Champions' Cup/Champions League Trivia
Champions' Cup/Champions League Trivia
Defending the Trophy
It has become increasingly difficult to retain the Champions' Cup. Whereas in the first twenty years of its existence, a prolonged dominance for one club was common-place, there hasn't been a successful defence since the introduction of the Champions League in the early nineties.
The following series of consecutive wins have been achieved:
5 (1955/56-1959/60) Real Madrid   3 (1970/71-1972/73) Ajax    (1973/74-1975/76) Bayern München   2 (1960/61-1961/62) Benfica    (1963/64-1964/65) Internazionale    (1976/77-1977/78) Liverpool    (1978/79-1979/80) Nottingham Forest    (1988/89-1989/90) Milan
Other series: the city of Milano won the trophy in 3 consecutive seasons (1962/63 Milan, then twice Inter), the Netherlands won it 4 seasons in a row (1969/70 Feĳenoord, then thrice Ajax), and England brought the Cup home in 6 consecutive years, the longest stretch by one country (the double wins of Liverpool and Forest were followed by Liverpool again in 1980/81 and Aston Villa in 1981/82).
In 1997/98, Juventus became the first team to lose consecutive finals; Valencia were the second team to do that in 2000/01, which also was the first final to feature both losers of the previous two finals.
The first (and so far only) time the winners of the previous two finals met in a final was 1961/62 (Benfica beating Real Madrid 5-3 in arguably the best ever Champions' Cup final).  Other finals to have included two teams that had been present in the previous two finals: 1989/90 (Milan winners 1989, Benfica losers 1988) and 1993/94 (Milan losers 1993,  Barcelona winners 1992).
Winning the Cup Unbeaten
While defending the trophy may have become harder, unbeaten winners became more and more common until the mid-nineties; the changed Champions' League format appears to have made it more difficult again.  Nevertheless, unbeaten winners nowadays are more common than in the first twenty  years of the tournament, in which it happens only twice.  All  unbeaten winners with their P-W-D-L-F-A records:
1963/64 Internazionale       9  7  2  0  16- 6 1971/72 Ajax                 9  7  2  0  14- 3 1978/79 Nottingham Forest    9  6  3  0  19- 7 1980/81 Liverpool            9  6  3  0  24- 4 [away] 1983/84 Liverpool            9  7  2  0  15- 3 [pen] 1988/89 Milan                9  5  4  0  20- 5 [pen] 1990/91 Crvena zvezda        9  5  4  0  18- 7 [pen] 1992/93 Olympique Marseille 11  7  4  0  25- 4 1993/94 Milan               12  7  5  0  21- 2 1994/95 Ajax                11  7  4  0  18- 4 1998/99 Manchester United   13  6  7  0  31-16 2005/06 Barcelona           13  9  4  0  24- 5 2007/08 Manchester United   13  9  4  0  20- 6 [pen]
Note: [away] marks campaigns that involved progressing at least once on the away goals rule; [pen] marks campaigns requiring at least one penalty shoot-out.
Ajax, Liverpool, Manchester United and Milan are the only teams to have  won the trophy unbeaten twice; of those four, only Ajax did not require  penalty shoot-outs in either case.
The Champions League Jinx
Since the traditional Champions' Cup was transformed into the Champions League, no winners have managed to defend their title , a situation reminiscent of  the Cup Winners' Cup Jinx : no club ever managed to defend the Cup Winners' Cup.  Since the 1991/92 season, when the Champions League was introduced, the holders have reached the final on 4 occasions but always ended up on the losing side:
Milan:            winners in 1993/94, lost 1994/95 final to Ajax; Ajax:             winners in 1994/95, lost 1995/96 final to Juventus; Juventus:         winners in 1995/96, lost 1996/97 final to Borussia Dortmund; Manchester United:winners in 2007/08, lost 2008/09 final to Barcelona.
Milan and Ajax also reached the Cup Winners' Cup final once as  holders, in which they faced rank outsiders (1.FC Magdeburg and  KV Mechelen respectively), but failed to defend their trophy.
