The Champions Blog

  Real Madrid's 2001-02 UCL Winning Squad: Where are they now? 15 May 2002: Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 2 Real Madrid In Glasgow, Real Madrid became winners of the Champions League for the second time in three seasons after the heroics from Zinedine Zidane and Raul. It was number nine for Real Madrid as they overcame, first time finalists, Bayer Leverkusen. Where is Real Madrid's winning squad for the 2002 Champions League now? 1) Iker Casillas (#1) Casillas was a true icon for Real Madrid and because of this, he is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. He is regarded as Real Madrid's greatest goalkeeper in their history. He came on as a substitute following the injury of starting goalkeeper, Cesar. Following the Glasgow, Casillas won 4 La Liga titles, 2 Copa Del Reys, 3 Supercopas, 2 UEFA Super Cup, 2 Club World Cups and another Champions League in 2014. He left Real Madrid a legend in 2015, and made a move to Portugal to play

The Champions Blog Please Note: Original Creation Date was October 25th Matchday 3 brought many important fixtures and points towards teams who are competing for places, in the Round of 16. It was an enthralling week for all teams in the competition. This is The Champions Blog. The week started of with the Bavarian giants, Bayern Munich taking a trip to Turkey to play the Turkish champions, Galatasaray. The game started of with Bayern dominating possession in the game and their reward was an early goal from French forward, Kingsley Coman. This gave Bayern an early boost in an important fixture. Galatasaray pushed harder to find an equalizer and eventually, they were rewarded with a penalty due to a late foul by Joshua Kimmich. The penalty was scored by Mauro Icardi who scored his second goal in three appearances in this season's Champions League. Half time soon came around and it was all squared between the two sides. After a lot of good Galatasaray chances and a couple missed atte

  Bayern Munich’s 2000-01 UCL Winning Squad: Where are they now?  23rd May 2001: San Siro, Milan, Italy Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Valencia (5-4) Bayern Munich won their first European Cup since their treble success 1974 to 1976 after beating Valencia on penalties in Milan. This was also Valencia’s second Champions League final in a row and became the second team to lose back to back Champions League final matches. So, where are the Bayern Munich squad that lead the German champions to their fourth European success? 1) Oliver Kahn (#1) Kahn is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and the best goalie in Germany and Bayern Munich history. He won 4 more Bundesliga titles as well as 4 DFB Pokal Cups and 1 Club World Cup. Kahn was man of the match for the game in Milan. He retired with Bayern at the end of the 2007-08 season. Internationally, Kahn was a World Cup runner up in 2002 in South Korea and Japan, winning the golden ball and being the only goalkeeper to win the golden

  Real Madrid’s 1999-2000 UCL Winning Squad: Where are they now? 24th May 2000: Stade de France, Saint Denis, Paris, France  Real Madrid 3 - 0 Valencia  Real Madrid were just crowned European champions for the 8th time in their history against fellow La Liga rivals, Valencia. They had a fantastic squad with the likes of an upcoming icons, Iker Casillas and Raul as well as many other veterans such as, Steve McManaman and Roberto Carlos. So, where are all the players who lead Real Madrid to no.8? 1) Bodo Illgner (#1) The German stopper was an unused substitute in the final with the likes of Iker Casillas in goal. He  was the first goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup final after West Germany’s 1-0 win over a Maradona lead Argentina in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The 2000 Champions League would be his last trophy as a footballer before retiring in 2001. Following his retirement, he went on to work as a pundit for a German broadcasting station called Sky Deutschland and is now

  The Champions Blog Please Note: Original Creation Date was October 6th Matchday 2 brought another tension-packed time towards all European Cup fans as there were more thrillers, surprises and excitement over the course of the two days. This is The Champions Blog. In Naples, Napoli hosted the highly-anticipated masters, Real Madrid in what would be a very enticing fixture. By the 20th minute, Norwegian defender, Leo Skiri Østigård scored to give the hosts the lead. After constant attacks from the Spanish giants, they eventually found their goal in Vinicius Junior who scored for the first time in the Champions League this season. 7 minutes later, Jude Bellingham scored to make it 2-1 and to continue his impressive form with Real Madrid. The half finished 2-1 to the Spanish visitors. Within 10 minutes into the second half, Napoli won a penalty and was scored by the Polish international, Piotr Zielenski. Both teams fought hard but it wasn’t until the 78th minute when Real Madrid got the

 The Champions Blog Please Note: Original Creation Date was 18th September 2023 Last minute drama, big wins and unforgettable performances. Matchday 1 of the Champions League had it all. What a way for football’s greatest ever club competition to return. In this blog, we look on how the Champions League is up and running for the season. The Champions League started off at two different venues. The first being in Milan for the first ever meeting between AC Milan and Newcastle United in a Champions League fixture. This match was Newcastle’s first Champions League game in 20 years after they grabbed 4th in the Premier League last season. AC Milan on the other hand have only won 1 match out of their last 11 against English sides in the Champions League, the win was a 1-0 victory at the San Siro against Tottenham Hotspurs last season. Sandro Tonali (Newcastle #8) returns to his former club after his summer departure worth 70 million euros. Back to the game, the teams started their UCL campa