Chelsea can become the first club to win all four major UEFA trophies – but who else could complete the set?

New York Times

27-05-2025

On Wednesday evening in Poland, Chelsea have the chance to become the first club to win all four of the major UEFA club competitions that have existed.
Those four competitions are: The European Cup/Champions League (which started in 1955-56 and was rebranded with the latter name in 1992-93), the UEFA Cup/Europa League (formed in 1971-72 and revamped in 2009-10), the Cup Winners' Cup (contested from 1960-61 to 1998-99) and the Conference League (introduced in 2021-22).
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Chelsea's first triumph in any of these competitions was the 1971 Cup Winners' Cup, when Dave Sexton's side beat Real Madrid in the final after a replay. They won the European Cup/Champions League for the first time in 2012 under Roberto Di Matteo by defeating Bayern Munich on penalties. They then picked up a maiden UEFA Cup/Europa League title in 2013 (pictured top) under Rafa Benitez, beating Benfica.
So, victory over Spanish side Real Betis in the Conference League final this week would make it four different major UEFA trophies in the club's cabinet — a unique feat.
Now, of course, the Conference League is UEFA's tertiary competition and Chelsea, like other top clubs, would rather be in the European Cup/Champions League (and the next-best UEFA Cup/Europa League).
Nonetheless, they will never have a better chance to make history and become the first side to win all four.
Here, The Athletic takes a look at the 61 clubs from 18 different countries (by today's definition) to have won a major UEFA competition, which trophies they are missing, and, given the abolishment of the Cup Winners' Cup, who else could complete the set.
(Note: The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which existed from 1955 to 1971, was a European trophy but it was not organised by UEFA.)
Won: European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup
Missing: Conference League
Clubs: Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United
Before the Conference League was introduced four seasons ago, these five European clubs had won every major UEFA competition.
Italian side Juventus were the first to achieve the feat, triumphing in the UEFA Cup/Europa League in 1977, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1984 and the European Cup/Champions League a year later.
Ajax did it in 1992. Bayern Munich followed in 1996. Then English clubs Chelsea and Manchester United got there in 2013 and 2017 respectively.
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Of these clubs, only Chelsea (this season) and Ajax (knocked out in the round of 16 by Aston Villa in 2023-24) have played in the Conference League.
If any of these five sides were to win the Conference League, they would complete the set.
Won: European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League
Missing: Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League
Clubs: Real Madrid, Porto, Feyenoord, PSV, Liverpool and Inter
Real Madrid, whose 15 wins in the European Cup/Champions League is the most any club has triumphed in a single major UEFA competition, Porto and Liverpool all lost in the Cup Winners' Cup final (Madrid doing so twice, the first time being to Chelsea in 1971) and Feyenoord lost the inaugural Conference League final in 2022.
Feyenoord and fellow Dutch side PSV are the only two of these six sides to have played in all four major UEFA competitions.
None of these six sides can complete the set due to their failure to win the Cup Winners' Cup.
Won: European Cup/Champions League and Cup Winners' Cup
Missing: UEFA Cup/Europa League and Conference League
Clubs: Barcelona, Milan, Hamburg, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund
Barcelona and Milan are the only clubs to have won the European Cup/Champions League more than twice but never to have triumphed in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. The Spanish side's best performance in the latter competition is reaching the semi-finals in 1976, 1978, 1996 and 2001. For the Italians, it was also making the last four, in 1972 and 2002.
Hamburg's victory in the European Cup/Champions League in 1983, which followed their triumph in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1977, ended English clubs' six-year winning streak in UEFA's top competition.
If Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter on Saturday in the European Cup/Champions League final, they will join this section.
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It is worth noting that the Cup Winners' Cup, which as the name suggests was largely for the winners of UEFA nations' domestic cups, was considered Europe's secondary club competition during its existence — ahead of the UEFA Cup/Europa League.
These five sides can all still complete the set.
Won: UEFA Cup/Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup
Missing: European Cup/Champions League and Conference League
Clubs: Valencia, Tottenham Hotspur, Parma, Anderlecht and Atletico Madrid
Valencia and Atletico Madrid are two of three clubs (Reims are the other) to have played in the European Cup/Champions League final more than once but never won the competition (PSG could join them on Saturday).
Atletico have lost three finals in Europe's premier competition, all in agonising circumstances. In 1974, Bayern Munich equalised in the last minute of extra time to force a replay (the only European Cup/Champions League final to go to a second match). The Bavarian side won 4-0. In 2014, Sergio Ramos scored in stoppage time for city rivals Real Madrid and Atletico lost 4-1 after the additional 30 minutes. Two years later, they again lost to Madrid, this time on penalties.
Atletico's victory in the Cup Winners' Cup came in 1962, the second season of the competition (the first edition, won by Fiorentina, was not organised by UEFA but is considered official).
Valencia lost consecutive finals in 2000 and 2001 to Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively. The only other instance in the European Cup/Champions League of a team losing back-to-back finals is Juventus in 1997 and 1998.
These five sides can all still complete the set.
