appearances in Champions League semifinals (incl. 12 RM and 10 Barça), and have won it half the time (6 RM, 4 Barcelona). An additional 4 times, Spanish clubs (Valencia & Atletico Madrid) were the losing finalists, to other Spanish clubs in most cases. This period includes many teams that didn't include CR7 or, to a lesser extent, Messi.

No other European league came close to this performance. Spain produced 9 more UCL semifinalists than the EPL (20) over the same period; in both cases, 6 different clubs were semifinalists, but a few clubs dominated (ManU, Liverpool, and Chelsea for the EPL). English clubs won the Champions League 4 times; less than half as often as Spanish clubs. And this was with Cristiano Ronaldo playing in England for a good chunk of that time.

If you extend history further back, the story is similar. La Liga teams have won 17 times since the tournament's inception 1956), compared to 12 for the runners-up (England and Italy). Spain has also produced 28 finalists (tied with Italy), compared with 19 for England. Real Madrid has the most wins all-time, at 249, way ahead of runner-up Bayern Munich at 188. Barcelona is #3, with 173. And Spain has even had the greatest number clubs who have made it to the Champions League since the current format was adopted, at 13 (England has had 10).

Soccer is not a sport that is overly dependent on any one player, even the greatest ones. And the truth is that when Messi and CR7 retire, it is only a matter of time before the best players in the world make it back down there, regardless of who they are or where they are from. These teams will keep winning; maybe a slower pace than the last few years, but still more than most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Cup_and_UEFA_Champions_League_records_and_statistics