Road to the UCL final!

Aiden Przeslawski, Reporter
April 27, 2023

Imagine this, 16 of the best Soccer teams in the world face head-to-head in one of the most prestigious European Competitions, each looking to add another trophy to their name where clubs from all over the continent compete for the title. Every year on June 10th, two of the best teams in the world play one match against each other in the final of the Ultimate Champions League, but what does it take to get there?

The Ultimate Champions League (Abbreviated to UCL), is a competition where teams across Europe qualify to face off in different matches and claim the trophy. Matches are played in two “legs,” or two separate matches. 

One match is played at one team’s home stadium, and the other match is played at the opponent’s home stadium. The scores from both matches are tallied up into a combined score, called “aggregate.” The team with the most goals at the end of the two matches are victorious. For example, if the score was 2-0 in the first leg, and 0-3 in the next leg, then the other team would win 2-3 on aggregate. 

Once a team wins a match, they advance to the next stage of the competition. The series of matches leading up to the final are often referred to as “The Road To The Final.” The 2023 UCL competition is unique, as in the quarter-finals of the competition, one side of the bracket was occupied by teams considered as underdogs. This guarantees one underdog team will be placed in the final of the competition. 

On April 11-12, the first Leg of the quarter-finals were played, and the second leg took place about a week later, on April 18-19. Real Madrid, Manchester City, Inter Milan and AC Milan all went through to the Semi-Finals, which will be started on May 9th-10th to compete for a spot in the final and a chance to claim the trophy. 

Each of these teams are quite special, AC Milan and Inter Milan both being the Italian underdogs competing for a spot in the final. Manchester City and Real Madrid are both special teams as well, with City being one of the best teams in the world. Real Madrid are also considered one of the best teams, and have won the most UCLs, including last years. Who do you think will win the tournament?