European football is a colloquial term referring to any international football club competition that is organised by UEFA. Any club that wishes to participate in European football must qualify through their respective domestic league or domestic cup competitions. The term may also mean simply club football that takes place in Europe.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world, and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup. He also played at Euro 2004 with Portugal and scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition.

Raphael Honigstein, a native of Bavaria, is a German journalist and author. In 1993 he moved from Munich to London. Before becoming a journalist he studied law. Honigstein is currently the English football correspondent for the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and German football correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian and the UK radio broadcast talkSPORT. He regularly appears on the Guardian Podcast Football Weekly, hosted by James Richardson, where he gives updates on German football - he is also notable on the podcast for his dry humour. He has also worked as a German football expert for Sky TV, alongside host Alan McInally, and more recently on Setanta's coverage of the Bundesliga. He has also appeared on The Friday Football Show on Setanta, and on Setanta Sports News, discussing German football. In addition, he also contributes to Germany's popular football magazine 11Freunde, British football quarterly The Blizzard and occasionally appears on the football show, ESPNsoccernet Press Pass.