Liverpool Football Club is a professional association football club in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions. Since 1964, they have won fourteen European and Worldwide trophies, more than any other British club. These consist of the UEFA Champions League (formerly known as the European Cup) six times, the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) three times, the UEFA Super Cup four times and the FIFA Club World Cup once.
Qualification for European competitions is determined by a team's success in its domestic league and cup competitions from the previous season. Liverpool competed in European competitions for 21 consecutive seasons until the 1985 European Cup final, the occasion of the Heysel Stadium disaster, following which the club was banned from European competitions for six seasons. Since being readmitted in 1991, they have qualified for the UEFA Champions League (the successor to the European Cup) fifteen times, the UEFA Europa League (the successor to the UEFA Cup) twelve times, and the (now-defunct) UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.
As a result of their victory in the 2005 Champions League final, Liverpool won the European Champion Clubs' Cup trophy outright and were awarded a multiple winner badge. Only two teams have won more Champions League titles than Liverpool: Real Madrid and AC Milan with fifteen and seven, respectively. Liverpool's total of three UEFA Cup wins has been bettered only by Sevilla, who have won the competition seven times. They have also won the UEFA Super Cup on four occasions; only Barcelona, Milan and Real Madrid (five each) have won the competition more. Liverpool won the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in 2019.
Bob Paisley is the club's most successful manager in Europe, with five trophies. Liverpool's biggest-margin win in Europe is an 11–0 victory over Strømsgodset in the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup. In European competitions, Jamie Carragher holds the club record for the most appearances, with 150, and Mohamed Salah is the club's record goalscorer, with 50 goals.
Background
Club competitions between teams from different European countries can trace their origins as far back as 1897 when the Challenge Cup was created for clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who did not meet under normal circumstances. The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, named after entrepreneur and sportsman Thomas Lipton, was established in 1909 and was contested between clubs from Italy, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland; the competition lasted for two years. The earliest attempt to create a cup for national champion clubs of Europe was made by Swiss club FC Servette. Founded in 1930, the Coupe des Nations featured clubs of ten major European football leagues and was deemed a success. Due to financial reasons, the competition was abandoned.Nemzeti Sport, 9 July 1930, p. 3.
The first continental competition organised by UEFA was the European Cup in 1955. Conceived by Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Équipe, as a competition for winners of the European national football leagues, it is considered the most prestigious European football competition. When the European Cup was first played, Liverpool were in the Second Division, following relegation from the First Division after the 1953–54 season, and thus were ineligible for the competition. During their time in the Second Division, two further competitions were created: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was inaugurated in 1960 for the winners of domestic cup competitions.
In 1962, Liverpool were promoted to the First Division. Two years later, they won the Football League championship, thus making their European debut in the 1964–65 European Cup. In the following years, further European competitions were inaugurated. The first, the UEFA Super Cup, was originally a match played between the winners of the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup. First established in 1973, it changed formats in 2000; since then, it has been contested between the winners of the Champions League (formerly the European Cup) and the Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup), following the Cup Winners' Cup amalgamation into the latter. The Intercontinental Cup was a competition for the winners of the European Cup (later, the UEFA Champions League) and the South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores. Established in 1960, the Intercontinental Cup was jointly organised by UEFA and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL). It ran until 2004, when the FIFA Club World Cup, which includes the winners of all six confederations' regional championships replaced it.
History
First steps in Europe – the Shankly years (1965–74)
Bill Shankly began managing Liverpool in 1959, and it was under him that the team first competed in European competition in 1964–65, qualifying for the European Cup by winning the First Division championship the previous season. The club's first opponents were KR Reykjavík of Iceland, who they played in the preliminary round. Liverpool won 11–1 on aggregate. The next round, against Belgian club Anderlecht, was the first time in Liverpool's history that they wore their now common all-red strip. The decision was made to change from red shirts, white shorts and socks by Shankly, who wanted his players to make more of a psychological impact on opponents. They beat Anderlecht and progressed to the semi-finals, where they met Italian team Inter Milan. Before the first leg at Anfield, Shankly asked two injured players to parade the FA Cup, which Liverpool had won the previous week, to intimidate the Italians. The team won the match 3–1, but Inter won the second leg 3–0, securing a 4–3 aggregate victory. The second leg was controversial; Shankly described it as "a war". He felt that the referee, José María Ortiz de Mendíbil, had shown bias towards Inter, and the Liverpool players felt cheated by his decisions. The club's 1964–65 FA Cup victory ensured qualification for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup the following season, and in that competition, they reached their first European final. Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool's opponents, employed counter-attacking tactics that had paid dividends in previous rounds and did so again, with the West Germans beating Liverpool 2–1 after extra time. Striker, Roger Hunt, described the defeat as "an off night" and said, "it was probably the most disappointing defeat over the years because we just didn't play.