Most Participations
Below we list all clubs to have entered the Champions' Cup or  Champions League (including qualifiers) on at least 15 occasions.
Note that seasons in which a club withdrew before playing a single match (such as a number of Eastern European clubs in 1968/69) are not included.
All numbers up to and including the 2015/16 season.
46 Real Madrid  35 Benfica  32 Ajax    Anderlecht    Bayern M�nchen    Dynamo Kyiv  30 Celtic    Juventus    FC Porto    Rangers  29 Olympiakos (Piraeus)  28 Milan    Panathinaikos  27 CSKA (Sofia) (CDNA, Sredets)    Linfield  26 Barcelona    Manchester United    Sparta Praha  25 PSV (Eindhoven)     24 Fenerbahçe    Galatasaray    Steaua Bucuresti  22 Crvena zvezda Beograd    Jeunesse d'Esch     21 Liverpool    Partizan Beograd    Rosenborg BK  20 Arsenal  19 Austria Wien    Internazionale    Sporting (Lisboa)  18 Dinamo Bucuresti    Dinamo Zagreb    HJK (Helsinski)    Omonia (Lefkosia)     17 FC Basel    Besiktas    Spartak Moskva  16 Club Brugge    Feyenoord    Rapid Wien    Shakhtar Donetsk  15 APOEL (Lefkosia)    IFK G�teborg    Grasshoppers    Levski (Sofia) (Levski-Spartak, Vitosha)    Olympique Lyonnais    Valletta
See also the section on consecutive participations .
Below we list all clubs to have entered the Champions League group stage (so not counting the qualifying rounds) at least 5 times since the first edition in 1991/92.
All numbers up to and including the 2015/16 season.
Note that Dynamo Kyiv's entry in 1995/96, when they were  disqualified for attempted bribery and replaced by AaB, is not  included.
21 Barcelona  20 Manchester United    FC Porto    Real Madrid     19 Bayern M�nchen  18 Arsenal     17 Milan     Olympiakos (Piraeus)  16 Dynamo Kyiv    Juventus  14 Chelsea    Galatasaray    PSV (Eindhoven)  13 Ajax    Olympique Lyonnais  12 Anderlecht    Benfica     11 Internazionale    Rosenborg BK    Shakhtar Donetsk    Spartak Moskva  10 Bayer Leverkusen    Borussia Dortmund    Panathinaikos    Rangers    Valencia   9 CSKA Moskva    Liverpool    Olympique Marseille    Roma   8 Celtic    Paris Saint-Germain    Sparta Praha   7 Schalke 04    Steaua Bucuresti    Werder Bremen   6 Atl�tico Madrid    FC Basel    Fenerbahçe    AS Monaco    Sporting (Lisboa)    Zenit Sankt Peterburg   5 BATE Barysau    Besiktas    Deportivo (La Coruña)    Dinamo Zagreb    Lille OSC    Manchester City
See also the section on consecutive participations .
Bayer Leverkusen (10) and Liverpool (9) entered most often in spite of never winning their domestic league since the Champions League was introduced.
