Europe League

Arsenal may have been off the pace in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93, but they made up for it by winning both the FA and League Cups.

The Premier League crown eluded them until 1998 - two years into manager Arsene Wenger's tenure - when they did the league and FA Cup double. Under the Frenchman, the Gunners shook off their "boring" image and began to play some of the most attractive football in England.

In eight of his 13 seasons at the club, Arsenal have finished first or second. And together with star players such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, Wenger took Arsenal to another "double" in 2002.

The Gunners reached the Champions' League final in 2006, becoming the first London team to do so, but lost to Barcelona. Their Barclaycard Premiership title in 2003/04 saw them become only the second team to win the league without losing a match - earning them the title "The Invincibles." Overall they went 49 matches unbeaten, which is a national record

Full name : TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e. V. Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH (Football)
Nickname(s) : Werkself ("Factory Squad"), "Neverkusen"
Founded : 1 July 1904
Ground : LTU Arena, Düsseldorf (temporary) BayArena, Leverkusen, formerly "Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion" (permanent) (Capacity: 30,000)
President : Wolfgang Holzhäuser
Manager : Jupp Heynckes
League : Bundesliga

Bayer 04 Leverkusen is a German football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the most well-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball and other sports.

Club Name : Associazione Sportiva Roma S.p.a.
Club Headquarters : Via Trigoria Km. 3,600, Rome (Italy)
Telephone : 39 06501911
Fax : 39 065061736
Date of Foundation : July 22, 1927
Chairman : Rosella Sensi

Associazione Sportiva Roma, (BIT: ASR) commonly referred to as simply Roma, is an Italian professional football club from Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated at the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence bar one season in the early 1950s (in 1951-52). For their 57th season in a row, Roma are competing in Serie A for 2008–09.

Roma have won Serie A three times, first in 1941–42 then again in 1982–83 and 2000–01. As well as winning nine Coppa Italia trophies; on the European stage Roma won an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, but have had come close to success finishing as runners-up in the European Cup in 1983–84 and the UEFA Cup in 1990–91.

Home games are played at the Stadio Olimpico, a stadium they share with city rivals S.S. Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,700 it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, with only the San Siro able to seat more.

Full name : Chelsea Football Club
Nickname(s) : The Pensioners, The Blues
Founded : 14 March 1905
Ground : Stamford Bridge, London (Capacity: 42,055[1])
Owner : Roman Abramovich
Chairman : Bruce Buck
Manager : Carlo Ancelotti
League : Premier League

Chelsea will be desperate to regain the Premier League crown after finishing second to Manchester United in the last two seasons. Former manager Jose Mourinho, bankrolled by owner Roman Abromovich's millions, brought the first title to Stamford Bridge for 50 years when the Blues lifted the trophy in 2005. Chelsea became only the second team to win back-to-back Premier League titles when they clinched it a year later. Mourinho left the club by mutual consent in September 2007.

Although Chelsea reached the FA Cup final in 1994, they hardly set the world alight in their early Premier League days. Ruud Gullit became manager in 1996 and steered the Blues to an FA Cup triumph in 1997, while his successor Gianluca Vialli guided the team to victory in the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998.

Shortly after, he led the team to the UEFA Super Cup after a 1-0 win over Real Madrid. The FA Cup followed in 2000. Vialli was replaced by Claudio Ranieri in 2000 and he led Chelsea to another FA Cup final appearance in 2002.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the Blues for £140m. After a trophyless season, he appointed Mourinho as new Chelsea manager and there was instant success. In 2005, Chelsea won the Barclays Premiership and League Cup, along with a Champions League semi-final appearance.

And Mourinho retained the Barclays Premiership crown the year after, equalling the club's own Premier League record of 29 wins set the previous season. They were league runners-up in 2006/07 and also claimed the FA Cup and League Cup double.

They were also runners-up in the 2007/08 campaign, but by this time Mourinho had left the club. He was replaced by Avram Grant who led the Blues to the final of the Champions League and Carling Cup.

Grant left Stamford Bridge at the end of the season and was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari who will be charged with bringing the title back to the club. However he was sacked in February 2009 and replaced by Guus Hiddink who agreed to take charge until the end of the campaign while continuing to coach the Russian national side.

Club Heritage

Chelsea were formed in 1905 and were elected into the Second Division of the Football League. They just missed out on silverware 10 years later with an FA Cup final defeat. The Blues had to wait for their first major trophy in 1955, when under manager Ted Drake, they won the league title. Chelsea claimed the League Cup for the first time in 1965 and were defeated in the FA Cup final two years later.

Featuring the likes of Ron 'Chopper' Harris, Ian Hutchison and Peter Osgood, Chelsea overcame Leeds to win the FA Cup in 1970. In the following season, they clinched the European Cup Winners' Cup with a replay victory over Real Madrid.

Financial problems meant the Stamford Bridge club dropped into the Second Division, and at one point they were close to falling to the Third Division.

