By Asmaa Ghofran
KUWAIT, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- The most anticipated European football event, Uefa's Champions League (CL) is set to kick off on Tuesday, with the top clubs in Europe competing for the trophy.
The annual competition is considered as one of the toughest football tournaments in the world, involving the best stars of the game, who will have the opportunity to claim supremacy over the continent's football.
The competition involves 32 teams divided into eight groups. The clubs must occupy the first two or three places in their country's national leagues in order to qualify for the Champions League.
In some cases, clubs achieving third or fourth place would have to go into play-offs against teams from other countries to qualify for the tournament.
This year's CL promises lots of excitement thrill, with all the new superstar transfer between the European clubs and the presence of rising stars with their new teams.
The most awaited matches are those of group E, or the so-called (group of death), consisting of the 2013 Bavarian CL title winners and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munchen, Premier League champions Manchester City, Roma from Italy and Russian champions Cska Moskva.
Current CL holders Real Madrid are set to defend their title in group B against Liverpool from England, FC Basel from Switzerland and PFC Ludogorets from Bulgaria.
Last season's runner-ups Atletico Madrid and La Liga champions, who lost to Real Madrid in the CL's final 4-1 Atletico Madrid, will play in group A against Italian Serie A champions Juventus, Malmo from Sweden and Olympiacos from Greece.
Other teams in the competition include Zenit from Russia, Monaco from France, Benfica from Portugal and Bayer Leverkusen from Germany representing group C.
As fror group D, the German club Borussia Dortmund will compete with Arsenal from England, Anderlecht of Belgium and Galatasaray from Turkey.
Moreover, group F will see Paris Saint Germain, FC Barcelona, Ajax from the Netherlands and Apoel from Cyprus competing, while group G consists of Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, FC Chelsea from England, Schalke from Germany and Maribor from Sweden.
Meanwhile, group H will have teams of Athletic Bilbao of Spain, Porto of Portugal, Bate from Belarus and Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine.
Only two teams with the most points will qualify from each group into the tie of 16 or what is known as the knockout stage. The team which seized the first place in its group, will play against the winner of the second place of an opposing group and vice versa.
The Uefa awards each team in the play-off round with euro 2.1 million, euro 8.6 million for reaching the group stage, euro one million for each win in the group stage and euro 500,000 for a draw.
Uefa also pays teams reaching the first knockout stage euro 3.5 million, euro 3.9 million for each quarter-finalist, euro 4.9 million for the semi-finalists, euro 6.5 million for the runner-ups and euro 10.5 million for the winners.
The CL was launched in 1955 under the name (the European Cup), which was later changed into the Champions League.
The club with record title winnings is Real Madrid with 10 trophies, followed by AC Milan with seven, then five for both Liverpool and Bayern Munchen.
No team was able to win the trophy two years in a row except AC Milan, which won the title in 89 and 90. (end) ag