Top 10 clubs that never won the Champions League

These clubs have a rich and long history in European football

The UEFA Champions League is a tournament that showcases the very best team’s European football have to offer every season, and sets up football fans for mouthwatering clashes between continental superpowers and thrilling victories in the final by whichever team gets the right to lift the trophy when all’s said and done.

However, there are some who make the Champions League consistently and put up good fights, but ultimately don’t get a chance to have their moment of glory.

On this list, we rank the top 10 teams to never win the Champions League ranked by their status, financial strength, and success in league football. Teams that won the Champions League prior to its modern eras, such as Benfica, Celtic, or PSV Eindhoven, were also left off.

For some of the below-listed teams, it’s only a matter of time before they get to lift the trophy themselves. Without further ado, here are 10 of the best teams who have yet to win a Champions League trophy, as well as their best finish to date in Europe’s biggest showcase for club teams.

10. FC Basel

This is perhaps an odd selection for this kind of list, but the Swiss club’s position of 21st on the UEFA coefficient list gives them the 10th spot here. Having made the modern-day Champions League five times, the first time in 2002-03, FC Basel enjoyed their best showing in Europe’s biggest club competition after qualifying for the Round of 16.

The Swiss side defeated Manchester United 2-1 in December 2011, with goals from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei causing the Red Devils to crash out in the group stage and down to the Europa League for the first time in Sir Alex Ferguson’s history as United manager.

They have qualified for the Group Stages of the Champions League more times than any other Swiss club (a total of seven times) and are the only Swiss club to have ever qualified directly for the Group Stages. In 2021, they set a new record for a Swiss team with the most successful international group stage campaign by reaching 14 points in their Conference League group.

9. Zenit St. Petersburg

Though they’ve only really risen to prominence in Europe over the past few seasons, Zenit St. Petersburg, with players like Hulk and Axel Witsel in tow, have established themselves as one of Russia’s best Champions League hopes. Their first Champions League appearance came in 2008-09, but they crashed out in the group stage in a group including Juventus and Real Madrid.

The Russian club went on to win the Europa League that same season and then defeated Manchester United to win the Super Cup. They’ve since qualified 10 times for the competition, with their last appearance coming back in the 2021–22 season.

Their best performance in the tournament thus far has come this season as well as in 2012; however, both seasons saw Zenit, currently ranked 20th in Europe by UEFA, exit in the round of 16 at the hands of Borussia Dortmund and Benfica, respectively.

8. Shakhtar Donetsk

Though they’re based out of Ukraine, FC Shakhtar Donetsk have put up a couple of very respectable performances in the Champions League. They have featured in every season since 2000-01, a feat that only a very few elite teams have been able to replicate.

They have been known for producing players who develop into world-class players, such as Fenandinho, Willian, and Douglas Costa. Mykhailo Mudryk is the latest player to join this list, as he has already made waves with his pace and ball handling for Chelsea in an underperforming season.

While the Miners have mostly fallen in the group stage during their history in the tournament, two notable exceptions include their appearance in the Round of 16 last season before losing 5-2 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund, as well as a quarterfinal appearance in 2010-11, where they dominated Roma 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16 before eventually losing to Barcelona in the quarterfinals.

7. Schalke 04

Although not quite of the same calibre as Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund domestically, Gelsenkirchen-based Schalke 04 have held their own on several occasions in the Champions League in the past.

Their best showing came in the 2010-11 season after making it past Valencia and Inter in the knockout stage to make the semifinals, only to lose 6-1 on aggregate to Manchester United. Previously, the Royal Blues had made the quarterfinals in 2007-08, where they exited the knockout stage 2-0 on aggregate to Barcelona.

Schalke's last European campaign was in 2018–19, when they reached the round of 16, and they have struggled since in the Bundesliga. Finally, after a string of bad seasons, Schalke’s heartbreak was evident as they got relegated this season after finishing 17th after a really long season full of bad performances and a lack of direction in the management.

6. Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur have witnessed one of the best strikers, modern, state-of-the-art stadiums, and world-class managers in recent seasons, but their trophy drought just continues, which has made them a laughing stock.

While they’re consistently a contender for at least a top-four finish in the Premier League year in and year out, up until 2016, Tottenham Hotspur only made it to the Champions League once in its modern era, in the 2010–11 season. That year, they managed to qualify for the quarterfinals after topping group A and beating Inter and AC Milan in the process, the latter thanks to an 80th-minute goal from Peter Crouch. However, it was not to be, as Spurs fell 5-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.

Since 2016, they have been quite frequent in the competition, only missing the qualifications twice. Following being regulars in the competition, unexpectedly in the 2018-19 season, we witnessed an all-English final only for the second time (the first time after Manchester United defeated Chelsea in Moscow in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final).

