4 months ago
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Manchester City might be the best team in Europe - but they have not been granted UEFA's badge of honour.
City are the current holders of the Champions League after winning it for the first time in their history last season with a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan.
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Rodri scored the only goal of the game in Istanbul to spark wild celebrations in Manchester as Pep Guardiola finally lifted the trophy with City after years of trying.
But while they might currently own the Champions League trophy, they are not allowed to stitch UEFA's prestigious badge of honour on their kits.
Why? The answer is simple: They have not won it enough times.
UEFA only awards the sleeve badge to teams have won the competition five times in total - or three times in a row.
Only seven clubs in Europe can currently don the badge: Barcelona, Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Sevilla.
It means City have some way to go before they are awarded the rank and must win it at least two more times if they want to wear the badge - and that would also mean winning it this year and next year.
The rule was introduced at the start of the 2000/01 season and has been implemented ever since, though it does allow clubs that had won the European Cup to join in after the tournament was repackaged as the Champions League in 1992.
As such, only one club in the Premier League has bragging rights and can wear the badge and that is Liverpool after winning the competition six times.
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That includes four times in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984 when it was called the European Cup when the Reds were one of the most dominating forces on the continent.
And more recently in 2019 when Jurgen Klopp lifted the trophy, as well as 2005's famous final in Istanbul against AC Milan.
Gabby Agbonlahor believes that only Manchester City and Liverpool have a better Premier League squad than Aston Villa
Real Madrid have won the competition the most times, lifting it a staggering 14 times throughout their history with AC Milan the next most successful with seven.
Bayern Munich and Liverpool are tied on six trophies while Barcelona have won it five times, last tasting victory in 2015.
Ajax, though, have only won it four times - but three of those came in consecutive years from 1971, 1972 and 1973, bestowing them the honour.
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Similarly, Sevilla have yet to win the Champions League but after winning the Europa League three years in a row in 2014, 2015 and 2016, they have been given the badge, too.
Clubs like Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, who have won the Champions League twice, must win it another three times to earn the honour, while City have won the competition as many times as Aston Villa and Celtic.
