With the the season deciders in Europe coming up, whether it be the Leagues or the continental competitions, we take a look at all the winners of the different European competitions throughout the years, beginning with the now defunct cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, which hasn’t been played for over a decade.

One Win – Lazio, Real Zaragoza, Werder Bremen, Manchester United, Mechelen, Everton, Juventus, Aberdeen, Dinamo Tbilisi, Valencia, FC Magdeburg, Manchester City, Slovan Bratislava, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting CP, Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, Parma, Sampdoria, Ajax, Hamburg, West Ham United, Fiorentina, Arsenal, Rangers, Atletico Madrid

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The first winners of the CWC were Fiorentina, beating Rangers in the 1961 finals, the only time the final was played in a two legs system. La Viola won 2-0 at Ibrox in front of 80,000 fans with Luigi Milan scoring two. He added another one in the win at Florence, 2-1. In 1962 Fiorentina reached the finals again, this time facing Atletico Madrid. The match ended in a draw, which in those days meant – a replay match, taking place in Stuttgart. Atletico beat the Italian 3-1, with goals from Miguel Jones, Mendonca and Peiro.

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Tottenham were the next club to win the competition (1963), as the Bill Nicholson managed side destroyed Atletico Madrid in the final 5-1, with Jimmy Greaves scoring two. In 1964, Sporting from Lisbon were the winners, beating MTK 1-0 in a replay match after a 3-3 draw in the first match.

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West Ham won it in 1965, led by Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst, beating 1860 Munich at Wembley, with Alan Sealy grabbing the winning brace despite scoring only three goals for the Hammers all season previous to the final. In 1966 Dortmund became the first German side (West Germany at the time) to win the trophy, beating a Bill Shankly Liverpool 2-1 in extra time with the 109th minute winner from German international Reinhard Libuda. Anfield legends Roger Hunt (scored a goal) and Ian Callaghan played in that match.

1967 – An up and coming Bayern Munich made it a back to back German win, beating Rangers (their 2nd loss in the finals) 1-0 in extra time, Franz Roth scoring the winner for Bayern. Roth had a knack for scoring big goals in big games, scoring in three different European finals for Bayern. Jumping to 1969, Slovan Bratislava, then a Czechoslovakian side, today a Slovakian team, beat Barcelona 3-2 in Basel with goal from Cvetler, Hrivnak and Capkovic, the club’s most famous victory to date.

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In 1970 Manchester City became the third English side to win the trophy, beating Gornik Zabrze of Poland 2-1, with goals from Neil Young and Francis Lee, the latter an English international at the time. Neil Young scored the winning goal in the 1969 FA Cup final which started the whole thing for City a year earlier. In 1972, Glasgow Rangers finally won after two previous failures in the final. They beat Dynamo Moscow 3-2, with Scottish internationals Colin Stein and Willie Johnston (2) scoring for the Blues.

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FC Magdeburg beat AC Milan, coached by Giovanni Trapattoni , the title holders, in the 1974 final, the first and Only East German side to win a European title. Jumping to 1977 – Hamburg won their first European title, beating Anderlecht (trophy holders, a recurring theme in the Cup Winners’ Cup), with now Schalke manager, Felix Magath, scoring the final goal in the 2-0 win. The first final of the 1980’s was won by Valencia, coached by Alfredo Di Stefano and highlighting Argentinian star Mario Kempes, beating Arsenal in a penalty shootout.

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In 1981 Dinamo Tbilisi beat tiny outfit Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany, today a third division side in Germany. The uniqueness of the final was the fact that two teams from the Eastern Block were in it. 1983 – Aberdeen, managed by a young man named Alex Ferguson, showcasing future managers Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan, beat Real Madrid (Alfredo Di Stefano was head coach) 2-1, Aberdeen’s only European success. 1984 – Star studded Juventus, with Platini and Boniek, coached by Trapattoni, beat FC Porto 2-1 with Vignola and Boniek scoring for the zebras.

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1985 – A then very strong Everton side won it’s only European trophy, beating Rapid Wien 3-1, with goals from Andy Gray, Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy. Zlatko Kranjcar, former Croatia head coach and father of Niko Kranjcar played for the Austrian side. Two years later, Johan Cruyff coached Ajax, with Van Basten and Rijkaard in the lineup, to it’s first European trophy since his playing days in the early 70’s, beating East Germany’s Liepzig, with Van Basten scoring the winner. 1988 – Ajax in the final again, without Van Basten, Rijkaard and Cruyff but with a 19 year old Dennis Bergkamp lost to shocking Belgian side, Mechelen, 1-0. Mechelen were coached by a Dutchman (Aad de Mos) and had four Dutchmen in their starting lineup, most notably Erwin Koeman.