They eventually won their place back in the top flight in 1984, but their stay only lasted four seasons. They clawed their way back to the First Division again as Second Division champions in 1989 and have remained there ever since.

Premier League History

1992/93 - Inaugural members of the Premier League
1993/94 - Lose FA Cup final
1996/97 - Ruud Gullit appointed player-manger
1996/97 - Win FA Cup
1997/98 - Gianluca Vialli becomes manager
1997/98 - Win League Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup
1999/00 - FA Cup winners
2000/01 - Claudio Ranieri becomes manager
2001/02 - Lose FA Cup final
2003/04 - Chairman Ken Bates sells Chelsea to Roman Abramovich
2000/05 - Jose Mourinho takes over as manager
2004/05 - Chelsea win Barclays Premiership and League Cup
2005/06 - Chelsea win Barclays Premiership
2006/07 - Win FA Cup and League Cup
2007/08 - Jose Mourinho leaves the club to be replaced by Avram Grant. Runners up in the Carling Cup, Barclays Premier League and Champions League. Part company with Grant. Luiz Felipe Scolari appointed manager in June.
2008/09 - Scolari is sacked in February 2009 and replaced by Russian national coach Guus Hiddink who will combine both roles until the end of the season. Carlo Ancelotti named new manager in June 2009.

Full name : Arsenal Football Club
Nickname(s) : The Gunners
Founded : 1886 as Dial Square
Ground : Emirates Stadium (Capacity: 60,355)
Owner : Arsenal Holdings plc
Chairman : Peter Hill-Wood
Manager : Arsène Wenger
League : Premier League

Arsenal may have been off the pace in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93, but they made up for it by winning both the FA and League Cups.

The Premier League crown eluded them until 1998 - two years into manager Arsene Wenger's tenure - when they did the league and FA Cup double. Under the Frenchman, the Gunners shook off their "boring" image and began to play some of the most attractive football in England.

In eight of his 13 seasons at the club, Arsenal have finished first or second. And together with star players such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, Wenger took Arsenal to another "double" in 2002.

The Gunners reached the Champions' League final in 2006, becoming the first London team to do so, but lost to Barcelona. Their Barclaycard Premiership title in 2003/04 saw them become only the second team to win the league without losing a match - earning them the title "The Invincibles." Overall they went 49 matches unbeaten, which is a national record.

Club Heritage

In 1886, a group of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory formed a team called Dial Square, renaming themselves to Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards. The team turned professional in 1891 and changed its name again to Woolwich Arsenal, eventually dropping the prefix completely in 1913 when they moved to Highbury.

The Gunners joined the Second Division in 1893 and were promoted in 1904. Success eluded them until the arrival of Herbert Chapman in 1925 when they won the league five times between 1930 and 1938 and the FA Cup twice. Chapman, who died in 1934, was also behind the renaming of the nearest London Underground station to Arsenal.

Arsenal had to wait until the 1970s for their next period of success. But their first double in 1971 was followed by several near-misses - finishing second in 1972, and losing three FA Cup finals and the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup final.

It was not until the return of ex-player George Graham as manager that the club rose to greatness again - winning six trophies during his nine-year reign. That included League Cup success in 1987 and 1993, the FA Cup in 1993, the league title in 1989 and 1991 and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. Arsenal hold the enviable record of the most consecutive seasons in the top flight - 81 at present.

Premier League History

1992/93 - Win the FA Cup and League Cup double
1993/94 - Win the European Cup Winners' Cup
1994/95 - George Graham sacked. Stewart Houston becomes caretaker. Lose the Cup Winners' Cup final to Real Zaragoza
1995/96 - Bruce Rioch takes charge for one season before resigning
1996/97 - Arsène Wenger becomes manager. Signs Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira
1997/98 - Win the FA Carling Premiership and FA Cup double
1999/00 - Sign Thierry Henry. Lose the UEFA Cup final on penalties to Galatasaray
2000/01 - Break club record transfer signing Sylvain Wiltord for reported £13m
2001/02 - Win the Barclaycard Premiership and FA Cup double
2003/04 - Win the Barclaycard Premiership without losing a match
2005/06 - Last season at Highbury. Lose the Champions' League final to Barcelona
2006/07 - Move to Emirates Stadium

Full name : Juventus Football Club S.p.A.
Nickname(s) : La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady), La Fidanzata d'Italia (The Girlfriend of Italy), I bianconeri (The White-Blacks), Le Zebre (The Zebras)
[La] Signora Omicidi ([The] Lady Killer)
Founded : 1 November 1897 (as Sport Club Juventus)
Ground : Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Turin, Italy(Capacity: 28,500)
Chairman : Giovanni Cobolli Gigli
Manager : Ciro Ferrara
League : Serie A

Juventus Football Club (BIT: JUVE) (from Latin iuventus: youth, pronounced [juˈvɛntus]), commonly referred to as Juventus and familiarly as Juve, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The club was founded in 1897 and have spent their entire history, with the exception of the 2006–07 season, in the top flight First Division (since 1929, called Serie A).

