The UEFA Champions League (historically known as the European Cup and mostly abbreviated worldwide as the UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is the most watched club competition in the world and the third-most watched football competition overall, behind only the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.
Introduced in 1955 as the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (French for European Champion Clubs' Cup), and commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champions of Europe's domestic leagues, with its winner reckoned as the European club champion. The competition took on its current name and format in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage in 1991 and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries since the 1997–98 season. It has since been expanded, and while most of Europe's national leagues can still only enter their champion, the strongest leagues now provide up to four teams. Clubs that finish next-in-line in their national league, having not qualified for the Champions League, are eligible for the second-tier UEFA Europa League competition, and since 2021, for the third-tier UEFA Europa Conference League.
In its present format, the Champions League begins in late June with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs. The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in late May or early June. The winner of the Champions League automatically qualifies for the following year's Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and as of 2024 the new FIFA Intercontinental Cup which serves as a replacement for the previous annual format of the Club World Cup.(This format will be changed once again as of 2024)
Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (19 wins), followed by England (15 wins) and Italy (12 wins). England has the largest number of winning teams, with six clubs having won the title. The competition has been won by 23 clubs, 13 of which have won it more than once, and eight successfully defended their title. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament's history, having won it 14 times and the only club to have won it three times consecutively (in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018), which occurred with Zinedine Zidane as head coach. Only one club has won all of their matches in a single tournament en route to the tournament victory: Bayern Munich in the 2019–20 season. Manchester City are the current European champions, having beaten Inter Milan 1–0 in the 2023 final for their first title.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42). Here the link is that has all Cristiano Ronaldo's (GOAT) UCL goals;
https://youtu.be/UK5cu3LJ9qk?si=6gxD9mAmbjZ6KBse

Here are the UEFA Champions League winners up to the 2023-2024 season:

1955-56: Real Madrid
1956-57: Real Madrid 1957-58: Real Madrid 1958-59: Real Madrid 1959-60: Real Madrid 1960-61: Benfica 1961-62: Real Madrid 1962-63: AC Milan1 1963-64: Inter Milan
1964-65: Inter Milan
1965-66: Real Madrid 1966-67: Celtic 1967-68: Manchester United 1968-69: AC Milan 1969-70: Feyenoord 1970-71: Ajax 1971-72: Ajax 1972-73: Ajax 1973-74: Bayern Munich 1974-75: Bayern Munich 1975-76: Bayern Munich 1976-77: Liverpool 1977-78: Liverpool 1978-79: Nottingham Forest 1979-80: Nottingham Forest 1980-81: Liverpool 1981-82: Aston Villa 1982-83: Hamburg 1983-84: Liverpool1984-85: Juventus1985-86: Steaua Bucharest 1986-87: FC Porto 1987-88: PSV Eindhoven 1988-89: AC Milan 1989-90: AC Milan 1990-91: Red Star Belgrade 1991-92: FC Barcelona 1992-93: Marseille 1993-94: AC Milan 1994-95: Ajax 1995-96: Juventus 1996-97: Borussia Dortmund 1997-98: Real Madrid 1998-99: Manchester United1999-00: Real Madrid 2000-01: Bayern Munich 2001-02: Real Madrid 2002-03: AC Milan 2003-04: FC Porto 2004-05: Liverpool 2005-06: FC Barcelona 2006-07: AC Milan 2007-08: Manchester United 2008-09: FC Barcelona 2009-10: FC Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan) 2010-11: FC Barcelona 2011-12: Chelsea 2012-13: Bayern Munich 2013-14: Real Madrid 2014-15: FC Barcelona 2015-16: Real Madrid 2016-17: Real Madrid 2017-18: Real Madrid 2018-19: Liverpool2019-20: Bayern Munich 2020-21: Chelsea2021-22: Real Madrid 2022-23: Manchester City

1960–61 European Cup

The 1960–61 European Cup was the sixth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Benfica, who beat Barcelona 3–2 in the final at Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, on 31 May 1961. It was the first time that five-time winners Real Madrid did not make it to the final, when they were knocked out by eventual first-time finalists Barcelona in the first round. Benfica was the first Portuguese team to reach the final and to win the tournament.
It was the first time that a team from Norway participated. However, again two teams withdrew from the competition after initial draw: Romanian CCA București was fearing a shameful elimination in front of the Czechoslovakians, while Northern Irish Glenavon and East German Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt were refused visas to the other's country. UEFA authorised neutral venues but Glenavon withdrew due to the higher cost and lower revenue.

