been trailing 1-0 to the Gunners for the majority of the match. The 2006-07 season final will take place at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Nine candidates are bidding to host the 2007–2008 season final - London, Munich, Berlin, Rome, Milan, Porto, Lisbon, Moscow, and Seville.
Real Madrid have won this competition nine times. The next most successful teams are A.C. Milan (six titles), Liverpool F.C. (five titles), FC Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam (four titles). For complete list of the winners, see European Cup and Champions League finals or European Cup and Champions League statistics.
The winning club gets possession of the trophy at the awards ceremony, but must return it to UEFA headquarters two months before the following year's final. UEFA gives the winners a scaled-down replica of the trophy to keep permanently, and winning clubs are free to make replicas of the trophy as long as they are clearly marked as replicas and are no larger than 80% of the size of the actual trophy. However, the current competition rules also specify that the actual trophy will be permanently awarded to a team that wins three consecutive years or five times in all.
Five clubs have been awarded the UEFA badge of honour and the right to keep the trophy permanently:
» Real Madrid, who won the first five competitions from 1956 to 1960,
» Ajax Amsterdam, who won consecutively in 1971–1973,
» Bayern Munich, who won consecutively in 1974–1976,
» A.C. Milan, who won for the fifth time in 1994,
» Liverpool, whose 2005 win was their fifth overall.