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1990 – Sampdoria beat Aad De Mos and his Anderlecht side 2-0, with two extra time goals by Ginaluca Vialli, with Roberto Mancini also featuring for Samp in the match. Alex Ferguson won his second European trophy the next year as the pre-greatness Manchester United beat Cruyff’s Barcelona with Mark Hughes netting two for the red devils while Ronald Koeman scored for Barca.

In 1992 it was Werder Bremen managed by Otto Rehhagel who won the trophy, becoming the first unified Germany cup winners’ cup holder, beating AS Monaco 2-0. Monaco were managed by Arsene Wenger at the time, with George Weah, Youri Djorkaeff, Emmanuel Petit and Lilian Thuram part of the French side.

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1993 – Parma began their successful decade which included three European trophies with a win over Belgian side Antwerp, 3-1. Parma reached the final in 1994 but lost to Arsenal, who won with a typical (for then) 1-0 through Alan Smith. Some notable players from that final – David Seaman, Tony Adams and George Graham on the sidelines, while Parma featured Gianfranco Zola in his pre-Premiership days. 1995, and Arsenal were the ones who reached the final, only to lose, with that famous and crazy goal by Real Zaragoza’s Nayim in the 120th minute, making it 2-1 for the Spanish club.

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1996 – A very talented Paris Saint-Germain side, coached by Luis Fernandez, beat Rapid Wien (second final loss), 1-0, through Bruno N’Gotty. Paul Le Guen, Youri Djorkaeff and Brazilian Rai were part of the winning side. Jumping ahead to the final Cup Winners’ Cup final – Lazio, during the Sergio Cragnotti era, won the last Cup Winners’ Cup trophy, beating Mallorca 2-1 in the final, with Christian Vieri and Pavel Nedved scoring for the Italian side. Hector Cuper was the manager for the losing side, not his last appearance in a European Cup final, while Sven-Goran Eriksson was the manager of Lazio at the time, a year before winning the league title with the team.

Two Wins – Dynamo Kyiv, Chelsea, Milan, Anderlecht

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Now to a bit more successful club – the two time winners. First, Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv, who won the title twice – once in 1975, beating Ferencvaros of Hungary 3-0 and again in 1986, beating Atletico Madrid 3-0. The two constants – head coach and legend, Valeriy Lobanovskiy and Oleg Blokhin, who scored in both finals. Dynamo won the trophies while still playing in the Soviet league, before the Eastern block fell apart.

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Next is Anderlecht, who made it to four finals, three consecutive times between 1976-1978, winning twice and a fourth time, losing to Sampdoria in 1990. Anderlecht scored four goals in each of their title wins, first in 1976, beating a West Ham side that featured Trevor Brooking and Frank Lampard senior. In 1978 they beat Austria Vienna 4-0. Dutchman Rob Rensenbrink who played for The Netherlands in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups scored in both finals.

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AC Milan won both titles under the management of Nereo Rocco. Their 1968 win came over Hamburg, with Swedish Kurt Hamrin, who won the title years before with Fiorentina, scoring both goals in their 2-0 win over Hamburg. Five years later it was a 1-0 over the great Leeds United, managed by Don Revie.

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Chelsea feature last in our two time winners – Their first title came in 1971, beating Real Madrid. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw, Peter Osgood scoring first for Chelsea, before Zoco scored a 90th minute equalizer for the Spaniards. In the replay which was held two days later, this time two first half goals (one by Osgood again) were enough for Chelsea to bring home the title. It took Chelsea 28 years to win another one, with Gianfranco Zola scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win over Stuttgart, managed by current Germany head coach, Joachim Low.

Four Wins – Barcelona

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The most successful Cup Winners’ cup side with four wins, the Catalan giants, FC Barcelona. Their first win in the tournament came in 1979, beating Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-3 after extra time. Three years later, it was Standard Liege in Barca’s way, with the final played on Barca’s home turf, the Nou Camp. Barca won 2-1. Seven years later – Johan Cruyff wins his first European title with Barcelona, beating Sampdoria 2-0. 1997 was Barca’s final win of the cup, with the late Bobby Robson managing the team and a young Jose Mourinho as his assistant. Ronaldo, or “fat Ronaldo” as he is known now, then a 20 year old rising comet, scored Barca’s only goal in their 1-0 win over PSG.