Consecutive Participations
The record number of consecutive participations in the Champions' Cup  is 20, a series by Dynamo Kyiv.  All clubs to play at least 4  times in succession in the Champions' Cup (including preliminary rounds  for the Champions League):
20 Dynamo Kyiv (1993/94-2012/13)  19 Real Madrid (1997/98-2015/16)  18 Manchester United (1996/97-2013/14) Arsenal (1998/99-2015/16)  16 Shakhtar Donetsk (2000/01-2015/16)  15 Real Madrid (1955/56-1969/70)  13 Olympiakos (Piraeus) (1997/98-2009/10)    Olympique Lyonnais (1999/00-2011/12) Chelsea (2003/04-2015/16)  12 PSV (1997/98-2008/09) Barcelona (2004/05-2015/16)  11 Rosenborg BK (1995/96-2005/06)     10 Dynamo Berlin (1979/80-1988/89)    Bayern München (1997/98-2006/07)    Celtic (2001/02-2010/11)    Sheriff Tiraspol (2001/02-2010/11)    Internazionale (2002/03-2011/12)    Pyunik Yerevan (2002/03-2011/12) Dinamo Zagreb (2006/07-2015/16)      9 Celtic (1966/67-1974/75)    Liverpool (1976/77-1984/85)    Rangers (1989/90-1997/98)    Skonto Riga (1997/98-2005/06)    Sparta Praha (1997/98-2005/06) BATE Barysau (2007/08-2015/16)      8 Anderlecht (2003/04-2010/11) Bayern München (2008/09-2015/16) Partizan Beograd (2008/09-2015/16)   7 CSKA (Sofia) (1956/57-1962/63)    FC Porto (1995/96-2001/02)    Galatasaray (1997/98-2003/04)    Maribor Branik (1997/98-2003/04)    Ajax (2001/02-2007/08)    FC Porto (2003/04-2009/10)   6 Benfica (1960/61-1965/66)    �jpest D�zsa (1970/71-1975/76)    Linfield (1982/83-1987/88) Steaua Bucuresti (1993/94-1998/99)    Barcelona (1997/98-2002/03)    Spartak Moskva (1997/98-2002/03)    Juventus (2000/01-2005/06)              [punished by FIGC after 2005/06]    FBK Kaunas (2000/01-2005/06)    Milan (2002/03-2007/08)    Liverpool (2004/05-2009/10)    FC København (2009/10-2014/15) Ajax (2010/11-2015/16) FC Basel (2010/11-2015/16) Benfica (2010/11-2015/16) HJK (Helsinki) (2010/11-2015/16) Zenit Sankt Peterburg (2010/11-2015/16)   5 G�rnik Zabrze (1963/64-1967/68)    Anderlecht (1964/65-1968/69)    Bayern M�nchen (1972/73-1976/77)    Jeunesse d'Esch (1973/74-1977/78)    Omonia Nicosia (1975/76-1978/79)        [withdrew from 1974/75 competition]    Omonia Nicosia (1981/82-1985/86)    Steaua Bucuresti (1985/86-1989/90)    Real Madrid (1986/87-1990/91)    Sparta Praha (1987/88-1991/92)    Brøndby IF (1996/97-2000/01)    Deportivo (La Coruña) (2001/02-2005/06)    Benfica (2003/04-2007/08)    Fenerbahçe (2004/05-2008/09)    Werder Bremen (2004/05-2008/09)    F91 Dudelange (2005/06-2009/10)    Sporting (Lisboa) (2005/06-2009/10)    Olympique Marseille (2007/08-2011/12)    Rangers (2007/08-2011/12)    Panathinaikos (2008/09-2012/13)    Ekranas Panevezys (2009/10-2013/14)    Milan (2009/10-2013/14) Manchester City (2011/12-2015/16) Maribor (2011/12-2015/16) Olympiakos (Piraeus) (2011/12-2015/16) FC Porto (2011/12-2015/16) Sk�nderbeu Kor�� (2011/12-2015/16)   4 Young Boys (Bern) (1957/58-1960/61)    Dukla Praha (1961/62-1964/65)    Dinamo Bucuresti (1962/63-1965/66)    Internazionale (1963/64-1966/67)    Saint Etienne (1967/68-1970/71)    Ajax (1970/71-1973/74)    Viking (Stavanger) (1973/74-1976/77)    Austria (Wien) (1978/79-1981/82)    CSKA (Sofia) (1980/81-1983/84)    Olympiakos (Piraeus) (1980/81-1983/84)    Shamrock Rovers (1984/85-1987/88)    G�rnik Zabrze (1985/86-1988/89)    PSV (1986/87-1989/90)    Olympique Marseille (1989/90-1992/93)   [banned from 1993/94 competition]    Barcelona (1991/92-1994/95)    Steaua Bucuresti (1993/94-1996/97)    IFK G�teborg (1994/95-1997/98)    Juventus (1995/96-1998/99)    Anorthosis Famagusta (1997/98-2000/01)    Dinamo Zagreb (1997/98-2000/01)    Bayer Leverkusen (1999/00-2002/03)    Club Brugge (2002/03-2005/06)    Steaua Bucuresti (2005/06-2008/09)    Levski Sofia (2006/07-2009/10)     Levadia Tallinn (2007/08-2010/11)    Sparta Praha (2007/08-2010/11)    FC Twente (2008/09-2011/12)    Borussia Dortmund (2011/12-2014/15) Celtic (2012/13-2015/16) Galatasaray (2012/13-2015/16) Juventus (2012/13-2015/16) Ludogorets Razgrad (2012/13-2015/16) Paris Saint-Germain (2012/13-2015/16) The New Saints (2012/13-2015/16)
Consecutive Participations in Champions League
Since 1991/92 the Champions' Cup has included a Champions League group stage, initially with 8 clubs (corresponding to the quarterfinals of the tournament), meanwhile with 32 clubs.  The following clubs have reached this league stage of the competition in at least 3 successive seasons.