This time, Tottenham and Liverpool faced each other after Lucas Moura's last-minute heroics against Ajax in the semi-Final. On June 1, 2019, at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, it was the Reds’ who got their hands on the sixth Champions League trophy thanks to goals by Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi. Tottenham were below average in the match, giving away penalties in the initial minutes of the match.

5. Lyon

As far as the modern Champions League era is concerned, Olympique Lyonnais have the distinction of making the tournament the most times apart from Paris Saint-Germain for any French club. The team had previously made three consecutive quarterfinal appearances from 2003–04 to 2005–06.

Their best finish at the tournament thus far has come in 2009-10 and 2019-20, where the first time they made the semi-finals was with Lisandro Lopez, Miralem Pjanic, and Hugo Lloris in tow at the time. Lyon went past Liverpool, Real Madrid, and fellow French club Bordeaux to make the last four, only to lose 4-0 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.

The second time, however, they travelled to the semi-finals after defeating teams like Juventus and Manchester City along the way. They, however, lost to their familiar foes again, this time getting defeated by Bayern Munich 3-0. They have been a frequent force in France, apart from PSG, who are trying to be the second side ever to win this prestigious title after Marseille achieved this feat in 1993.

4. Valencia

Valencia have fallen from grace since their lucrative start at the turn of the century. Call them unlucky if you will, but Valencia’s performances as a team both in Europe and domestically have been overshadowed by the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Though they’ve made the tournament nine times since 1992–93, Los Che’s two best Champions League finishes came in two straight seasons and in the best place you can finish without actually winning: the final.

Valencia lost 3-0 in 1999-00 when they met the unstoppable Real Madrid, and The Bats returned to feature in the next season’s final. This time, they faced Bayern, and the Spaniards were an equal opponent for a total of 120 minutes. However, the Bavarians won 5-4 on penalties to just miss out on winning the most coveted trophy in European club football.

They have not made it that far since being ousted in the quarterfinals in 2002-03 and 2006-07. Their last appearance came in 2019-20 when they were defeated by Atlanta in the Round of 16.

3. Paris Saint-Germain

Thanks largely to being purchased by the Qatar Investment Authority, Paris Saint-Germain has started to re-establish itself as a legitimate European superpower. With players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr., and Messi featuring for the team in the European competition, they’re already arguably the best team in France.

But they still have yet to have their domestic success translate into European success. Les Parisiens were involved in a memorable Champions League match when they made it to the quarterfinals, only to suffer a shock exit thanks to Barcelona, where they lost to away goals on aggregate 6-6.

The wealthy Qatari funding at Paris Saint-Germain finally paid off in 2020, when the French club reached their first Champions League final of all time. Unlucky enough, they met a very inspired Bayern roster with Lewandowski, Gnabry, Coutinho, and Kingsley Coman, to name a few, who made the fairy tale go bad. In a coronavirus-affected season full of many uncertainties and postponed deadlines, both sides took the field at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on August 23, 2020. Kingsley Coman scored the winning goal for the Germans.

2. Atletico Madrid

The recent resurgence under Diego Simeone has seen another city, Madrid, have better years in terms of the league and European football. In recent years, the title race for La Liga has been largely a three-way fight between Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Real’s cross-town rivals, Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid are perhaps the club with the most heartbreaking record in Champions League history. So far, they have played in three different finals, but unfortunately, they never got to lift the trophy.

Atleti faced Bayern in a two-legged final in 1974, and they lost 5-1 on aggregate. With a team that boasted Diego Costa, Koke, Arda Turan, and Thibaut Courtois, they met with their bitter rivals Real Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final, and they were demolished with a 4-1 scoreline. Three of those goals came in extra time after Sergio Ramos equalised for the Galacticos in the 90th minute. It didn’t take much for them to come back and give it another shot, again against Real in 2016. Atletico were an equal opponent this time, but they again lost, this time on penalties.

1. Arsenal

Despite featuring in only one European Cup or Champions League final, Arsenal are unarguably the most popular soccer team to have never won the competition. In addition to their woes over the past few years in their attempts to win their first Premier League title since 2004, Arsenal have also yet to win the top title in European club football. The Gunners were once regulars at European football’s top table, reaching the final in 2006, but top-four finishes have been in short supply of late.

Their last appearance was back in 2016–17 when their journey ended in the Round of 16 under Arsene Wenger. This season, their second-place finish in the Premier League has seen them make a comeback in the competition after seven years of absence.

The closest they came was in 2005–06 when they fell to Barcelona in the final at the Stade de France in Paris. A 37th-minute Sol Campbell goal was wiped out by Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti, winning Barça their third title within six seasons.

The Gunners’ best finish since then came in 2008-09, when they made the semifinals only to lose to Manchester United 4-1 on aggregate, where a Ronaldo brace took them down. Up to this day, they remain the only one of the English top 5 clubs, consisting of Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool, to never win the UCL.