Top 3 Teams Making UEFA Champions League Return After a Decade

This week, amid much anticipation over the revised format, the first matches in the revamped UEFA Champions League kick off an entirely new phase in European club football. There are 36 clubs participating in the league phase, and each club will play eight matches versus eight different opponents, two more than in the previous phase.

With the number of teams in the competition increased to 36, it meant that there will be more clubs playing in the competition. But more than just the revamped format, there is more historic information attached to it. Many new clubs are set to compete in the elite club competition either for the first time or after a long stretch. 

3 teams who are participating in UEFA Champions League after a decade

3. Sparta Praha

With players like Karel Poborský and Jaromír Blažek, Sparta Praha last advanced to the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2005–06; they finished with two points in a group that also included Ajax, Arsenal, and Thun. Lukáš Haraslín was essential to their qualification run because he is a skilled winger who constantly poses a threat to opponents with his quick runs. It was flawlessly demonstrated when he set up Rrahmani for the game-winning goal in their play-off match against Malmö, as well as his technically sound finishing ability.  

2. VFB Stuttgart

When VFB Stuttgart last participated in the UEFA Champions League, they defeated FC Barcelona in the round of sixteen. That was in 2009–2010. Stuttgart had never had an exceptionally successful season since winning the championship in 2006–07; on the last day of the competition, they even passed Bayern Munich to take second place. Five Stuttgart players, Alexander Nübel, Waldemar Anton, Chris Führich, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Deniz Undav, were called up to Germany's preliminary team for UEFA Euro 2024 due to their outstanding achievements.

1. Aston Villa

Aston Villa qualified for Europe's top club tournament for the very first time since 1982–83 while also enjoying their best league finish in 28 years. Their strong start to the campaign was fuelled by a dominant home record that they had before the year began, with Unai Emery's team taking 28 of the first 30 points that were obtainable at Villa Park. Their remarkable journey from the play-offs into the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinals, when they were defeated by the eventual winners Olympiacos, was not overshadowed by their early exits from domestic cups.