How English teams have done in the last 15 Champions League tournaments

Winning the Premier League title is great. No club would turn that down. However, winning the Champions League is as big an accomplishment, and maybe even a bigger one. After all, if you win the Premier League, you’re the champion of England (and Wales, kind of). If you win the Champions League, you are the domestic champion of Europe. The Premier League gets four clubs for Champions League play, but they can’t all win. Oftentimes, none of them have. Here is how the Premier League has fared in the last 15 Champions Leagues, dating back to the 2009-10 season.

2009-10 (1 of 15)

The usual heavy hitters of the time represented the Premier League this season. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United all won their groups, but Liverpool finished third in its group, bowing out of the tournament. Chelsea lost to eventual champs Inter Milan in the round of 16, while Arsenal and Man U moved on. Barcelona then handled the Gunners with gusto in the quarterfinals, while United were done in by Bayern Munich and the away goals rule. Remember that?

2010-11 (2 of 15)

Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United returned this year, with Tottenham Hotspur replacing Liverpool. All four teams made it out of the group stage, with only Arsenal failing to win its group. Fittingly, as such, only the Gunners lost in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, Real Madrid delivered a reality check to Spurs, while United and Chelsea were drawn against one another. Man U beat Chelsea, and in fact made it to the finals, but then it ran into the Barcelona juggernaut of the era. Lionel Messi scored his 12th goal of the tournament in the final.

2011-12 (3 of 15)

This was the start of the rise of Manchester City, but just the start. It finished third in its group, as did Manchester United. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Arsenal moved on. Arsenal dropped out in the round of 16, but Chelsea was the story this year. This is the famed season when Andre Villas-Boas was fired during the campaign and replaced by Roberto Di Matteo. The Blues would finish sixth in the Premier League, but Di Matteo took them all the way to winning the Champions League, earning Di Matteo the full-time managerial job…for eight months. This was still Chelsea, after all.

2012-13 (4 of 15)

City finished fourth in its group! Granted, said group included Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, and Ajax, but even still! Chelsea also failed to make it out of its group, but United and Arsenal did. Drawn against behemoths Real Madrid and Bayern Munich (the eventual champ), England was out of the Champions League before the quarterfinals.

2013-14 (5 of 15)

Hey, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United, and Man City! How original! All four, including City, made it out of their groups (City and Bayern Munich were drawn together and both went 5-0-1). Arsenal and Man City drew tough competition, while Chelsea and United did not, so the latter two moved onto the quarterfinals. Like Arsenal, United was eliminated by Munich, whereas Chelsea made it to the semis after beating another upstart club, PSG. Then, the Blues couldn’t get past Atletico Madrid, bowing out before the finals.

2014-15 (6 of 15)

For the first time in years, Liverpool returned to the Champions League. The Reds made it instead of Man United, but they didn’t make it out of the group stage. Arsenal and City did as runners up, while Chelsea won an easy group. The eventual champs Barcelona took down Manchester City, while Arsenal and Chelsea were unlucky. Both lost in the round of 16 on away goals.

2015-16 (7 of 15)

Liverpool dipped right back out to pave the way for the usual Manchester and London teams. United surprised many by failing to make it out of its group, losing out to Wolfsburg and Eindhoven. Nouveau riche PSG took down Chelsea in the round of 16, while blue-blooded Barcelona did the same to Arsenal. Finally, though, City made a run. It beat Dynamo Kyiv in the round of 16 and then bested PSG. Man City lost 1-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the semis, but that was a close call.

2016-17 (8 of 15)

While Arsenal and Manchester City are here once again, Spurs made the cut, and this was the season after Leicester’s once-in-a-lifetime run to the Premier League title. Happily, Leicester would win its group, and only Spurs were eliminated in the group stage. In the round of 16, Bayern played Arsenal off the pitch (two 5-1 wins) while City lost a wild 6-6 tie on away goals. Leicester? It moved on to the quarterfinals! Then, Atletico ended another Cinderella run, but it was cool.

2017-18 (9 of 15)

This year, there were five Premier League teams in the Champions League, as the year prior Manchester United won the Europa League. That meant United got to join Chelsea, Man City, Spurs, and Liverpool. All five teams then moved onto the round of 16. There, Spurs, Chelsea, and United all went down, but City and Liverpool comfortably moved on. They played one another in the quarterfinals, with Liverpool winning 5-1. It eked out a semifinals win over Roma to make it to the finals to face Real Madrid. A couple Loris Karius flubs later, and Madrid were champs.

2018-19 (10 of 15)

The two Manchester clubs are here, as are Liverpool and Tottenham. Keep those last two in mind. Let’s skip ahead. All four clubs made the quarterfinals. United would lose 4-0 to Barcelona there. Spurs would beat City and Ajax on away goals to make it to the final. Liverpool would stomp Porto and make an all-time comeback against Barca to make it to the final. Yes, it was an all-England final in 2019. Liverpool scored early and late to win 2-0 and earn its first Champions League title in over a decade.

2019-20 (11 of 15)

This is, of course, the Champions League…well, we’ll just say it. COVID-19 ruined this Champions League tournament. The quarterfinals and semifinals weren’t two legs. There were no fans. Bayern’s win is the least-interesting, least-relevant Champions League win in the history of this tournament. Anyway, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Man City all made the round of 16. Only City made it to the quarterfinals, where it lost 3-1 to Lyon.

2020-21 (12 of 15)

Man United swapped in for Spurs in this tournament, which also had to deal with some COVID-19 fallout. While Man U returned to the Champions League, it’s the only team to not make it out of the group stage. Liverpool would make it to the quarterfinals, where Real Madrid beat it once again. Meanwhile, Manchester City cruised into the Champions League final, where it would face Chelsea. This trophy was the remaining jewel in the crown Pep Guardiola needed at Man City. Alas, for City fans at least, Chelsea won 1-0 and Pep’s wait would continue. At City. He had already won the Champions League elsewhere.

2021-22 (13 of 15)

There was no chance in the four teams that made it this season, but there was a slight change in the finals. This time, there would be only one English team, and it would be Liverpool. United would lose in the round of 16, but this tourney was defined by Real Madrid being the bane of English football. Madrid eliminated Chelsea in the quarterfinals, Man City in the semifinals, and beat Liverpool 1-0 in the final.

2022-23 (14 of 15)

Spurs popped in once again, replacing Manchester United. All four clubs made it out of the group stage. Madrid would smash Liverpool in the round of 16, and then comfortably beat Chelsea in the quarterfinals. This was finally the year for City, though. Man City stormed into the finals, including a 5-1 win in the semis over Real. This time, Inter Milan was waiting in the finals, and Rodri’s goal got the club its first Champions League title.

2023-24 (15 of 15)

Finally, we have the two Manchester teams joined by Arsenal and a newbie in Newcastle United. That’s a real sea change. United and Newcastle would finish last in their groups, though, while Arsenal and Man City won theirs. The Gunners and City would make it to the quarterfinals, but there Bayern eked out a win over Arsenal, and Real Madrid beat City on penalties. Over the last 15 years, English football has had a lot of success in the Champions League. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have had more success, though.