In the next four seasons, they competed in the European Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but failed to progress past the third round in either competition. A tie against Dutch team Ajax during the 1966–67 European Cup was to prove pivotal in the history of Liverpool in European competition. Ajax beat Liverpool 7–3 on aggregate. However, the style of football that Ajax played – a patient passing game, inspired by Johann Cruyff – convinced Shankly that Liverpool had to replicate this style to be successful in Europe. Liverpool reached the semi-finals of the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing 1–0 on aggregate to Leeds United. They competed in the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup, despite losing the 1971 FA Cup Final, as the FA Cup winners, Arsenal, had also qualified for the European Cup by winning the league championship. Liverpool were eliminated in the second round by Bayern Munich of Germany, losing 3–1 on aggregate.
The changes made to Liverpool's tactics came to fruition during the 1972–73 UEFA Cup. The club reached their second European final, where they faced Borussia Mönchengladbach of Germany. Liverpool won the first leg 3–0 as a result of two goals from Kevin Keegan and one from Larry Lloyd. Victory in this first leg meant Liverpool only needed to avoid losing by three or more goals in order to win the final. This influenced their tactics – The Times reported that Liverpool employed a "holding action" against the "attacking Germans". The tactics worked, allowing Mönchengladbach only two goals, granting Liverpool a 3–2 aggregate victory. Liverpool also won the First Division championship that season, and as a result, qualified for the 1973–74 European Cup, where they were eliminated in the second round by Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia. The defeat marked a shift in emphasis in the style of Liverpool's play to a more patient approach. At the end of that season, Shankly retired.
European domination – the Paisley years (1974–83)
Shankly was succeeded by his assistant, Bob Paisley, in 1974. Liverpool competed in the Cup Winners' Cup during Paisley's first season and defeated Strømsgodset of Norway 11–0 at Anfield. This remains the club's largest margin of victory in all matches. They lost in the next round to Hungarian side Ferencváros on the away goals rule. In 1975–76, the club entered the UEFA Cup after a second-place finish in the First Division. Victories over Hibernian (Scotland), Real Sociedad (Spain), Śląsk Wrocław (Poland), Dynamo Dresden (East Germany) and Barcelona (Spain) took Liverpool to their third European final. Crucial to their progress was goalkeeper Ray Clemence, who made two important penalty saves against Hibernian and Dresden, saving Liverpool from elimination on the away goals rule on both occasions. Their opponents in the final were Club Brugge of Belgium. Liverpool recovered from a two-goal deficit to win the first leg at Anfield 3–2, with Ray Kennedy, Jimmy Case, and Keegan scoring a goal each in a span of six minutes. A 1–1 draw at the Jan Breydel Stadion in Bruges meant Liverpool won 4–3 on aggregate, earning their second UEFA Cup.
As the 1975–76 league champions, the club entered the 1976–77 European Cup. They defeated Crusaders of Northern Ireland and Trabzonspor of Turkey to reach the quarter-finals, where they faced the runners-up from the previous season, Saint-Étienne. The French team won the first leg 1–0. The second leg at Anfield began well for Liverpool when Keegan scored in the first two minutes. Saint-Étienne equalised to make the score 2–1 on aggregate in their favour. Kennedy scored for Liverpool, but the away goals rule meant they still needed another goal to win the tie. With six minutes remaining, David Fairclough was brought on to replace John Toshack; he immediately scored in front of the Kop, ensuring a 3–2 aggregate victory for Liverpool. In the semi-finals, they defeated FC Zürich of Switzerland 6–1 on aggregate to reach the final, where they met their opponents from the 1973 UEFA Cup Final, Borussia Mönchengladbach. The final was held in Rome, four days after the club had lost the 1977 FA Cup Final to Manchester United. Before the match, Paisley announced that striker Toshack would be fit to start. However, he was not named in the matchday squad. This change upset the Germans' game plan and allowed Keegan to torment his marker, Berti Vogts. Liverpool won 3–1 to become European champions for the first time.