European Cup/UEFA Champions League Finals 1990 - 1999
The break up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia resulted in a large number of new national associations joining UEFA in the early part of the decade, necessitating an increased number of preliminary rounds. For the 1991-92 competition the last eight played off in two groups with the group winners meeting in the final. The following season the competition was re-launched as the UEFA Champions League. The format was changed again in 1993-94, two teams now qualifying from each group to play in single-leg semi-finals. After the broadcasting rights to the final expired, UEFA repackaged the competition in 1994-95: 16 teams now competed in the group stage with eight going forward into the final knock-out stages.
The biggest change occured in 1997-98, when the competition was expanded to include clubs that had not won their national championships, more than doubling the number of entrants.
