FC Barcelona win fifth Champions League

One, two, three, four, FIVE!!! London, Paris, Rome, London again and now Berlin - FC Barcelona have beaten Juventus to win their fifth Champions league title (although the competition wasn’t known by that name when they won it for the first time). That means the Catalans now have one more than Ajax, and are now matched with Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the all-time table.

Five out of eight

So far, the 21st century has been wonderful for FCB, when four of the five titles were won (2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015). Until the turn of the century, the Catalans had only tasted success once, in 1992, when Koeman’s famous free kick at Wembley downed Sampdoria in extra time. Before that, Barça had lost two finals, to Benfica in Berne (1961) and to Steaua Bucharest in Seville (1986). The only other time Barça lost the final was to AC Milan in Athens (1994). 

Club of the decade

In the 60-year history of the European Cup, only two teams now have more titles than Barça, Real Madrid (10) and AC Milan (7). But with four titles in the last decade, there is no doubt where the momentum lies. While Barça have won the trophy four times, no other side has done so more than once, with the other six titles shared by AC Milan, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

The Champions League also completes a historic treble after Barça won the domestic league and cup double as well. In fact, Barça have become the very first team to achieve that distinction not once, but twice! And if we count all of the other professional sports teams, FC Barcelona has now won an incredible 39 continental crowns.