While the current record holders are unsurprising, Rosenborg BK deserve a special mention: in 2002, they became the first club to  establish a series of 8 (and earlier 6 and 7) consecutive  qualifications for the (first) group stage.
19 Real Madrid (1997/98-2015/16)  18 Manchester United (1996/97-2013/14) Arsenal (1998/99-2015/16)  13 Chelsea (2003/04-2015/16)  12 PSV (1997/98-2008/09)    Olympique Lyonnais (2000/01-2011/12) Barcelona (2004/05-2015/16)  11 Olympiakos (Piraeus) (1997/98-2007/08)  10 Bayern München (1997/98-2006/07)    Internazionale (2002/03-2011/12)   8 Rosenborg BK (1995/96-2002/03)    Dynamo Kyiv (1997/98-2004/05) Bayern München (2008/09-2015/16)      7 Galatasaray (1997/98-2003/04)    FC Porto (2003/04-2009/10)      6 Barcelona (1997/98-2002/03)    Juventus (2000/01-2005/06)              [punished by FIGC after 2005/06]    Milan (2002/03-2007/08)    Liverpool (2004/05-2009/10) Benfica (2010/11-2015/16) Shakhtar Donetsk (2010/11-2015/16)   5 FC Porto (1995/96-1999/00)    Spartak Moskva (1998/99-2002/03)    Deportivo La Coruña (2000/01-2004/05)    Werder Bremen (2004/05-2008/09)    Olympique Marseille (2007/08-2011/12)    Milan (2009/10-2013/14)    Ajax (2010/11-2014/15) Manchester City (2011/12-2015/16) Olympiakos (Piraeus) (2011/12-2015/16) FC Porto (2011/12-2015/16) Zenit Sankt-Peterburg (2011/12-2015/16)   4 Juventus (1995/96-1998/99)    Bayer Leverkusen (1999/00-2002/03)    Ajax (2002/03-2005/06)    Anderlecht (2003/04-2006/07)    Dynamo Kyiv (2006/07-2009/10)    Borussia Dortmund (2011/12-2014/15) Galatasaray (2012/13-2015/16) Juventus (2012/13-2015/16) Paris Saint-Germain (2012/13-2015/16)      3 Milan (1992/93-1994/95)    Spartak Moskva (1993/94-1995/96)    Ajax (1994/95-1996/97)    Steaua Bucuresti (1994/95-1996/97)    Borussia Dortmund (1995/96-1997/98)    Sturm Graz (1998/99-2000/01)    Lazio (1999/00-2001/02)    Sparta Praha (1999/00-2001/02)    Lokomotiv Moskva (2001/02-2003/04)    Panathinaikos (2003/04-2005/06)    Sparta Praha (2003/04-2005/06)    Benfica (2005/06-2007/08)    Celtic (2006/07-2008/09)    AS Roma (2006/07-2008/09)    Shahtar Donetsk (2006/07-2008/09)    Sporting (Lisboa) (2006/07-2008/09)    Steaua Bucuresti (2006/07-2008/09)    Valencia (2010/11-2012/13)    Anderlecht (2012/13-2014/15)    Schalke 04 (2012/13-2014/15) Atl�tico Madrid (2013/14-2015/16) Bayer Leverkusen (2013/14-2015/16) CSKA Moskva (2013/14-2015/16)
The worst finish a European Champions' Cup winner ever achieved in their domestic league in their winning season was 11th, by Aston Villa in 1981/82:
English First Division 1981/82       11.Aston Villa        42 15 12 15  55-53 42
The second-worst finish, and the only one with a record under 50%, is that of Bayern München in 1974/75:
German 1.Bundesliga 1974/75       10.Bayern München     34 14  6 14  57-63 34
The worst finish of a Champions League winner was fifth, which happened twice, in Spain 1999/00 and England 2004/05:
Spanish La Liga 1999/00        5.Real Madrid        38 16 14  8  58-48 62  English Premier League 2004/05        5.Liverpool          38 17  7 14  52-41 58