Won: Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League
Missing: European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League
Club: West Ham United
The London club won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 under Ron Greenwood at Wembley and the second edition of the Conference League in 2023 under David Moyes.
That 58-year gap is the longest any side has gone between winning another major UEFA competition.
The victory in 1965 over 1860 Munich was the second of three Wembley triumphs in three successive years for West Ham stars Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. The duo also won the FA Cup at the famous stadium in 1964 by beating Preston North End and then the World Cup for England against West Germany in 1966. Their club and international team-mate Martin Peters didn't play in the win over Preston.
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West Ham came 14th in the Premier League in the season they won the Conference League, which before Tottenham in this campaign (17th and won the UEFA Cup/Europa League) was the lowest a team had come in their domestic league while winning a major UEFA trophy.
West Ham can still complete the set.
Won: European Cup/Champions League
Missing: UEFA Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League
Clubs: Benfica, Aston Villa, Crvena Zvezda, Celtic, Marseille, Steaua Bucharest and Nottingham Forest
Portuguese side Benfica, who are the club from the furthest west to have won a major UEFA competition, became the first side other than Real Madrid to claim the European Cup/Champions League when they won the competition in 1961. They added 19-year-old forward Eusebio and retained their crown in 1962 by beating Madrid in the final.
Since then, they have lost five European Cup/Champions League finals and three UEFA Cup/Europa League finals. Only Juventus (also eight) have lost as many overall finals as this.
Nottingham Forest are the only other of these clubs to have won the European Cup/Champions League more than once, doing so in 1979 and 1980.
Crvena Zvezda are the only Serbian side to pick up major UEFA silverware (though they represented Yugoslavia at the time of their European Cup/Champions League victory in 1991) and Steaua Bucharest are the only Romanian club to do so.
Steaua Bucharest's victory in 1986 is the last time a team won the European Cup/Champions League final with a starting XI all from the same country (all Romanian).
None of these seven sides can complete the set due to their failure to win the Cup Winners' Cup.
Won: UEFA Cup/Europa League
Missing: European Cup/Champions League, Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League
Clubs: Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke, Galatasaray, Atalanta, Eintracht Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Zenit, Villarreal, Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, CSKA Moscow, Napoli and Ipswich Town
Fourteen clubs have won the UEFA Cup/Europa League and nothing else. Borussia Monchengladbach are the earliest first-time winners on the above list (1975) and Atalanta (2024) the most recent.
Spanish side Sevilla, the club from the furthest south to have won a major UEFA competition, have won the UEFA Cup/Europa League a record seven times (no other club has won it on more than three occasions). Yet their best performance in any other major UEFA competition is reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup/Champions League in 1958 and 2018.
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Napoli's victory in 1989 is the only international club trophy Diego Maradona won during his career.
Gothenburg (1982 and 1987) are the only Swedish club to win a major UEFA competition and Galatasaray (2000) are the only Turkish side to do so.
Zenit, from Saint Petersburg in Russia, the northernmost club to secure major UEFA silverware, won the UEFA Cup/Europa League in 2008.
None of these 14 sides can complete the set due to their failure to win the Cup Winners' Cup.
Won: Cup Winners' Cup
Missing: European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Conference League
Clubs: Arsenal, Real Zaragoza, Dynamo Kyiv, Fiorentina, PSG, Sampdoria, Sporting CP, Magdeburg, Mechelen, Lazio, Rangers, Everton, Aberdeen, Slovan Bratislava, Werder Bremen and Dinamo Tbilisi
A star-studded Lazio side, managed by Sven-Goran Eriksson, picked up the only major continental silverware in their history in 1999 by winning the last Cup Winners' Cup final — beating Spanish club Mallorca 2-1 at Villa Park thanks to goals from Christian Vieri and Pavel Nedved.
Slovan Bratislava's victory in 1969 is the only time a club from Slovakia has won a major UEFA competition (though Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia at the time). Dinamo Tbilisi's success in 1981 makes them the only Georgian club to do so, though Georgia was part of the Soviet Union back then — they are also the club from the furthest east to pick up major UEFA silverware.
When Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen triumphed over Alfredo Di Stefano's Real Madrid in 1983, it was the first major UEFA trophy the future Manchester United manager had won (he would add another Cup Winners' Cup in 1991 and the European Cup/Champions League in 1999 and 2008).
All 16 of these sides can still complete the set.
Won: Conference League
Missing: European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup
Clubs: Roma and Olympiacos
Jose Mourinho's Roma side won the inaugural Conference League in 2022, making it, at the time, five major European finals contested; five victories for the Portuguese manager.
Greek side Olympiacos' triumph in 2024 came in Athens, which made them the first club to win a major UEFA trophy in their own country since Dutch side Feyenoord's UEFA Cup/Europa League victory in 2002 in Rotterdam.
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They are also the only Greek club to have picked up major UEFA silverware.
If Real Betis were to beat Chelsea on Wednesday, they would join this section.
Neither Roma nor Olympiacos can complete the set, due to their failure to win the Cup Winners' Cup.
Here are the 32 of the 61 major UEFA trophy-winning clubs who, by virtue of triumphing in the Cup Winners' Cup, can still complete the set: