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The Premier League is undoubtedly the best league in terms of drama and excitement. A tough competition exists between the top six for the title and any team is capable of beating anyone else. However, there has been a marked decline of the performances of English teams in the Champions League.
English teams have managed to fetch only 2 semi-final and quarter-final finishes apiece since Chelsea won the trophy in 2012. This is in stark contrast to the previous decade when Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea constantly dominated the landscape.
Thus, there has been a major fall in performances from English teams in Europe's premier tournament. Consequently, the number of CL winners in the teams have gone down and this leads to loss of invaluable winning experience for these teams.
However few, the clubs in England do possess CL winners in their sides. Here are the top 5 teams with the most number of Champions League winners.
Hint - The team at the top of the list will surprise you.
#5 Liverpool - 1
Five-time winners Liverpool have two players who have won the Champions League. However, neither of them have won it with the Reds.
Emre Can lifted the trophy during his time with Bayern Munich in 2013. The German has moved to Liverpool ever since and is a mainstay in the squad ever since.
Daniel Sturridge is the other player with a CL winners' medal. Sturridge won it with Chelsea in 2012. The Englishman eventually moved to Merseyside in the January of 2013 and has been a potent goalscorer, despite injuries, at Liverpool. This is a far cry from the numerous winners the club possessed during the 2000s.
#4 Manchester United - 2
The three-time winners currently have just 2 players with the coveted medal in their ranks. First up is Michael Carrick, the current United captain and a veteran at the club. He won the trophy in 2008 when the Red Devils beat fellow English rivals Chelsea on penalties. The 36-year old contested in two more finals in 2009 and 2011 but lost both of them to Barcelona.
The second player is former Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata. The Spaniard won with Chelsea in 2012 before switching to red from blue in the January of 2014. The United no.8 is a key part of the side and is competing in the Champions League once again this season.
Further, United's boss Jose Mourinho has won two Champions League titles with FC Porto and Inter Milan respectively while leading United to a Europa League win last season. Thus, he does add the needed experience on the grandest stage of them all.
#3 Manchester City - 3
Despite not having won the Champions League, Manchester City currently sit ahead of five-time and three-time winners in Liverpool and Manchester United respectively, in this list. Their present second-choice goalkeeper Claudio Bravo won the trophy with Barcelona in 2015 as the latter's first-choice keeper.
Similar to Bravo, Yaya Toure won the big prize during his time with Barcelona in 2009 as the Catalans beat Manchester United in the final. The midfielder has been an integral part of City since his transfer in 2010 and is one of their greatest players ever.
The third CL winner is Danilo, whom City signed this summer from Real Madrid. The versatile full-back won back-to-back titles with the Spanish powerhouse before opting to switch to England.
Finally, City have an elite personality in Pep Guardiola who won the trophy as both a player and manager. The Spaniard won the European Cup, as it was formerly known, in 1992 as a key part of Johan Cruyff's legendary "Dream Team". Then, he lifted the trophy twice again as a manager with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.
#2 Chelsea - 4
One can expect Chelsea to have the highest number of CL winners, given they are the last English club to win it, in 2012.
Gary Cahill was signed just in time in the January of 2012 from Bolton Wanderers as the Blues lifted the trophy in the same year. The Englishman is now the captain of the club, replacing the departed John Terry.
David Luiz won it as a part of the same squad as the English club beat Bayern Munich on penalties. The Brazilian defender switched to Paris Saint-Germain in 2014 before returning back to Stamford Bridge last summer.
Pedro is a multiple-time CL winner, having won the tournament three times with Barcelona. The winger won it in 2009, 2011 and 2015 before joining Chelsea. Finally, new signing Alvaro Morata lifted the trophy twice in 2014 and 2017 with Real Madrid. The Spaniard reached another final with Juventus in 2015, only to lose it to Barcelona.
Last but not the least, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte lifted the trophy once as a player with Juventus in 1996. Thus, Chelsea are well-stocked in terms of experience in Europe and this should bode them well for this season.
#Stoke City - 5
As unlikely as it sounds, it is true that Stoke currently have 5 former winners of Europe's biggest trophy. While the Potters themselves have never won or even came close to winning it in their chequered history, they are definitely signing ones with a European pedigree.
In fact, Stoke could have boasted of seven CL winners if they did not sell Marko Arnautovic (won with Inter Milan in 2010) to West Ham United and loan Marc Muniesa (won with Barcelona in 2009) to Girona.
Out of the five, striker Bojan Krkic and Dutch attacker Ibrahim Afellay won it with Barcelona. The former finished on the winning side twice in 2009 and 2011 while the latter was a part of the 2011-winning team.
Talking about two-time winners, new signing Jese Rodriguez belongs to that list as well, having won it with Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016. Xherdan Shaqiri, who is slowly building a reputation at Stoke for scoring stunning goals from outside of the box, has laid his hands on the trophy with Bayern Munich in 2013.
Another new signing, Darren Fletcher is a youth product of Manchester United and won the trophy with his boyhood club in 2008.
While one needs to note that these players were not a key part of the winning teams in the final, it is to be commended that Stoke under Mark Hughes are trying to obtain that winning mentality.
Thus, Stoke are currently the club with the highest number of CL winners ahead of the English heavyweights.