As a result, neither Madrid nor Liverpool qualified directly for  the next edition but whereas in Spain Real Zaragoza (4th in the league 1999/00) were relegated to the UEFA Cup so that Real Madrid  could defend their trophy, the English FA pressurised UEFA into  admitting both Everton (4th in the league 2004/05) and Liverpool  (on a wild card).
Domestically Best Winners
All Champions' Cup winners bar Bayern 1974/75 and Villa 1981/82 finished among the first 3 of their national championship with the  exception of Nottingham Forest (5th in 1979/80), Liverpool (5th in  1980/81 and in 2004/05), Juventus (6th in 1984/85), Real Madrid  (4th in 1997/98 and 5th in 1999/2000) and Milan (4th in 2006/07).
Among the multiple winners, Barcelona are the only one to have won all their Cups as domestic champions; Ajax were Dutch champions in 3 of  their 4 Champions' Cup winning campaigns (2nd in 1970/71, their first win).
In all, the double of Champions' Cup and domestic league has been won on 27 occasions by 15 different teams:
Barcelona (5 times, 1991/92, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11 and 2014/15), Ajax (3 times, 1971/72, 1972/73 and 1994/95),  Bayern München (3 times, 1973/74, 2000/01 and 2012/13),  Real Madrid (twice, 1956/57 and 1957/58),   Liverpool (twice, 1976/77 and 1983/84),  Manchester United (twice, 1998/99 and 2007/08),  Internazionale (twice, 1964/65 and 2009/10),  Benfica (1960/61), Celtic (1966/67),  Hamburger SV (1982/83), Steaua Bucuresti (1985/86), PSV (1987/88), Crvena zvezda Beograd (1990/91), Milan (1993/94) and  FC Porto (2003/04).
Seven of the above made the double of Champions' Cup and domestic league into a treble, adding the domestic cup; only Barcelona did it twice (2008/09 and 2014/15); the other six: Celtic (1966/67), Ajax (1971/72), PSV (1987/88), Manchester United (1998/99), Internazionale (2009/10) and Bayern München (2012/13). Celtic, Ajax, PSV, Barcelona, Internazionale and Bayern München thereby won all competitions they entered in  their season; Celtic also won the Scottish League Cup 1966/67  (as well as the Glasgow Cup), for which there is no Dutch, Spanish or Italian equivalent; Manchester United did not win the English League Cup 1998/99.
Barcelona managed a unique feat by also winning all three bonus competitions in the next season: the Spanish Super Cup 2009 (for which they qualified as league champions) and the European Super  Cup 2009 and FIFA World Club Cup 2009 (for which they qualified  as Champions League winners 2008/09).  Ajax performed a comparable feat by winning both the European Super Cup and the  Intercontinental Club Cup (the predecessor of the FIFA World Club Cup) in 1972 (the Super Cup matches were played in January 1973);  there was no Dutch Super Cup tournament at the time.  Manchester  United won the Intercontinental Club Cup 1999 but not the European Super Cup (losing to Lazio) while both Celtic and PSV failed to win the intercontinental trophy.
