If Liverpool triumph in Istanbul on May 25th and bring the Champions League trophy back home they’ll be able to keep it. For good.
Liverpool’s museum currently houses four slightly-smaller replicas of the famous trophy, each representing one of the four previous times the Reds have won it. A fifth success would mean under the rules of the competition that Liverpool would not need to hand it back again.
Liverpool’s opponents in the final – AC Milan – have won the trophy six times, second only to Real Madrid (nine times) for the number of successes in the competition. Liverpool are joint third with their four wins.
The section of the UEFA rules concerning the cup follows:
"A challenge cup donated by UEFA is presented to the winning club for one year. The holders are responsible for the loss of or any damage to the cup, and must return it to the UEFA Administration in perfect condition two months before the next final tie.
UEFA is responsible for engraving the cup with the name of the winning club.
A scaled-down replica of the cup is awarded to the winners.
The challenge cup becomes the permanent property of any club which wins the trophy three consecutive times or five times in total.
The cup-holders may have a copy of the trophy made, provided the copy is clearly marked as a replica and does not exceed 4/5 (four fifths) of the size of the original."