Whenever we speak about the greatest football clubs of all time, our minds start scrambling about names like Real Madrid and Manchester United. Definitely these are some of the biggest clubs given their trophy cabinet and overall success. But when talking about teams that defied odds and achieved records, creating a new identity and cementing their names amongst history’s best ever.
- FC Barcelona (2008-09)
Barcelona of 2009 revolutionised the game we see today. With club legend Pep Guardiola taking over as first team manager, shocking decisions of releasing big names like Ronaldinho and Deco were viewed more like a gamble. It was time that proved it to be a masterstroke. Barcelona went on to win all 6 trophies that year and became the first team to achieve the honour of “The Sextuple”. The team had a possession based approach where they took control and dismantled opponents. It was a simple method as defined later by Pep as “Take the ball, Pass the ball”.
The team beat arch rivals Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu, Bayern Munich 4-0 at home in the UCL and Champions League holders Manchester United in the final. For anyone reading these scorelines, it would feel like pure domination, but the viewers would define it as pure class that made Barcelona’s opponents look clueless.
This team even managed to win the 2011 UCL final in a more dominant manner. But this team takes the ranking due to the trophies and the plethora of legends it offered- Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Eto, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Puyol, Pique, Alves.
2. Real Madrid (2016-17)
The famous Real Madrid team that 3-peat the Champions League with Zinedine Zidane at the helm. Most would suggest that we could choose any season between 2015-2018, but so are the achievements of this season.
This one season could arguably be considered as the best season delivered under Zidane. Real managed to win every trophy, barring the Copa Del Rey. They won the league narrowly against Barcelona and won the Spanish Super Cup. On their way to the UCL, they knocked out Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Juventus.
The player at the centre of this? Mr. Champions League Cristiano Ronaldo himself. Going into the knockout phase, Ronaldo had a dry spell with only 1 goal in the group stage. The former Ballon D’or winner, clutched in and scored 11 goals in the knockouts alone. His goals included a hat-trick each against Bayern and Atletico Madrid, a brace against Juventus in the final that saw him edge out Lionel Messi by 1 goal to be the top scorer that edition and secure his 5th Ballon D’or.
Though Cristiano was undoubtedly the heart and soul of this Madrid team, it is fair to acknowledge the valuable contributions from- Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Keylor Navas, Casemiro,Toni Kroos and Marcelo.
3. Bayern Munich (2012-13)
Losing a final can dampen the morale of your team. Now imagine losing a UCL final at home, in front of your home fans, in your own stadium in the cruelest manner. This is what happened with Bayern Munich in 2012 when they lost the final to Chelsea on penalties. Any team in the world would take this loss deep and continue regretting the night for years to follow.
Bayern was no ordinary team. They lived by their principles of “Mia San Mia”, translating to “We are who we are”, and won the UCL final exactly a year later.
With Jupp Heynckes on the sidelines on both these occasions, showcased Bayern’s longevity in such eras. The 2013 final win meant Bayern secured their first ever treble. What made this win even better? They beat their German rivals Borussia Dortmund in the final with a last minute winner from Arjen Robben. The same Robben who missed a penalty during extra time in the 2012 final, had his moment of redemption.
After losing out on the league in back to back years against Dortmund, Bayern reclaimed their spot at the top with some style. They knocked out Arsenal and Juventus, including a 7-0 aggregate win over Barcelona in the semis, this team was destined for greatness after the heartbreak of 2012. Most people would not realise how this season marked the stepping stone for Bayern’s dominance in German football for more than a decade.
4. FC Barcelona (2014-15)
Yes, we have another Barcelona team on this list. Many believed that Pep’s Barcelona was the best of all time and anything close to that could remotely be possible. Luis Enrique and MSN’s Barcelona created history in their own special way. Luis Enrique assembled a team of serial winners.
MSN- Messi, Suarez, Neymar, the trio that ran riot across Europe, entertaining every neutral out there and etching their names in the hearts of Barcelona fans. These front three combined for a total of 122 goals across all competitions and secured the club’s second treble. This made the Blaugrana the first ever club to win the treble twice in their history.
Besides the front three, the club was blessed with a solid midfield of Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic and Xavi who was playing his final season as a Culer. Rakitic scored the opener in the final and Iniesta won the MVP of the match award. The team had a world class backline consisting of Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, with a young Marc Andre Ter Stegen at the peak of his powers.
Their UCL run was considered as one of the greatest as they knocked out Manchester City (Defending Champions of Premier League), PSG (Champions of Ligue 1), Bayern Munich (Champions of Bundesliga) and Juventus (Champions of Serie A). Messi and Neymar were the joint top scorers along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi won his 5th Ballon D’or.
5. Bayern Munich (2019-20)
The 2020 Bayern team were monsters who never learnt about “mercy” on their opponents. This team would annihilate any team they faced. It was a goal scoring festival and the question was not “if” they would win? How many goals would they score to win?
Bayern got off to a turbulent start, having sacked their head coach Niko Kovac by November and sat in 6th place in the Bundesliga behind Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Stood up Kovac’s assistant, Hansi Flick, who had previously worked as an assistant manager with Germany and Bayern Munich. The German maestro was off to change the team’s fortunes.
With the COVID 19 pandemic having struck the world, football came to a standstill. When football resumed, the Bundesliga was one of the first leagues to restart. With a couple of matches left, Bayern signed off with the Bundesliga and the DFB German Cup. As the UCL returned too, UEFA announced that all the remaining matches would be played as a single leg, except for the ties that only had their second leg pending.
Having beaten Chelsea in the first leg 0-3, Bayern were comfortable to go ahead and managed to win the second leg 4-1 at home, with an aggregate of 7-1. Facing Barcelona in the quarters seemed the toughest roadblock on paper given the scrapping of the second leg. The Bavarians made it look like a child’s play and thrashed the Catalan’s 2-8, which is considered a modern day humiliation till date. The club marched on and beat PSG in the final to win their 6th UCL. The club had completed their second treble and joined Barcelona as only the two clubs to win the treble twice. Later the club subsequently won the UEFA Super Cup, the German Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, to once again equal Barcelona’s record of winning a “Sextuple”.
This team wrote their history and all of its credit goes to Hansi Flick. Robert Lewandowski emerged as the best player with more than 50 goals along with valuable contributions from Coutinho, Muller, Gnabry, Neuer, Davies and Alaba. It’s a shame that the Ballon D’or was cancelled that year due to the pandemic and Lewandowski missed out on his well deserved and undisputed award. It was heartbreaking to see Flick lose the FIFA Best Men’s Coach of the Year Award.
Aadi's Sports Corner 
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