European Cup Trivia

[Alex Anderson]

God. That's something else. It must surely have been shown on TV over here - I just have no recollection.

Was actually in the Parkhead Jungle, at the replayed Scottish Cup semi-final, the previous evening. Had been coming out of Celtic Park with 47,000 others after the first Rangers v St Johnstone match on the Saturday when we began hearing trickles of news from Sheffield. We gave it plenty of Liverpool chants but with YNWA having long been adopted as a Celtic anthem too (despite Rangers fans being the first to regularly sing it in Scotland) I sadly don't know that we sang the only one that really counts.

[Alex Anderson]

[jwdd27]

In the days when Madrid were still relatively likeable, before galactico fever really took off.

[Alex Anderson]

In the days when they lived on Parma Violets and didn't even care about wiping off the crumbs ...

[Wouter D]

When was the last time the last 8 were all from different leagues?

I didn't recall this happening in the "Champions League Era", but the quarterfinalists in 1996/97 were

Borussia Dortmund
Auxerre
Manchester United
Porto
Ajax
Atlético Madrid
Rosenborg
Juventus

As a corollary, I was wondering how strong the dominance of the big leagues has been lately. So I decided to focus on the four biggest leagues right now: Spain, England, Italy, and Germany, and to figure out how many of the eight quarter finalists were delivered by these four leagues.

The current edition is the first time that all eight quarter finalists come from the big four leagues.
The 96/97 edition was the last time that the big four leagues didn't deliver an absolute majority of quarter finalists.
The 95/96 edition was the last time that the big four leagues delivered a minority of quarter finalists (thank you, Blackburn Rovers).

There have been ten editions where seven out of eight quarter finalists came from the big four leagues. Can you name the odd ones out? The seasons are 99/00, 00/01, 01/02, 02/03, 06/07, 07/08, 08/09, 10/11, 13/14, and 16/17.

[Alex Anderson]

I'll perm Porto, Lyon, ASM and PSG - though surely there's a Russia and/or Ukraine in there somewhere. i.e, Zenit, Dynamo Kiev or Shakhtar.

[Wouter D]

Porto bags 99/00 and 08/09 (the only double occurrence in the list). AS Monaco is correct for 16/17. PSG gets you 13/14. A Russia and/or Ukraine is correct for 10/11, and it is indeed Shakhtar.

Zenit, Kiev, and Lyon are not on the list. They may have reached the quarter final at some point, but then they were always joined by another non-big-four-leagues team.

I'm still looking for the odd ones out in 00/01, 01/02, 02/03, 06/07 and 07/08. Five distinct teams from three distinct leagues.

[Wouter D]

(this whole trip makes me long back for the time when a random team like Rosenborg could actually still make some waves in the Champions League. Those were the days...)

[Satchmo Distel]

1998 for p.98: Is Zidane the only player to be a European Cup or Champions League runner up in the same season he won the World Cup and scored in the WC final? Does Zidane hold any unique records relating to Champions League finals?

In the 1998 final, players wearing 26 and 27 were booked. Juventus lost it in the stadium of Ajax, the team they had played in two previous finals, winning one and losing one.

How many cities have hosted a final but never had a team from that city win one? London was on that list from 1968 until 2012; has any city had a longer gap between first hosting and first win?

[Wouter D]

First question: Stockholm, Brussel.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think we are reluctant to nominate Ajax or PSV for Wouter's question because we can't quite recall when those clubs were priced out of the last 8, but logically it was probably just before England and Spain were allowed to enter 4 clubs. That would explain the last spurt of the Dutch clubs around the turn of the century.

[Wouter D]

Ajax was 02/03, PSV was 06/07 (when Jon Dahl Tomasson's injury time goal kept them out of the semis). That leaves 00/01, 01/02, and 07/08.

[3 Colours Red]

Galatasaray got to a quarter final in the early 2000s, didn't they? I'm thinking Greece and Turkey for the other two as well.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

London was on that list from 1968 until 2012; has any city had a longer gap between first hosting and first win?

1963

[Antepli Ejderha]

Galatasaray got to a quarter final in the early 2000s, didn't they? I'm thinking Greece and Turkey for the other two as well.

2000-01 & 2012-13 for Galatasaray, that was the season before they won the UEFA cup.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

First question: Stockholm, Brussel.

Stockholm hasn't hosted?

Quite a lot for hosted but no winning club - Berlin, Stuttgart, Vienna, Cardiff, Istanbul, Bari, Athens, Paris...

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

A question occurred to me earlier on, but I don't know a definitive answer. How many teams have won the European Cup the year after a season that they weren't in any European competition at all? I can think of two.

[Alex Anderson]

Ajax was 02/03, PSV was 06/07 (when Jon Dahl Tomasson's injury time goal kept them out of the semis). That leaves 00/01, 01/02, and 07/08.

Jeezus. How the hell could I forget the Dutch. Wouter - I'm so sorry. Total mind fart here. Couldn't see the woods for the questioner.

[denishurley]

A question occurred to me earlier on, but I don't know a definitive answer. How many teams have won the European Cup the year after a season that they weren't in any European competition at all? I can think of two.

Villa in 1982?

[Alex Anderson]

How many cities have hosted a final but never had a team from that city win one?

I'll exploit Walt's heavy lifting with Berne, Seville, Rome, Gelsenkirchen and Moscow ... and Kiev this season.

[jwdd27]

A question occurred to me earlier on, but I don't know a definitive answer. How many teams have won the European Cup the year after a season that they weren't in any European competition at all? I can think of two.

Someone will have to be the wiseguy who nominates Real Madrid 1956.

Looks like it's me.

[Satchmo Distel]

Nottingham Forest won it having previously never played in any European competition except the Fairs Cup although they had some players who had been in the European Cup with other clubs: Derby, for example.

Has any club played in a Champions League match with a starting eleven who had played in it before for other clubs? Real Madrid, maybe?

[Alex Anderson]

Someone will have to be the wiseguy who nominates Real Madrid 1956.

Looks like it's me.

Or there's the smart arse rejoinder "which team wasn't in the European Cup/UCL the season AFTER winning it?" ... !!!

Yes. Mm-hmm. Indeed. You read right. I went there. I did.

[denishurley]

Olympique de Marseille.

[Alex Anderson]

1998 for p.98: Is Zidane the only player to be a European Cup or Champions League runner up in the same season he won the World Cup and scored in the WC final?

Niels Liedholm just phoned from the first season this was possible. He said, "I tried my best but there was this young fellah called Edson Arantes Abedi Nasciemento ..."

Danielle Massaro got it the wrong way round in 1994 and Paul Breitner says you're just annoying: He won both finals in 74 and lost both finals in 82 - scoring in the World Cup final each time. Yet that's still not what you're looking for??!!

Does Zidane hold any unique records relating to Champions League finals?

Only scorer with the initials ZZ. Alessandro Altobelli satisfied the other end of the alphabet only in the World Cup final (Marco Materazzi was somewhere in the middle) ...

Which is too bad when you remember the ECCC/UCL final has also seen goals from Basile Boli, Mario Mandzucik, Pierino Prati ...

Thanks for nothing, goal-shy Kevin Keegan!