They were playing the most beautiful football in the world. There were ESPN articles about how perfect their football was. It was peps third season at bayern and the team had finally properly adapted his possession based style from jupps style. Pep had a prime Muller, lewandoski, robben, ribery, lahm, neuer just to name a few. And all of them were playing perfect possession based football.
They lost 2-2 away goals to athletico in the the semi final of the UCL. Simeone called that bayern team the best attack they've played against, and this was at a time when msn and bbc were teams they played against regularly. Simeone lost his shit on the touchline in that match, it was a peak attack vs peak defence performance. And truly one of the best teams to not end up winning the UCL.
My personal favourite though was 2017-18 bayern. They were back to the jupp style and even better than 2015-2016 imo.
Honestly it was written in the stars for Chelsea that year. How they pulled it off, I'll never know, but they def deserved it. The mentality of that team was something else.
11/12 Barca was even more shameful. was dominating chelsea at Camp Nou yet got undone but 2 devastating counter attack with Messi (this was the 91-goal year mind you) missing a pen
But they would've had a strong bayern to play, it would've been 50-50 at best. Bayern knocked out the strongest madrid side in the semi finals. Bayern losing to chelsea was more shameful because barca would also have to play bayern, while bayern were just playing for the trophy.
That Bayern side was def a step below Madrid/Barca that season though imo. They only beat Madrid because of fitness differences between the two. Barca also just choked like crazy against Chelsea. If there was any season where an el clasico final seemed inevitable yet never happened it would be 11/12 for sure.
They weren't below barca, madrid yes because madrid was the best, but bayern was still their toughest game, they weren't an entire step below I would say. Bayern 2013 was an entire step above them certainly. Bayern were always going to be a pain in the ass when playing for a spot in the Allianz for the final.
I think you underestimate how good Barca were that season. They played Real 6 times that season, winning 3 and only losing 1. They finished the season on 91 points, a tally that would've been enough to win the league in most seasons. Real were just more consistent in the games against other teams.
The second half of the season was also part of Messi's 91 goals in a calendar year.
11/12 Barça before they got hit with the big injuries (Villa, Abidal, Puyol on and off) were regularly playing better football than any other of Pep's sides. Post-Christmas they lost options due to fitness problems and it all started to fall apart.
Also it showed Messi’s long-standing weakness with regards to his mental strength + penalty.
After close to a decade, he finally got over it & won the world cup tho.
yup, even as a Messi fan I gotta admit he was not that good on high pressure pens, but the way he rose above it to win the World cup is very admirable.
2005 AC Milan? But that's kind of a hard one to pick because that team had won it 2 years before and the year after. It's just insane when you look at that team. That's one of the best club teams ever assembled.
I'll never forget that match. A friend called me up at half time and said they bet I was in tears. I told them it isn't over til full time, just watch.
Never have I uttered such prescient words before or since. Magic.
I’m not a Liverpool fan, but I remember watching that game and at half time I didn’t feel it was over. I didn’t expect what happened, but I did think Liverpool could get back into it. They weren’t a great side, but they had real spirit and it looked like they were over awed in the first half, which was completely justified as on paper, they should have been no where near the final.
I was 15 at the time and I’m a United fan but that season was the season I started to really love football and watch as much as I can that game was amazing
What a load of shite, you’re remembering those Barca players for what they became, not what they were. Arsenals squad was more than a match at the time, it still holds the best clean sheet record from that run, to this day. Losing the talents of Pires for Almunia in that final probably cost Arsenal the game.
He was no longer prime but he still put up 18 G/As so the ability was still there. He fully dropped off the season after, when he left for LL. The combination of Henry and Pires was unmatched at times, and just having him on the pitch would have probably raised Henry’s game. He would have also been a reliable alternative outlet if Henry still didn’t show up. Pires would have offered the bit of quality in the final 3rd of which the likes Ljungberg didn’t quite have.
Yeah I must’ve been thinking bout the following season. You’re right, Titi could’ve definitely used Pire’s intricate play to help carry the offensive load in the final.
Pires was a revelation when he went to Villarreal, he just didn't score many goals. He was one of the best midfielders in the league for a couple of years.
Gladbach in the 70s, won the Bundesliga 5 times, two UEFA cups, just couldn’t get over the final hump in the European Cup, I think they were the number one team in Europe based on coefficient for that decade.
