The nicknames of the UEFA Champions League teams

The nicknames of the UEFA Champions League teams

Arsenal - 'The Gunners'

The Arsenal was founded by armament industry workers in 1886 in Woolwich, an area of southeast London that was associated with the army. Hence the name of Arsenal, the cannon in the shield, and for the sake of consistency, the nickname.

Atlético - Los Colchoneros 

In the postwar period in Spain, the mattresses had a red and white cloth, making the material cheaper. Atletico abandoned their colors blue and white and soon were nicknamed as the mattresses.

Barcelona - Barça, Blaugranas, CulésBarça is more common, Barça more obvious, but Catalan is more interesting. It is more for the fans, and comes from the history of some spectators who could not find site in the old stadium of 'Les Corts'. Instead they sat on the far wall, exposing the pedestrians to their butt.Bayern - Die Roten (The Red ones)Six years before being an own club in 1900, Bayern was linked to the Münchner Sport-Club to be able to use its field and its facilities. There was only one condition: he had to change his black shirt for a red one. Bayern have since become known as 'die roten'.
Benfica - Eagles (Las Águilas)It comes from the eagle that enumbra the shield of the equipment from 1904, a symbol of authority, independence and notoriety. The club currently has two bald eagles, Vitória (victory) and Glória (glory). Before the home matches one of them flies around the stadium before landing on the club's shield.

 Dortmund - 'Die Schwarz-Gelben' (The black and yellow)The Dortmund used to wear red, white and blue, but changed its colors in 1913 after the lobbying of its president August Busse. Yellow and black were the colors of Britania, a team that had merged with Dortmund a few years earlier. For a time they were known as lemons.

Juventus - 'Vecchia Signora' (The Old Lady)There is some debate about the origin of this nickname, but many believe that comes from the Agnelli family, who bought the club in the 1920s. They wanted to evoke a sophisticated style, 'Juve style', so we opted for the kind of A noble old lady.

Leicester - 'The Foxes'Leicestershire is the cradle of fox hunting (currently illegal in Britain) and the nickname was made in 1920. Players jumped into the field under the motto 'fox never escapes'.Leverkusen - 'Die Werkself'Leverkusen began as a team of pharmaceutical giant Bayer, and was founded in 1904 after the signing of 170 workers.Manchester City - 'Citizens', 'The Sky Blues' (Citizens, Sky Blue)'Citizens' is an extension of 'City' (the members of the club are now known as 'cityzens'). The blue sky comes due to the color of its first equipment. 

Monaco - 'Les Rouges et Blancs' (Los rojiblancos)It is not an overexploited nickname. 'Los rojiblancos' comes from the colors of the club, which borrowed from the flag of the Principality, which in turn were fixed in the heraldic colors of the House of the Grimaldi.Naples - 'Partenopei'Of the old name of the city, Partenopeo. In Greek mythology, Parténope was one of the sirens that threw itself to the sea and died drowned when its song did not manage to attract Ulysses. The name of the city was put in honor to the legend tells that its body was dragged until the small island of Megaride.

Paris Saint-Germain - PSGPublishers eager to avoid repetition call them 'Les Rougues-et-Bleu' (the reds and blues) or 'Les Perisiens' (the Parisians), but French football always likes a good acronym.Oporto - 'Dragões' (dragons)The dragon has been a symbol of Porto since the 19th century, representing the spirit of struggle and invincibility. Porto adopted it in 1992 at the suggestion of the exjugador Augusto Baptista Ferreira.

Real Madrid - MerenguesA Spanish radio commentator began calling them that when he compared the white of the shirt with the merengue. A writer from the British newspaper 'The Times' uses a less common nickname, Vikingos, after comparing the great victory of Madrid 7-3 to the Eintracht Frankfurt in the final of the 1960 European Cup in Glasgow with the Viking invasion in Europe.

Sevilla - PalanganasAnother label of suspicious origin. One explanation is that the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium is reminiscent of a basin. Another says that basins at the beginning of the 20th century were white with a red line, thus recalling the colors of the club.