Juventus is the most successful team in the history of Italian football and one of the most recognized in the world. Overall, the club have won 51 official trophies, more than any other team in the country; 40 in Italy, which is also a record, and 11 in European and world competitions. The Old Lady is the third most successful club in Europe and the sixth in the world with the most international titles officially recognised by one of the six continental football confederations and FIFA.

The club was the first Italian and Southern European side to win the UEFA Cup. In 1985, Juventus, the only team in the world to have won all official international cups and championships[10] became the first club in the history of European football to have won all three major UEFA club competitions.

In Italy, Juventus is the club which has the biggest fan base, having also one of the largest numbers of supporters in the world, with a total of 170 million Juventus's supporters (it. tifosi) worldwide. The club is a founding member of the European Club Association, which was formed after the dissolution of the G-14, a collection of Europe's most elite clubs. The Torinese side is also recognized for its contribution to the Italian national team.

At present, the bianconeri play their home games at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. The stadium which the club owns, Stadio delle Alpi is undergoing long-term structural changes and will not be completed for use until 2011.

History
Juventus were founded as Sport Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, wearing their original pink and black kit. Juventus first won the league championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodromo Umberto I ground and wearing their famous black and white stripes inspired by English side Notts County.

There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin. President Alfredo Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole.Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, surviving the First World War.

Full name : Futbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s) : Barça (team), La Blaugrana (team), Culers or Culés (supporters),Blaugranes (supporters)
Founded : November 29, 1899 (as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona)
Ground : Camp Nou, Barcelona (Capacity: 98,772)
President : Joan Laporta
Manager : Josep Guardiola

Futbol Club Barcelona , also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barca , is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is best known for its football team, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Spanish men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club).

FC Barcelona is one of the only three clubs that have never been relegated from La Liga and the second most successful club in Spanish football having won nineteen La Liga titles, a record twenty-five Spanish Cups, seven Spanish Super Cups and two League Cups. They are also one of the most successful clubs in European football having won eight official major European trophies in total. They have won two European Cups, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups and two UEFA Super Cups. They also have a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups.

The club's stadium is the Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 98,772 seats. Barcelona enjoys a high rate of popularity; about 25.7% of Spanish population support the club,[2] while according to a recent survey Barcelona is the most popular football club in Europe with around 44.2 million fans. With 156,366 socis (members) in June 2007, the Catalan club is also placed among the top football clubs in the world with the most registered members, and the number of penyes, the officially-registered supporter clubs, reached the number of 1,782 worldwide in June 2006. The fans of FC Barcelona are known as culers. The club shares a great rivalry with Real Madrid and contest in one of the most famous football matches worldwide, known as El Clásico.

During the season 2007–08, Barcelona was the third richest club in the world with a revenue of €308.8 million. It was also one of the founding members of the now-defunct G-14 group of the leading European football clubs and its modern replacement, the European Club Association. The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona Atlètic, while there was a youth team until 2007, FC Barcelona C.

Full name : Manchester United Football Club
Nickname(s) : The Red Devils
Founded : 1878, as Newton Heath L&YR F.C.
Ground : Old Trafford(Capacity: 76,212)
Owner :Malcolm Glazer
Co-chairmen : Joel & Avram Glazer
Manager : Alex Ferguson

Manchester United F.C. (usually abbreviated Man Utd, Man United or just MU) is an English football club based in Old Trafford, Manchester.


Formed as Newton Heath Lyr F.C. on the 1878 football team as a depot Railroad Company and the Lancashire Yorkshire Railway in Newton Heath, the name changed to become Manchester United in 1902.

Even though the first has been included since one of the most powerful team in the UK, the Manchester United since 1993 to reach the dominance of the domestic championship under the direction Sir Alex Ferguson - the scale of dominance not seen since the end of the era of Liverpool FC in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Since bergulirnya era in the 1992 Premiership, Manchester United is the most successful team with eleven-time champion jockey tropi.

Despite success in the domestic competition, success is still difficult to be repeated in the European championship, their only champion ever to reach the Champions League three times throughout its history (1968, 1999, 2008).

MU became one of the most successful club in the UK; since 86-87 season, they have 21 trofi big - this is the amount that most of the clubs UEFA Main UK. They have won 18 League champion trofi Main UK (including the time still called Division One). In 1968, they became the first British team that successfully wins European Champions League, after defeat SL Benfica 4-1, and won their European Champions League for the second time in 1999 and again in 2008 after the defeat Chelsea FC in the final. They also hold the record FA Cup win as many as 11 times. [1] In 2008, they became the first English club and the second European club to be successful Antarklub FIFA World Champion.

On May 12, 2005, the United States became the owner Malcolm Glazer purchased the club with the majority of shares worth £ 800 million (U.S. $ 1.47 billion) over the protests of many of the fanatical supporters.

History

* Early years (1878–1945)
* The Busby years (1945–1969)
* 1969–1986
* Alex Ferguson era, pre-Treble (1986–1998)
* The Treble (1998–99)
* After the Treble (1999–present)