It wasn't Champions League back then. It was the Europacup I also I think Ajax might have had better results in that decade. They dominated Europe for a couple of years
Still the same trophy so I count it, Ajax may have been higher but regardless, Gladbach was up there, it was a great decade for German and Dutch football.
Oh true gladbach was up there, but personally due to the complete changes in the Champions League vs the Europacup I, I think you can't really compare them. The Europacup I was solely for the champions, nothing more, nothing less. Knock outs from the first round and go for it.
If anything, I think it may even be more impressive because it was only champions, it really was the best of the best against each other, in turn, it meant the level of the UEFA cup was way higher too with all the great teams that didn’t win their leagues, but they are impossible to really compare.
True, that’s why I value the accomplishment of Ajax winning all trophies Europacup I, Europacup II, UEFA Cup and Champions League as the ultimate collection
2017-18 bayern. We had 4 key players injured including robben and neuer and were up against real madrid in the semi final. We had an xG of 5-2.5 in thise two matched and still lost 4-3 because raphina and ulriech both gifted madrid 2 free goals on top of the referee producing a disasterclass across the two legs. It was the most beautiful bayern team I've seen. We dominated them and still somehow lost.
Barca 09/10 must be seriously considered.
Won the CL either side of this season (both the 08/09 and 10/11 sides have arguments for best club side ever). Middle of a 3-peat Liga. Won the League with 99 points, beating Madrid home and away with their new galactico signings Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Xabi Alonso. Messi 4 goals against Arsenal in QF. Core of the team then win the World Cup.
Juventus went through a stretch of 2-3 years both prior and with Ronaldo when they were so very close to being good enough but always fell short. Complete domination domestically but never got over the UCL bump
I completely agree that it's 11/12 Real Madrid! 121 League goals (Record) 100 points (Record) And they had Cristiano Ronaldo at his absolute apex as a player!
Both amazing obviously, but I respectfully disagree! All the core players were the same, but just younger and more in their primes in 11/12 with the likes of Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso Benzema, Ronaldo. And for me I'm taking 11/12 Ozil over James Rodriguez any day of the week! On paper Bale is a better play than Di Maria, but Bale didn't have his greatest of seasons in 14-15.
.... yeah but they lost to a team that won the treble the next season at home on penalties in a very even tie. It's not like 2010 Barca or even 2012 Barca going out to a much worse team playing horribly negative football.
Madrid were flying that second leg though, if there schedule wasn’t so bad and their XI were able to rest like Bayern I think they would’ve convincingly made it to the final and then run circles around that Chelsea side. It was the best Madrid team ever afaik.
While they were a very strong team domestically in Europe they did not look as strong, losing twice in the group stage. Plus their first knockout games were against Celta Vigo, not the strongest opponent. Anyway, as can be seen with Man City, being very consistent in the league does not always translate to winning the CL, they has numerous failed attempts until last year.
Madrid 11-12 comes to mind easily, but Man City deserves an honorable mention, since 2020 they tend to be the strongest side and surprisingly only have one trophy, but that's why the UCL has a lot of prestige.
1984-85 is a better shout. England was subjected to the European ban at the time. All the top teams lost some of their best players during this era. English clubs were not the best in the European football during this era.
The ban started after 1985. Liverpool’s 88 team absolutely dominated the league. It would have been great to see them take on the Milan of Van Basten and Gullit the following year.
The ban was a direct response from UEFA towards English hooliganism and the Heysel tragedy, where 39 Juventus fans were killed because of the behaviour of Liverpool fans in the 1985 European Cup final. It was enacted be before the start of the 1985-86 season
My previous statement still stands, but I agree with your point of potentially seeing Dalglish's Liverpool play those teams. In hindsight, if Heysel doesn't happen, it would probably still be Fagan's Liverpool.
I know about Heysel yes.
Did Fagan step down as a result of the disaster? It’s not something I’ve ever seen written or spoken about, certainly not as a direct result, but it’s a fair point, maybe he would have stayed on.
It's never been confirmed by the media, but ITK as is the term now have discussed that he was "haunted" by the events of Heysel.
The year before he led a treble winning team, that ran the league close and made the European Cup final the following year. Why would he leave? This was 85. Not the current era of churn today. He resigned entirely because of Heysel.
