European clubs have participated in football competitions tracing back to the late 1800s.
The Challenge Cup was the first championship introduced in 1897, which lasted until 1911.
Swiss club Servette introduced a cup for national clubs of Europe called "Coupe de Nations" which was a great success and the champions of the ten major European football nations of the time were invited. The tournament was aced by Hungarian club Újpest. Despite its great run, the tournament was discontinued due to financial barriers.
The onset of the second world war put these competitions on hold until the establishment of the European Cup in 1955.
With the presence of world class players like Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Francisco Gento and José Santamaría, Real Madrid absolutely dominated the first five competitions,winning every one of them quite easily, while this was the case initially, several other clubs did prove to be formidable opponents during the late 1950s, notably Stade de Reims of France, who reached two finals and several Italian clubs like Milan and Fiorentina.
Barcelona ended Real Madrid’s spree in the first round of the 1960-61 competition.
The competition was renamed to UEFA Champions League for the 1992–93 season, undergoing some diverse changes of marketing and TV rights.
| Season | Winners | Runners-up | Score |
| 1991-92 | Barcelona | Sampdoria | 1-0 |
| 1990-91 | Red Star Belgrade | Marseille | 0-0* |
| 1989-90 | Milan | Benfica | 1-0 |
| 1988-89 | Milan | Steaua București | 4-0 |
| 1987-88 | PSV | Benfica | 0-0 |
| 1986-87 | Porto | Bayern Munich | 2-1 |
| 1985-86 | Steaua Bucureşti | Barcelona | 0-0 |
| 1984-85 | Juventus | Liverpool | 1-0 |
| 1983-84 | Liverpool | Roma | 1-1 |
| 1982-83 | Hamburg | Juventus | 1-0 |
| 1981-82 | Aston Villa | Bayern Munich | 1-0 |
| 1980-81 | Liverpool | Real Madrid | 1-0 |
| 1979-80 | Nottingham Forest | Hamburg | 1-0 |
| 1978-79 | Nottingham Forest | Malmö FF | 1-0 |
| 1977-78 | Liverpool | Club Brugge | 1-0 |
| 1976-77 | Liverpool | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 3-1 |
| 1975-76 | Bayern Munich | Saint-Etienne | 1-0 |
| 1974-75 | Bayern Munich | Leeds United | 2-0 |
| 1973-74 | Bayern Munich | Atlético Madrid | 1-1 |
| 1973-74 | Bayern Munich | Atlético Madrid | 4-0 |
| 1972-73 | Ajax | Juventus | 1-0 |
| 1971-72 | Ajax | Internazionale | 2-0 |
| 1970-71 | Ajax | Panathinaikos | 2-0 |
| 1969-70 | Feyenoord | Celtic | 2-1 |
| 1968-69 | Milan | Ajax | 4-1 |
| 1967-68 | Manchester United | Benfica | 4-1 |
| 1966-67 | Celtic | Internazionale | 2-1 |
| 1965-66 | Real Madrid | Partizan | 2-1 |
| 1964-65 | Internazionale | Benfica | 1-0 |
| 1963-64 | Internazionale | Real Madrid | 3-1 |
| 1962-63 | Milan | Benfica | 2-1 |
| 1961-62 | Benfica | Real Madrid | 5-3 |
| 1960-61 | Benfica | Barcelona | 3-2 |
| 1959-60 | Real Madrid | Eintracht Frankfurt | 7-3 |
| 1958-59 | Real Madrid | Stade de Reims | 2-0 |
| 1957-58 | Real Madrid | Milan | 3-2 |
| 1956-57 | Real Madrid | Fiorentina | 2-0 |
| 1955-56 | Real Madrid | Stade de Reims | 4-3 |