As an aside, Bayer Leverkusen managed to finish runners-up in all three competitions (Champions League, German League and German Cup) they entered in 2001/02.  Bayern M�nchen emulated that feat in 2011/12 (one season later they won all three competitions).
Domestic Ties
Before the Champions League was introduced (and for half a decade afterwards), a country could (normally) only have two entrants  in the Champions' Cup if one of its clubs won the competition but  failed to win the domestic league.  This occasionally led to  meetings between clubs from the same country.  It should be  remarked that in  the first two cases, Real Madrid had also won  the Spanish league in 1956/57 and 1957/58, but UEFA admitted the  runners-up, Sevilla and Atlético de Madrid respectively,  to the Champions' Cup regardless.
From the 1997/98 season, league runners-up of the eight countries highest in the UEFA Coefficient Rankings can also  qualify for the Champions League, and domestic ties became much more likely (cf. the section Runners-Up Stuff below); since the 1999/2000 season, six countries can enter three or four  participants in the reformed Champions League.  Spain managed to get  three teams in the semifinals and for the first time ever, a  'domestic final' was played.  Italy emulated this feat in 2002/03, and England in 2006/07 (but the fourth team, Milan, won the trophy) and 2007/08 (in which season no English club was eliminated by a  non-English one).  It would appear to be only a matter of time before one country manages to field all semifinalists (as already happened once in the UEFA Cup , in 1980),  which then surely should be considered the final nail in the coffin  of the original idea to have "champions" compete against each other.
Chelsea and Liverpool set a record for domestic meetings by playing each other in five consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to 2008/09 (implying that for half a decade they met as often in a European competition 'for champions' as in the domestic league,  and that in spite of the fact that together the two clubs only  managed two English championships in the relevant period of time).  Other than  those two, Real Madrid and Barcelona met in the Champions' Cup or League on four occasions (1959/60, 1960/61, 2001/02 and 2010/11).
All "domestic meetings" in the Champions' Cup or League:
1957/58 Spain         Real Madrid v Sevilla [quarterf., 8-0 and 2-2] 1958/59 Spain         Real Madrid v Atlético de Madrid [semif., 2-1, 0-1 and 2-1] 1959/60 Spain         Real Madrid v Barcelona [semif., 3-1 and 3-1] 1960/61 Spain         Real Madrid v Barcelona [2nd round, 2-2 and 1-2] 1978/79 England       Nottingham Forest v Liverpool [1st round, 2-0 and 0-0] 1985/86 Italy         Hellas Verona v Juventus [2nd round, 0-0 and 0-2] 1997/98 Germany       Bayern München v Borussia Dortmund [quarterf., 0-0 and 0-1 aet] 1998/99 Germany       Bayern München v 1.FC Kaiserslautern [quarterf., 2-0 and 4-0] 1999/00 Spain         Valencia v Barcelona [semif., 4-1 and 1-2] 1999/00 Spain         Real Madrid v Valencia [final, 3-0] 2001/02 Spain         Barcelona v Real Madrid [semif., 0-2 and 1-1] 2002/03 Italy         Internazionale v Milan [semif., 1-1 and 0-0] 2002/03 Italy         Milan v Juventus [final, 0-0, 3-2pen] 2003/04 England       Chelsea v Arsenal [quarterf., 1-1 and 2-1] 2004/05 Italy         Milan v Internazionale [quarterf., 2-0 and 3-0 (awarded)] 2004/05 England       Chelsea v Liverpool [semif., 0-0 and 0-1] 2005/06 England       Liverpool v Chelsea [group stage, 0-0 and 0-0] 2006/07 England       Chelsea v Liverpool [semif., 1-0 and 0-1 aet, 1-4 pen] 2007/08 England       Arsenal v Liverpool [quarterf., 1-1 and 2-4] 2007/08 England       Liverpool v Chelsea [semif., 1-1 and 2-3 aet] 2007/08 England       Manchester United v Chelsea [final, 