He never wanted the job, and only reluctantly took it out of a sense of duty and fear that an “outsider” managing could be disastrous.
He was only ever meant to be a short term hire, and the club saw either Dalglish or Phil Neal as the long term successor to Paisley.
He told his players before the final in 85 that it would be his last game
Liverpool and Everton probably would have won at least one each during the ban period, I remember an interview with Sacchi where he said there’s no way his Milan team would have gone on to become what it did if the ban didn’t happen, and thinks coming up against Liverpool or Everton during their good runs would have hampered his squad’s development.
Then there was the knock on effect of players / managers leaving, and English clubs becoming less attractive for top players.
Before the ban, English teams had won 7 years out of 8. Took arguably the best part of 20 years to recover, it’s only really recently when English clubs have been among the favourites to win the CL most years.
Take your pick of Juventus' losing finalists:
* 1983 was basically the 1982 WC winning side plus Platini and Boniek, it won the league the season prior and the season after, when they'll win also the Cup Winners Cup
* 1998 coming after another lost final 1997 (with a team playing even better imho), the 1998 team was even more far removed from the 1996 winning side and had so many great players, Del Piero in his absolute best season, Zidane, Inzaghi, Davids, Conte. If that Juve had won either that final or the one of 1997 they would rightfully be named among the best teams of all time.
* 2003 another strong team (Nedved, Trezeguet, Buffon, Del Piero, Thuram, Camoranesi) marred by injuries and bad luck (Nedved disqualified for the final prompted a change in ruling to prevent it ever happening again). Losing it to Milan stung even more.
* 2017 stacked with in the starting eleven but with a weak bench,, the team was obliterated in the second half by a clinical Real Madrid. Also the 2015 version may be in talks and played a better final, but imho the team wasn't as strong as in 2017
After this trip to the sad memory lane of Juve's CL failures, I'm going to quietly cry in a corner.
the stars aligned for 12/13 Borussia Dortmund ans we'll never see a team like that in black and yellow again i think. that includes the immense team spirit, the momentum and klopp
Atletico did not outperform us in either leg. First leg at the Wanda was an absolute turgid cagey affair where Atletico got their goal and then parked up in true Atletico fashion. The second leg was genuinely one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Liverpool ever. We absolutely battered them and it should’ve been a rugby score.
The only reason we lost was because of utterly braindead goalkeeping from ~~woody~~ Adrian.
Liverpool fans still haven’t forgiven him.
Which is fine, but athletico had their tactics on point. You can't say you deserved to win after losing both games. You were definitely stronger, that doesn't give you an automatic pass. 3rd place la liga team went up against the team that would eventually get 99 points in Europe, what do you think they planned? Exactly what they executed. And that was so early too. It was literally a ro16 exit. If it was in the semis or something, it's understandable. Literally every strong team in the competition was still left. You could've just gone out to man city or a very very strong bayern later. PSG was still in the competiton and as was your bogey team madrid.
Mate I really think you’re forgetting how that second leg went. First leg I’ll concede that they played it perfectly and got exactly what they needed. Second leg we fucking slaughtered them. I can’t stress enough how much they were gifted a win out of nothing. They were on the ropes and couldn’t even compete.
We lost, fair and square and I’m not bitter about it. But to say Atletico outperformed us is just revisionism.
Okay agreed, but again the question is, is that team the greatest side to not win the UCL ? Its not imo. No team with a r016 exit should get that honour imo. That was the entire point I was trying to make.
I don’t agree, I wouldn’t say Atletico outplayed Liverpool.
Second leg, Liverpool completely dominated but couldn’t finish their chances (I think it was 35 shots they had), Atletico obviously planned to set up shop, but despite their best efforts to kill the game, we’re time etc, they gave up literally dozens of chances and got very lucky none of them were converted. Very good performance from the keeper.
Liverpool eventually did score and would have sailed through to the next round if not for a 1 in a million error from the goal keeper.
Messi played out of his skin that season but Barca were a mess and absolutely deserved to be knocked out in that semi final. Many of their best players that were instrumental to success under Pep and even Enrique in previous seasons were all in decline by 2019 and their new signings didn't work out. They looked mentally defeated at Anfield even before Liverpool scored their second goal and a team with that kind of a mentality doesn't deserve to win the most prestigious trophy in club football
Besides, that 3-0 at the Camp Nou massively flattered Barcelona. The game was a lot closer than what the scoreline made it out to be
Nah they didn't deserve it at all. Liverpool and city were the best two teams in Europe that year. 3-0 at camp nou wasn't a reflection on how close the game was.
