Little-known rule means Man City don’t have UEFA badge of honour on Champions League kit despite being holders

Manchester City might be the best team in Europe — but they have not been granted UEFA's badge of honour.

City are the current holders of the Champions League after winning it for the first time in their history last season with a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan.

Rodri scored the only goal of the game in Istanbul to spark wild celebrations in Manchester as Pep Guardiola finally lifted the trophy with City after years of trying.

But while they might currently own the Champions League trophy, they are not allowed to stitch UEFA's prestigious badge of honour on their kits.

Why? The answer is simple: They have not won it enough times.

UEFA only awards the sleeve badge to teams have won the competition five times in total — or three times in a row.

Only seven clubs in Europe can currently don the badge: Barcelona, Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Sevilla.

It means City have some way to go before they are awarded the rank and must win it at least two more times if they want to wear the badge — and that would also mean winning it this year and next year.

The rule was introduced at the start of the 2000/01 season and has been implemented ever since, though it does allow clubs that had won the European Cup to join in after the tournament was repackaged as the Champions League in 1992.

As such, only one club in the Premier League has bragging rights and can wear the badge and that is Liverpool after winning the competition six times.

That includes four times in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984 when it was called the European Cup when the Reds were one of the most dominating forces on the continent.

And more recently in 2019 when Jurgen Klopp lifted the trophy, as well as 2005's famous final in Istanbul against AC Milan.

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