1-1 aet, 6-5 pen] 2008/09 England       Chelsea v Liverpool [quarterf., 3-1 and 4-4] 2008/09 England       Manchester United v Arsenal [semif., 1-0 and 3-1] 2009/10 France        Olympique Lyon v Bordeaux [quarterf., 3-1 and 0-1] 2010/11 England       Chelsea v Manchester United [quarterf., 0-1 and 1-2] 2010/11 Spain         Real Madrid v Barcelona [semif., 0-2 and 1-1] 2012/13 Germany Bayern München v Borussia Dortmund  [final, 2-1] 2013/14 Spain         Barcelona v Atlético de Madrid [quarterf., 1-1 and 0-1] 2013/14 Spain         Real Madrid v Atlético de Madrid [final, 4-1 aet] 2014/15 Spain         Atlético de Madrid v Real Madrid [quarterf., 0-0 and 0-1] 2015/16 Spain         Barcelona v Atlético de Madrid [quarterf., 2-1 and 0-2] 2015/16 Spain         Real Madrid v Atlético de Madrid [final, 1-1 aet, 5-3 pen] overview domestic ties in Europe
Beating the Holders
Real Madrid do not only hold the record of most wins; they are also the club who most often eliminated the defending champions: on no fewer than 8 occasions they managed to do this, in 5 of which they went on to win themselves.  Together with CSKA (Sofia) they hold the distinction of performing this feat in consecutive seasons.
All clubs to eliminate the defending champions more than once (seasons in which they won themselves in bold):
8 Real Madrid          (1963/64, 1965/66, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1997/98, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2013/14)     6 Juventus             (1982/83, 1984/85, 1995/96, 2002/03, 2012/13, 2014/15)   3 Barcelona            (1960/61, 1985/86, 2008/09)    CSKA Sofia           (1973/74, 1980/81, 1981/82)    Dynamo Kyiv          (1967/68, 1976/77, 1998/99)    Internazionale       (1966/67, 2004/05, 2009/10)   2 Milan                (1962/63, 1968/69)
Most successful countries against the holders:
Spain        13 eliminations (Real Madrid 8, Barcelona 3, Deportivo 1, Atl�tico 1)    Italy        12              (Juventus 6, Internazionale 3, Milan 2, Sampdoria 1)    England       4              (Arsenal 1, Chelsea 1. Liverpool 1, Nottingham Forest 1)    Bulgaria      3              (CSKA Sofia 3)    Germany       3              (Bayern M�nchen 1, Borussia Dortmund 1, Schalke 04 1)    Ukraine       3              (Dynamo Kyiv 3)    Netherlands   2              (Ajax 1, Fe&307;enoord 1)    Romania       2              (Dinamo Bucuresti 1, UT Arad 1)
No other country boasts more than one such elimination.
Runners-Up Stuff
From the season 1997/98 on, runners-up from the 8 strongest leagues were allowed into the Champions' Cup.  This led to a record of 3 German teams participating in the Cup, Borussia Dortmund as defending champions, Bayern München as German champions, and Bayer Leverkusen as German runners-up.  This was emulated by Spain in 1998/99 as well as by England, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in 1999/2000; however, Germany set a new record by entering 4 teams in the Champions' League group stage (the same three as in 1997/98 plus Hertha BSC).  In fact Italy and Spain also entered four teams but saw one losing out in the last qualifying round.  In 2000/01, Spain was the only country to enter four teams in the group stage, with Italy, Germany, France and England settling for three.  It has since become common for two or three of the top-5 countries to enter 4 clubs in the group stage; England had a change to enter 5 in 2005/06 when Liverpool got a 'wild card' as holders but Everton (who had entered as fourth team in the 2004/05 league) failed to negotiate the final qualifying round.
In 1997/98, all three German teams reached the quarterfinal stage,  which was a record.  It was bettered in 1999/00, when Spain managed  to field three semifinalists (a feat repeated in 2002/03 by Italy and in 2006/07 by England).
