The most prestigious title in the realm of club football has to be the UEFA Champions League (or the European Cup, as it was known before 1992). To be the champions of Europe — football's powerhouse — means to be at the pinnacle of club football.

This elite competition welcomes its 32 participants from across Europe's top leagues and via qualifiers for teams from around the continent. Spanish juggernauts Real Madrid are the most crowned champions. With 13 UEFA Champions League trophies, the La Liga giants have left their competitors far behind.

Serie A side AC Milan stand second with 7 UEFA Champions League trophies under their belt, followed by Bayern Munich (6) and Liverpool (6). While numerous clubs have won the coveted title multiple times, several top clubs have never laid their hands on the trophy.

Surprisingly, the list includes many heavyweights who should've had won the UEFA Champions League already.

Without further ado, here's a look at the

Top 5 clubs that have never won the UEFA Champions League


5 Arsenal

It would be almost impossible for the current generation to believe Arsenal were once among the most feared teams in the world.

Arsene Wenger's Gunners, which included the likes of Robin Van Persie, Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Cesc Fabregas among others, came closest to the title back in 2006. However, they lost against Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona.

Despite failing to win the UEFA Champions League trophy, the north Londoners were regulars in the knock-out stages of the tournament, in contrast to the present scenario.

Despite having been a consistently qualifying team in the tournament until 2017, Arsenal have failed to register a UEFA Champions League triumph till date.

4 Valencia

There is something about Spanish teams and the UEFA Champions League. La Liga sides have dominated the UEFA Champions League more than any other team from Europe's top 5 leagues.

The Champions League trophy has been taken to Spain a total of 18 times as opposed to England's 14, Italy's 12, Germany's 8 and France's 1. However, despite being a formidable side during the late 90s and early 2000s, Valencia is a team that never could grab the title.

Under the leadership of Gaizka Mendieta, The Bats managed to make consecutive finals (1999-00 & 2000-01) appearances. Unfortunately, the Spanish side had to taste defeat on both occasions.

With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid shuffling for the top three spots, Valencia face heavy competition for a UEFA Champions League qualification spot in La Liga.

3 Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid have had their share of major heartbreaks recently in the UEFA Champions League.

Emerging as one of the superpowers in recent times after being underdogs in Spain's top division, Atletico Madrid have managed to outperform league giants Real Madrid and Barcelona twice in the last decade (2013-14 & 2020-21) to win La Liga.

Under Diego Simeone, the Rojiblancos managed to achieve four European trophies in the form of UEFA Europa League (2) and UEFA Super Cups (2) but failed to kiss the Champions League trophy despite reaching the finals in 2014 and 2016.

Losing to arch-rivals Real Madrid on both occasions made the defeat even more bitter for the club and its fans. The Spanish side also made the final in the 1973-74 edition of the tournament, but lost out on the trophy to Bayern Munich.

Regardless, Atletico Madrid are considered one of the favorites to win the trophy in the near future.

2 Paris Saint-Germain

PSG's emergence into the limelight was preceded by the club's massive signings and recent Ligue 1 domination. PSG have been the winners of the transfer market in recent times. They grabbed Neymar and Mbappe for hefty transfer fees while also roping in Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma for free.

The Parisians are housing a bunch of the most talented players in the world of football at the moment. Now, even though that has helped them dominate the domestic league, the same hasn't been emulated in the UEFA Champions League so far.

Despite having started to dominate Ligue 1 since the 2013-14 season, the nine-time French champions have made just one UEFA Champions League final appearance.

In the ongoing summer transfer window, PSG have found two of the most experienced and serial champions of the tournament in Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos. Let's wait and see if that can take the UEFA Champions League trophy to Paris.

1 Manchester City

No other team has dominated the Premier League in the past decade like Manchester City have. The Sky Blues have brought home a total of 5 Premier League titles within a span of 10 years.

Milking the opportunity of city-rivals Manchester United's downfall, Manchester City is now the Premier League's ultimate powerhouse. The arrival of Pep Guardiola simply boosted their dominance but that was only limited to England.

Barring the 2021 UEFA Champions League final (where they lost against Chelsea), the Cityzens have never crossed the semi-final hurdle. Despite their league domination, Pep's men usually exited the UEFA Champions League in either the Round of 16 or the quarterfinals.

Considering the team's current form and squad depth, Manchester City are tipped to be the leading contenders to win this season's UEFA Champions League. Only time will tell if they uphold that.


Check this out

https://www.nairaland.com/6715388/pogba-set-premier-league-record

Abeg wetin concern Assnal for your list.

And none will ever win it in a long time

The champions league is PSG to lose this season ...

Championship is not for children,

Chelsea rules and leads while other small small clubs follows

Machinegun91:
Championship is not for children,

Chelsea rules and leads while other small small clubs follows

If only u read d article, you'd see where it said liverpool is leading in England. Hw many chelsea get sef?

Arsenal is now a laughing stock, see snide remarks everywhere.

PSG is lifting this year's own..

city, PSG or athletico looks feasible in winning one or two in d next 5 years..
football is more about moni n I see PSG n city buying their way to d UCL..

Machinegun91:
Championship is not for children,

Chelsea rules and leads while other small small clubs follows

bros, na UCL DM de talk about o and not uefa cup or community shield..
Chelsea rules for which UCL?? abi DM jus start new UCL last season?
clubs like Madrid, Liverpool, Milan n even Bayern no talk n na Chelsea dey noise?

Maxymilliano:
The champions league is PSG to lose this season ...

swears bro...d odds favors them except badluck n injuries come into the key part of this season..

WhoDeyHause:
Abeg wetin concern Assnal for your list.

just another thread to bash gunners fans because even arterta knows dt qualifying for UCL is a very huge task..
even if they entered UCL on merit, they cant beat any big guns in UCL na...Bayern still de play UCL oo

Idamond:
PSG is lifting this year's own..

Y...
Because of messi?

Olayoo:
Y... Because of messi?

definitely

Obembet, wetin assnal dey do that list na?
Team wey never win Europa league na champions league you want make dem win? Mk u still dey use ur brain na...... Assnal is a mid table team, not a top club.

Dmnnnnnnnnn niggarrr
Isoright

I can bet my balls arsenal will not win it in the next 600 years...

Remove Arsenal… they are in the level of Norwich

All I know is that

Arsenal will rise again...

Remove arsenal from that list

Arsenal fast becoming a laughing stock.
And to think this same Arsenal was in the forefront to join the Eufa Super League. SMH.

Pls remove arsenal from names among top clubs

Man city and PSG now have the chance to. As for Arsenal, lemme just keep kwayet

In which of the 501 alternate dimensions, is Arsenal a top club?

Well,I wanna say kudos to my fellow chelsea fans....At least we are the champions of Europe for now....So let's enjoy the moment and hope it last..

Now my sympathy goes to Arsenal,man. City and of course man. United fans whose club hasn't won the UCL for sometime....

Abeg,How una take dey breathe?

Arsenal can no longer be classified as a top club. They should change their transfer policy and start signing actual men not those still feeding from the bottle.

Arsenal ---Top club?

May the good old days return