Ghanaian players who won the last format of the UEFA Champions League

Europe’s elite club competition, the UEFA Champions League, is set to take a new format when the first league phase games kick off later this evening.

The initial group stages phase is no more, as the expanded version will have a single group where all participating teams have to battle it out to reach the knockout phase.

Before the official death of the last format, many Ghanaian footballers competed and lit up the world’s biggest club competition when the lights shone brightly on Champions League nights.

Some went all the way to win the prestigious competition with their respective clubs when the previous format was first introduced in 1991.

Here are five Ghanaian players who won the UCL from 1991 to 2024:

(Abedi Pele – Olympique Marseille, 1992/93)

It didn’t take long after the introduction of the old format for a Ghanaian to clinch Europe’s most coveted club trophy when the man named after the legendary Pele, Abedi Ayew Pele, led French side Olympique Marseille to glory in 1993.

The three-time African Footballer of the Year assisted the only goal in the final against AC Milan in the 43rd minute through a corner kick. He was also crowned man of the match.

(Ibrahim Tanko – Borussia Dortmund, 1996/97)

Borussia Dortmund have been to the final of the UEFA Champions League three times (1996/97; 2012/2013;2023/2024) in their history but the only time they won was when Ghanaian forward Ibrahim Tanko was with the team in their 3-1 triumph against Juventus in the final.

(Sammy Kuffour – Bayern Munich, 2000/01)

Samuel Osei Kuffour in 1991 joined Italian side Torino from King Faisal at just age 15 before joining German giants Bayern Munich two years later and spent the next 11 seasons with them.

Kuffour won the Champions League in his eighth season when Bayern defeated Valencia 5-4 on penalties in the 2000/01 final after the game ended 1-1.

(Sulley Muntari – Inter Milan, 2009/2010)

With nine appearances and 220 total minutes played in the 2009/10 Champions League campaign, Sulley Muntari helped Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan win the trophy for the third time since they last won it consecutively in 1964 and 1965.

Muntari was instrumental to Inter’s treble-winning campaign but only played 10 minutes in the final as the Italian side beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in what was the first Champions League final to be played on a weekend.

(Michael Essien – Chelsea, 2011/12)

Two years later, it was Muntari’s Black Stars midfield partner, Michael Essien, who was on the winning side as Chelsea won their first Champions League trophy against Bayern Munich in their own backyard.

Essien didn’t feature in the final as injury plagued his season but was handed a winners’ medal for playing both last 16 ties against Napoli.

As the new format takes shape tonight, it will be exciting to see which Ghanaian players will join this legendary list of footballers to have won the UEFA Champions League.

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