By: Jafar Abdi

The UCL (UEFA Champions League) is the biggest club tournament in the soccer world. Held every year, it starts in a group stage with 32 (8 groups of 4) different teams until every team has played 6 games. The games follow a point system, all teams in the same group would play each other twice. A win is 3 points, a draw is 1 point, and a loss is 0 points. The top 2 teams go on to play in a 2 legged draw for the knockout round. The 3rd team would go straight to the same knockout style of play, but in the UEL (UEFA Europa League), and the last team would be eliminated.

In the past few years, the Spanish and the English teams have been dominating the competition. Ever since 2000, the 2 countries have combined for 28 finalists. The team with the most titles has been the Spanish giant, Real Madrid, ever since the competition has been around. In fact, most records for the UCL have something to do with the club. The top scorer and assistant leader is Cristiano Ronaldo, a former Real Madrid player. He also has the most appearances, wins, and goals in 1 season by any player. He truly is the tournament’s most valuable player and for good reason.

This year’s iteration has already been through the group stages. There are a lot of heavy hitting teams in the knockouts including last year’s winner and this year’s favorite: Manchester City. Real Madrid are also going through, but they aren’t nearly as good as they were at their peak. This team, as well as several others, are going through many injuries to their best players, but it is no excuse as health is part of the game.

Overall, this is the most prominent and exciting time of year and I truly love this game. Personally, I do think that Manchester City will take it home again but I am a Real Madrid fan myself. HALA MADRID!!