Manchester City became UEFA Champions League champions for the first time in more than 100 years of history after beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul. José Guardiola’s side have won numerous local titles in recent seasons and even became the first English team to win a quadruple (League, Cup, League Cup and Super Cup) in 2018/19. However, the big international title of the Champions League has so far been hopeless.
Apart from the great joy of Manchester City supporters and supporters, despite being crowned champions in the next edition of the Champions League, the club will not be able to wear the so-called ‘UEFA Badge of Honor’ on their shirt. UEFA rules are very meticulous about badges, so it won’t be easy for City to earn the right to wear the badge in time.
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What is the UEFA Badge of Honor?
The UEFA Badge of Honor is an award worn by a select group of clubs on their shirt when they participate in international tournaments of European unity. This was introduced from the 2000/01 season. Manchester City won’t be able to wear the champion’s logo as they have only won one title. The challenging requirement is to have won at least three times in a row or five in total.
Of course, that doesn’t mean City won’t have a distinctive badge in the next edition of the Champions League. According to Article 58.02 (“Badge”) of the Tournament Rules, citizens must wear a current champion’s badge on the right sleeve of their jersey instead of the competitor’s badge. If the club met the “Honour Badge” requirement (Article 58.01) they would have a defending champions version of it.
Some Manchester City fans thought their team would wear the Champions League logo if they won. Photo: Capture Twitter
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How many teams wear the Champions League logo?
The difficult requirement of being worthy of the UEFA badge is reflected in the fact that only seven teams have the right to wear it. Of all, Sevilla are the only ones who haven’t been champions of the Champions League but still have it. The regulations stipulate that the Europa League titles also apply, of which the Spanish club has seven on its balance sheet.
The other six are all historic teams on the continent. At the top of the list, of course, is Real Madrid with 13 titles. They were the first to meet both requirements when the rule was introduced in the 2000–01 season. AC Milan (7), Liverpool (6), Bayern Munich (5), Barcelona (5) and Ajax (4) complete the list. The Amsterdamers may not have reached five titles, but they did win three in a row between 1970 and 1973.
The six Champions League-winning clubs to wear the UEFA badge of honor on their shirt. Photo by : Collectibles