However, Bayer Leverkusen were not the first domestic  runners-up to reach the quarterfinal stage.  If we exclude the first  competition 1955/56, in which many non-champions participated, that  honour goes to Sevilla, who were admitted as Spanish  runners-up in the 1957/58 edition and were only eliminated by champions and holders Real Madrid in the quarterfinal.
As for 1955/56, four clubs reached the quarterfinals who had not  been champions in the previous domestic season, and one reached  the semifinals, Hibernian, who had only finished 5th  in the Scottish league 1954/55. The other three were V�r�s Lobogo (Hungarian runners-up), Rapid Wien (third in Austria) and Partizan Beograd (5th in the previous Yugoslav season).
In 1958/59, Atlético de Madrid, runners-up in the Spanish league the previous season, even went one stage further, reaching  the semifinals and forcing Spanish champions and holders Real Madrid to a play-off before bowing out of the competition.
The second team to reach the semifinals of the Champions' Cup without  having won the domestic title or the Champions' Cup in the previous season was AS Monaco, who did so in 1993/94 in spite of having finished third in the French league in 1992/93 behind Olympique de Marseille, who had also won the Champions' Cup in 1992/93 but were banned in the wake of a bribery scandal, and Paris Saint-Germain, who declined taking Olympique's place in the Champions' Cup, preferring to play in the Cup Winners' Cup instead.
In 1998/99, both finalists of the Champions' League had qualified as runners-up of their domestic league 1997/98; Manchester United became  the first team to win the Champions' Cup having entered as runners-up,  taking that distinction from Bayern München by two goals in injury time.
Likewise, in 1999/00 neither finalist would have qualified for the tournament under the traditional rules: Real Madrid had finished 2nd in Spain in 1998/99, Valencia only fourth.
Monaco's record of reaching the semifinals as third placed team from their country was bettered by Valencia, who reached the final  in 1999/2000 having entered as Spain's 4th placed team the season before and reached it again as 3rd placed team in 2000/01.  In 2001/02, Bayer Leverkusen equalled Valencia's record by reaching the final after entering as Germany's 4th placed team. Milan improved on this by becoming the first team to win the Champions League 2003 following qualification as 4th place team  in their domestic championship in the previous season, a feat emulated by Liverpool in 2004/05.
Atlético de Madrid hold another record: they are  the only club who have won the Intercontinental Cup against the winners of the Copa  Libertadores, in spite of not (and indeed never) having won the European Champions' Cup in the previous season, when they beat Independiente as stand-ins for Bayern München in 1974.
While Atlético are the only team with more intercontinental than continental titles, Nottingham Forest have more continental wins (2 Champions' Cups in 1979 and 1980) than domestic league titles (1, in 1977/78, directly following promotion from the second division ).
Highest win in one leg:
1973/74, 1st round: Dinamo Bucuresti 11-0 Crusaders
Highest aggregate win:
1965/66, 1st round: Stade Dudelange 0-8 Benfica                     Benfica 10-0 Stade Dudelange              Benfica win 18-0 on aggregate
Most goals in game:
1969/70, 1st round: Feĳenoord 12-2 KR (Reykjavik), total 14 goals
Most goals in tie:
1965/66, 1st round: Stade Dudelange 0-8 Benfica                     Benfica 10-0 Stade Dudelange              Benfica win 18-0 on aggregate, total 18 goals  1968/69, 2nd round: Reipas (Lahti) 1-9 Spartak Trnava                     Spartak Trnava 7-1 Reipas (Lahti)              Spartak Trnava win 16-2 on aggregate, total 18 goals  1969/70, 1st round: Feĳenoord 12-2 KR (Reykjavik)                     KR (Reykjavik) 0-4 Feĳenoord (in Rotterdam)              Feĳenoord win 16-2 on aggregate, total 18 goals  1979/80, 1st round: HJK (Helsinki) 1-8 Ajax                     Ajax 8-1 HJK (Helsinki)              Ajax win 16-2 on aggregate, total 18 goals
Best come-backs: