The Champions Blog

 Porto's 2003-04 Champions League Winning Squad: Where are they now? 26th May 2004: Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany Porto 3-0 Monaco Porto's Champions League win in 2004 is probably regarded as the most incredible fairy tale of Champions League history. The European Cup would be returning to Portugal for the first time since 1987. It was a moment of history for Jose Mourinho's side as they won the title against all the odds. So, where is the Porto squad that guided them to this historic victory? 1) Jorge Costa (#2) Costa is best known for his aggressive and physical style of play and is commonly regarded as one of Portugal's best defenders. Costa was the captain for Porto coming up to the final in Gelsenkirchen and started the final. After the final in Germany, Costa spent another year with the Portuguese club wining the Club World Cup in before leaving for Belgium to play for Standard Liege before retiring a year after. Internationally, Costa appeared with Portug...

  The Champions Blog Please Note: Original Creation Date was November 8th Matchday 4 of this season's Champions League brought some exciting action including big wins, some impressive surprises and some dominant displays. As well as that, the first Round of 16 tickets have been purchased by six teams. This is the Champions Blog The week got off with Borussia Dortmund hosting Newcastle. The Toon Army went into Dortmund with hope of still qualifying for the last 16 after nabbing points in their first two games with Milan and PSG. On the other hand, Dortmund entered the game with a defeat against PSG, a draw with Milan, and a win at Newcastle back in October. Each teams had four points and can still qualify. The game in Germany started off with a lot of chances by Dortmund and eventually, the German side got their reward when Niclas Fullkrug netting a close-range finish to break the deadlock and open the scoring in the 27th minute. Chances came from both ends for the rest of the first...

 AC Milan's 2002-03 Champions League Winning Squad: Where are they now? 28th May 2003: Old Trafford, Manchester, England Juventus 0 - 0 AC Milan (2-3) AC Milan returned to their title of Europe's best club after beating fellow Italian rivals, Juventus in the first all Italian final in Champions League history. A nerving penalty shootout in Manchester, AC Milan were the better side and won the 6th European Cup title and their first since 1994. So, where are the AC Milan squad that lead the Italian side to their 2003 success. 1) Paolo Maldini (#3) Maldini is regarded as not only one of the best left backs of his generations, but one of the best players in Italian football. Maldini captained his side to victory in Manchester and won man of the match, and since that, he captained his boyhood club to another Serie A title the following season, as well as 1 Coppa Italia, 1 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Club World Cup and another Champions League title in 2007. In 2009, he ...

  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...