How many Champions League titles have Chelsea won? Both finals, and every season since 1999
Chelsea have won the Champions League twice, in 2012 and 2021, and reached three finals. The full season-by-season record, and the UEFA set no other club has completed.
May 30, 2021 · Updated Aug 13, 2026
Chelsea have won the UEFA Champions League twice — in 2011-12 and 2020-21 — and have reached the final three times. Both wins came from unlikely places: the first with a caretaker manager, the second with a coach who had been in the job four months.
This page has the full season-by-season record since Chelsea’s debut in 1999, how both finals were won, what has happened in the five seasons since 2021, and the one European distinction the club holds that nobody else does.
How many Champions League titles have Chelsea won?
Two. Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in 2012 and Manchester City 1-0 in 2021. They also lost the 2008 final to Manchester United, again on penalties, so the record in finals reads played three, won two.
| Season | Opponent | Result |
| 2007-08 | Manchester United | Lost, 1-1 then 5-6 on penalties |
| 2011-12 | Bayern Munich | Won, 1-1 then 4-3 on penalties |
| 2020-21 | Manchester City | Won 1-0 |
The 2021 final: Havertz, Porto, and a coach four months into the job
Chelsea won the 2020-21 Champions League by beating Manchester City 1-0 at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto on 29 May 2021. It was an all-English final, the third in the competition’s history after Chelsea’s own meeting with Manchester United in 2008 and Liverpool against Tottenham in 2019.
The campaign began under Frank Lampard, who took four wins and two draws from the group stage and was dismissed in January. Thomas Tuchel had been in charge for four months when he won it. The German also took the club to fourth in the Premier League, though they lost the FA Cup final to Leicester City a fortnight before Porto.
The final itself turned on two moments. Thiago Silva limped off injured in the 39th minute, and three minutes later Kai Havertz ran onto Mason Mount’s pass, went round Ederson and rolled it into an empty net. It was the only goal of the game.
The 2012 final, and the comeback that made it possible
The 2011-12 run is the more improbable of the two. Roberto Di Matteo was a caretaker, appointed in March after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked, and Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League that season — they qualified for the following year’s competition by winning it.
The semi-final against Barcelona is the tie people remember. Chelsea won the first leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, then went to the Camp Nou, had John Terry sent off and fell behind. Ramires chipped in on the stroke of half-time and Fernando Torres, on as a substitute, ran clear in the 92nd minute to make it 2-2 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.
In the final, played at Bayern Munich’s own Allianz Arena, Thomas Muller headed Bayern in front in the 83rd minute. Didier Drogba equalised with a header from a corner in the 88th and then scored the winning penalty in a 4-3 shootout. It was his last act as a Chelsea player before leaving that summer.
Chelsea’s Champions League record, season by season
Chelsea first played in the competition in 1999-2000 and have appeared 20 times in 27 seasons since. The seven blanks are the years they did not qualify.
| Season | Round reached | Result |
| 1999-2000 | Quarter-finals | Lost to Barcelona |
| 2000-01 | Did not play | — |
| 2001-02 | Did not play | — |
| 2002-03 | Did not play | — |
| 2003-04 | Semi-finals | Lost to Monaco |
| 2004-05 | Semi-finals | Lost to Liverpool |
| 2005-06 | Last 16 | Lost to Barcelona |
| 2006-07 | Semi-finals | Lost to Liverpool |
| 2007-08 | Final | Lost to Man Utd |
| 2008-09 | Semi-finals | Lost to Barcelona |
| 2009-10 | Last 16 | Lost to Inter Milan |
| 2010-11 | Quarter-finals | Lost to Man Utd |
| 2011-12 | Winners | Beat Bayern Munich |
| 2012-13 | Group stage | Third in Group E |
| 2013-14 | Semi-finals | Lost to Atletico |
| 2014-15 | Last 16 | Lost to PSG |
| 2015-16 | Last 16 | Lost to PSG |
| 2016-17 | Did not play | — |
| 2017-18 | Last 16 | Lost to Barcelona |
| 2018-19 | Did not play | — |
| 2019-20 | Last 16 | Lost to Bayern Munich |
| 2020-21 | Winners | Beat Man City |
| 2021-22 | Quarter-finals | Lost to Real Madrid |
| 2022-23 | Quarter-finals | Lost to Real Madrid |
| 2023-24 | Did not play | — |
| 2024-25 | Did not play | — |
| 2025-26 | Last 16 | Lost to PSG |
Read the Result column and one name keeps coming back. Barcelona have knocked Chelsea out four times — 1999-2000, 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2017-18 — more than any other club, and Chelsea’s one win over them in a knockout tie is the 2012 semi-final that led to the trophy.
What has happened since 2021
Five seasons on from Porto, Chelsea have played in the Champions League three times and not gone past the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid removed them twice in a row. In 2021-22 Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge; Chelsea won the second leg 3-2 at the Bernabeu but Benzema settled it in the 96th minute of extra time, 5-4 on aggregate. A year later the same quarter-final was far more one-sided: Real Madrid won 4-0 on aggregate.
Chelsea then missed the competition altogether in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and returned in 2025-26 to a hammering. Paris Saint-Germain beat them 8-2 on aggregate in the last 16, five in the first leg and three in the second. They were one of four Premier League clubs knocked out inside a single week that March, and PSG went on to retain the trophy against Arsenal in Budapest.
The sting in that is recent. Chelsea had beaten the same PSG side 3-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup final in July 2025, eight months before losing to them by six.
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League in 2025-26, so there is no Champions League football at Stamford Bridge in 2026-27. Xabi Alonso took charge for the 2026-27 season.
The European record only Chelsea have
The Champions League is two of eleven international trophies, and the collection is the unusual part. Chelsea are the first club to have won all five of UEFA’s major men’s club competitions.
| Competition | Won | Years |
| Champions League | 2 | 2012, 2021 |
| Europa League | 2 | 2013, 2019 |
| Cup Winners’ Cup | 2 | 1971, 1998 |
| Super Cup | 2 | 1998, 2021 |
| Conference League | 1 | 2025 |
| Club World Cup | 2 | 2021, 2025 |
The set was completed in May 2025, when Chelsea beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final. The Cup Winners’ Cup no longer exists — it was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999 — which means the only clubs that can still match the set are the ones that already won it before it was abolished. For everybody else the door closed 27 years ago.
For the wider picture, we keep the running list of every Champions League winner and of every Premier League champion.
With the 2026-27 European season starting, our guide to the best football betting sites in India compares the operators covering the Champions League and the Premier League.
Frequently asked
How many times have Chelsea won the Champions League? Twice — 2011-12 and 2020-21.
When did Chelsea first win the Champions League? In 2012, beating Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Bayern’s own stadium in Munich. Didier Drogba equalised in the 88th minute and scored the winning penalty.
How many Champions League finals have Chelsea played in? Three: 2008 (lost to Manchester United on penalties), 2012 and 2021.
Who has knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League most often? Barcelona, four times. Paris Saint-Germain have done it three times, and Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United twice each.
Are Chelsea in the Champions League in 2026-27? No. They finished 10th in the Premier League in 2025-26.
Which European trophies have Chelsea won? All five major UEFA men’s competitions — Champions League, Europa League, Cup Winners’ Cup, Super Cup and Conference League — plus the Club World Cup twice. They are the first club to complete that set.
Featured photo: Twitter / Champions League