The UEFA Champions League is a club competition held each season involving 24 leading clubs from the major European football associations. The winner holds the prestigious honor of being the best club team in Europe.

	Bayern Munich celebrates after clinching the Champions League trophy at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy. (Luca Bruno - AP)

A group competition is held in the first half of the season, known as the First Phase, with the teams divided into eight groups of four. Individual teams play each team within their respective groups in a home-and-away series. This past year's competition began on September 12.

The group-winners and runners-up advance to the Second Phase. Similar to the First Phase, the Second Phase holds further elimination matches in a group home-and-away series format.

The top two clubs in each group advance to the Quarterfinals. This knockout round is another home-and-away series between four separate matchups that determine who goes through to the Semifinals.

The winners of the Semifinals home-and-away matchups advance to the
Final Phase, where a single-game Champions League Final is played to determine the champion.

Current Champion: Bayern Munich