Teams that participated in the tournament;

A total of 28 teams were placed in the competition bracket, but finally only 26 participated since Romanian CCA București and Northern Irish Glenavon withdrew from the competition.
Spain continued to be represented by two clubs, with Real Madrid qualifying as title holders and Barcelona as Spanish champions. CDNA Sofia appeared in the fifth edition of European Cup, with only Real Madrid having more appearances in the competition.
Lierse, Spartak Hradec Králové, Burnley, IFK Helsingfors, Hamburg, Panathinaikos, Limerick, Újpesti Dózsa, Fredrikstad and IFK Malmö made their debut, while Rapid Wien, AGF, Stade Reims, Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt, Juventus, Ajax, Legia Warsaw, Benfica, CCA București, Hearts and Besiktas returned to the competition.
All entrants were their respective associations champions, except for title holders Real Madrid, as well as Swedish IFK Malmö and Polish Legia Warsaw, who were leaders of their respective leagues in spring, but later finished second.

Bracket;

Top scorers of the 1960-61 European Cup;

Top scorer of the tournament Jose Aguas;

José Pinto de Carvalho Santos Águas ( 9 November 1930 – 10 December 2000 ) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.
He enjoyed a lengthy professional spell with Benfica, never scoring less than 18 goals in 12 of his 13 first division seasons. A prolific goalscorer, Águas was nicknamed "Cabeça de Ouro" ("Golden Head") because of his header skills.
He was born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Empire from a Portuguese colonial family, Águas started his footballing career with local team Lusitano do Lobito, before moving to S.L. Benfica in 1950 where he gained legendary status.


With Benfica he won the Primeira Liga five times (1955, 1957, 1960, 1961 and 1963) and the domestic cup seven, also being crowned national league's top scorer on five occasions. In the years previous to Eusébio's rise, he was also instrumental in the club's back-to-back European Cup conquests, in 1961 against FC Barcelona (3–2), and the next season against Real Madrid (5–3), scoring his team's first goal on both occasions and being club captain; he failed to complete a hat-trick of wins in the competition after the 1–2 defeat to A.C. Milan in the 1963 final (he did not play).
After leaving Benfica, Águas, aged 33, played one more season for FK Austria Wien, retiring the next summer. He died in Lisbon, at the age of 70 after a prolonged illness.

Also you can watch his skills and goals video that shared on youtube;

https://youtu.be/0pVYakbYgHY?si=8tRwykNhkdEDAKgC

References;

1.  "FRF a interzis două echipe în cupele europene de frica unei eliminări rușinoase și din cauza "destrăbălării bulevardiste", acum altele nu aplică să joace în Europa și bulversează competiția" [The FRF banned two teams from the European Cups for fear of a shameful elimination and because of "boulevardist disorganization", now others are not applying to play in Europe and are disrupting the competition] (in Romanian). Prosport.ro. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
2.  Laporte, Norman (2005). The Other Germany: Perceptions and Influences in British-East German Relations, 1945–1990 (1st ed.). Wissner. pp. 91–106. ISBN 978-3-89639-485-9.
3. ^ Corriere dello Sport, 8 July 1960.
4. ^ "Juventus v CDNA Sofia, 21 September 1960" . Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
5. ^ "Legia Warsaw v AGF, 5 October 1960" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
6.  "O senhor Águas" [Mister Águas]. Visão (in Portuguese). 22 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
7. ^ "Portugal – All-Time Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
8. ^ "José Águas: O Grande Capitão :: :: Zerozero.pt".
9. ^ "Melhores equipas de sempre: Benfica 1960-62". 15 June 2015.
10. ^ "José Águas morre aos 70 anos".
11. ^ ""O Luís Pedro [Fonseca] é que tinha tudo na cabeça. Ele era o doutrinador" – recorde entrevista com Lena d'Água em 2010" ["Luís Pedro [Fonseca] was the one that had everything in his head. He was the indoctrinator" – remember interview with Lena d'Água in 2010] (in Portuguese). Blitz. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2015.