The 1992/93 UEFA Champions League was the first season of the most important European competition for club teams in football under this name and the 38th overall. Previously, the competition was called the European Champions Cup . The final was held on May 26, 1993 in the Olympic Stadium in Munich .
For the first time, the record number of 36 club teams took part, as the number of participating nations that were allowed to send their respective champions in the competition had increased after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia . The champions from the three Baltic states Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania , Slovenia and the Ukraine competed for the first time. With Maccabi Tel Aviv, a team from Israel took part in a European competition for the first time this season , after the country was accepted by UEFA in 1991, initially as an associate member. The champions from the Faroe Islands also made his European debut. Therefore, in contrast to the previous year, a qualifying round was necessary. After the knockout rounds , as in the previous season, a group stage with two groups of four teams each was played, the winners of which in turn qualified for the final.
controversy
Shortly after winning the Champions League title, Olympique Marseille - above all then President Bernard Tapie - was accused of influencing game results. A French championship game against the US Valenciennes was particularly affected by this - which "OM" finally won 1-0. Before the game, Tapie had paid a bribe. It was assumed that Tapie wanted to force the early championship win in order to allow the team a longer preparation time for the Champions League final. The affair finally led to the withdrawal of the French championship title by the French Football Association (FFF) , but not to the cancellation of the results in the Champions League, since the game in question was not assigned to this competition - although there too the French representative especially scored 6-0 -The victory against CSKA Moscow "bought". In addition, Olympique Marseille was transferred to the second division and banned from participating in European club competitions in the 1993/94 season.
Preliminary round
The first leg took place on August 19 and the second leg on September 2, 1992.
1 In the second half of the game, which ended 4-1 for Leeds and would have brought Stuttgart into the next round, VfB replaced a fourth foreigner in Leeds. This did not correspond to the then valid regulations and the game was rated 3-0 for Leeds United. An additional play-off was then arranged in Barcelona.