Where does Real Madrid rank as UCL champions?

The UEFA Champions League, formerly known as the European Cup, is Europe’s most elite club competition.

Initially only the champions of the continent’s top leagues took part in the annual tournament, which has been held every season since 1955/56. Over time it was expanded to include more.

Since the competition began, 23 teams have won the trophy, including Real Madrid. Notably, the Royals won the opening prize. They were also the most recent winners, having beaten Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley in June 2024.

Given the competition’s long history, Real Madrid are not the only team to have won the title multiple times. Clubs such as AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Liverpool have also lifted the trophy on multiple occasions, cementing their status among Europe’s best teams.

So where do Los Blancos stand as UCL champions? Real Madrid is ranked No. 1 as it is the only team in history to have won the competition 15 times.

Real Madrid won their first European Cup in the first competition of the 1955/56 season. Los Blancos cemented their dominance by winning the trophy four seasons in a row.

They won the prize again in 1966 but, remarkably, did not lift the trophy again until 1998. At the turn of the millennium, Real Madrid won Europe’s highest club prize in 2000 and 2002. They then had to wait twelve years to win the cup, again in 2014.

After this triumph, Los Blancos won the competition three times in a row in 2016, 2017 and 2018. They won the title again in 2022 before lifting the trophy for the 15th time in 2024. This triumph in 2024 also marked a record-breaking fifth Champions League title for Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

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