Following Real Madrid’s success in the 2023/24 competition, Spanish clubs have now won the European Cup or UEFA Champions League on 20 occasions. That’s more than any other country while there have also been more Spanish finalists than from any other nation with 31 in total. Let’s take a look at how many Spanish clubs have won the Champions League and how many have finished as runners up.
Which Spanish teams have won the Champions League?
Real Madrid – 15 times
Real Madrid have been crowned European champions a record 15 times and are 10/3 to win the Champions League again in 2025 according to betting odds on football today, with only Manchester City viewed as having a better chance.
The early years of the European Cup were dominated by Los Blancos with a team that included all-time great Alfredo Di Stefano winning each of the first five editions of a tournament that began in the 1955/56 season. They’d win it again in 1965/66 but then followed a 32-year wait for the seventh which was clinched in Amsterdam in 1998 with a 1-0 win against Juventus.
The Spanish giants have more than doubled their tally since then with victories in 2000 and 2002 before the much sought after “decima” arrived in 2013/14 under Carlo Ancelotti.
Zinedine Zidane’s side claimed a hat-trick of wins between 2016 and 2018 before Ancelotti returned to add number 14 with victory over Liverpool in Paris in 2022 and number 15 in 2024 as Borussia Dortmund were defeated in London.
Real Madrid have been the undisputed dominant force in the competition over the past decade with their uncanny ability to come from behind and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, responsible for numerous famous European nights. With Kylian Mbappe arriving to add to their range of attacking options, they’ll fancy their chances of increasing their impressive haul over the next few years.
Barcelona – 5 times
There are only two Spanish clubs on the Champions League winners list though with Barcelona being crowned European champions on five occasions to take LaLiga’s overall tally to 20.
Barca didn’t open their account until 1992 when Ronald Koeman’s Extra Time goal saw off Sampdoria at Wembley to give Johan Cruyff’s side a famous win and end nearly three decades of failure for clubs from LaLiga in Eurpope’s premier club competition.
Barcelona’s next triumph was in the 2005/06 season when they beat Arsenal in the Final before Pep Guardiola’s all conquering side won the trophy in 2009 and 2011, defeating Manchester United in the Final on each occasion.
The only triumph in the post-Pep era at Camp Nou came in 2014/15 when Barcelona won the treble under Luis Enrique. While they’ve won the league several times since, they’ve not made it past the last four in Europe.
Recent years have been particularly tough going with financial problems starting to bite. The Catalans exited in the group stage in successive seasons before falling to PSG in the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Champions League.
Which Spanish teams have reached the Champions League Final?
Real Madrid – 18 times
Real Madrid have a very impressive success rate in European Cup and Champions League Finals winning 83% of them. They’ve reached the Final on 18 occasions in total and haven’t lost one during the modern, Champions League era.
The most recent defeat in a European Cup Final for Los Blancos was way back in 1981 when they were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool in Paris. They also finished as runners up in both 1962 and 1964 against Benfica and Inter Milan respectively.
Barcelona – 8 times
Barcelona have also finished as runners up on three occasions. Their first European Cup Final was in 1961 when they suffered a 3-2 defeat against Benfica and they wouldn’t reach another for a quarter of a century until Terry Venables’ side were stunned by Steaua Bucharest in Seville.
Barca missed all four penalties in the shootout after the game ended goalless and while they did get their hands on the trophy six years later, they also suffered a 4-0 defeat to Milan in the 1994 Final.
They’ve won all of the four Champions League Finals they’ve reached since.
Atletico Madrid – 3 times
No club has reached the European Cup/Champions League Final more times without winning one than Atletico Madrid. To make matters worse, two of their three Final defeats were against city rivals Real Madrid.
Both were agonising losses too. Diego Simeone’s side were a matter of seconds away from triumphing in Lisbon in 2014 before Sergio Ramos’ famous late header took the game to Extra Time where Real Madrid blew their neighbours away. 2016 saw another Madrid derby Final in Milan with Atleti losing out on penalties that time.
Atletico Madrid’s other European Cup Final appearance was in 1974. Up against Bayern Munich, they drew 1-1 resulting in the one and only European Cup Final replay which the Bavarians won convincingly.
Valencia – 2 times
Valencia are the only other Spanish club to have made the Final and they did it in back-to-back years in 2000 and 2001 under Hector Cuper.
Los Che were one of the strongest teams in Spain at the time with Mestalla a fortress on European nights but they failed to produce their best football in the first Final, losing 3-0 to Vicente del Bosque’s Real Madrid.
Back for more a year later, they went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich in Milan, taking the lead in just the third minute of a game that ultimately went to penalties. Both sides missed two of their opening five spot-kicks but Mauricio Pellegrino’s miss ultimately proved decisive as Valencia missed out on the big prize.