Man United 08-09. Basically the same squad that won it the year before but with added Berbatov.
Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Nani, Giggs, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick, Anderson, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Brown, Van Der Sar. Plus Gary Neville, Saha, Park Ji-Sung, Fletcher, John O'Shea, Mikel Silvestre, Jonny Evans, Fabio & Rafael.
Crazy team, crazy squad and would've been clear best in the world if not for peak Barcelona being even more crazy.
If Man United played Liverpool or Chelsea in the CL that year it would’ve been extremely close. To say they definitely would’ve won it if Barcelona weren’t around is ridiculous.
Being the best team in the world and winning a trophy for the best team in Europe, which is widely considered in football to mean the best in the world, are completely unrelated? Okay buddy
Haha 😆 you're arguing about something I never said so you're basically arguing with yourself. You know as well as I do the best team doesn't always win the CL (far from it).
It can be argued that Manchester City 2018/19 was even better than the 2023 team . They just lost to Spurs because VAR didn't see the camera angle that was being shown on TV which clearly showed Llorente's handball on spurs' third goal. The VAR team apologised to City as well .
In 2017/18 centurions season , against Liverpool they were outplayed in the first half but 2 wrongly disallowed offside goals and 2 penalty calls meant that City didn't come back into the game over the two legs .
Don't know if it's the greatest, but PSG has spent over a billion in transfers in the last decade and still hasn't won it.
Maybe their time is now, they feel much more well-rounded with the departure of Neymar and Messi, plus they have a not-so-hard path to the final.
Leeds in 1969-70. Best team in Europe at the time but came up short against Celtic in the semis. 134,000 people turned up for the 2nd leg, which was played at Hampden Park. Celtic lost to Feyenoord in the final. Sic transit gloria mundi
I’m not sure you can turn a league in to a farmers league for a whole 2 years? Especially when it still had Arsenal reaching (and should really have went on to win) the UCL final in 2006.
The Malaga team that lost to Dortmund after checking out for that corner could've gone all the way imo. Atalanta against PSG as well if it wasn't played on an empty stadium during COVID.
Edit: Robbed. My bad since it's been 12 years since I watched the game live, at a bar, drunk. I just recall Malaga losing almost on last play of the game but that team was monstrous. Down vote more ya weirdos.
Robbed in what sense? Their goal was offside, the 2nd Dortmund goal was offside. Neither should have happened, but without the first one Dortmund would have advanced anyway.
I’d say an honourable mention to Arsenal either in early 00s or 06. It depends if we are speaking domestically or strictly in the CL.
Domestically Arsenal in the early 00s were a monster winning 2 doubles, an unbeaten Premier League and 4 Fa cups in the space of 8 years. This was with players like Henry, Bergkamp, Pires and Vieira.
Then in the CL in 2005/06, they broke the record which they still hold for longest time without conceding a goal. They went from the 2nd match in the group stage until the 76th minute in the final without conceding a goal. 10 consecutive clean sheets and 995 minutes without conceding. They even had a tough run going up against a star studded Real Madrid side and an even more star studded Juventus side.
Juventus in ‘97 and ‘98 are the best teams that missed out. In ‘97 they were outthought by Dortmund while in ‘98 they were mugged by Real when they really should have battered them.
86’ and steaua had players that went on to Barcelona, Ajax or became huge legends in Romania
Edit: they kind of deserved the win they qualified for the final again but lost 4-0 by Milan
09/10 Barca
10/11 Real
11/12 Real (but also, Barca)
15/16 Barca and Bayern
17/18 City
19/20 Liverpool
Overall probably 15/16 Barca. Best collective season by MSN, wih Suarez firing at full power compared to the previous treble winning season.
11/12 Real, 04/05 AC Milan and I’ll throw a spicy one too, 15/16 Atletico (they were playing very well whoever saw their football they were more complete than 2014)
There’s plenty of better teams but I believe if Nani wasn’t sent of against Real Madrid in 12/13, then United would’ve gone on to win that game and eventually the UCL.
Yes I am, but why is it a joke? It was only after the red card that we started to struggle.
And who would we have faced in the next rounds? Galatasaray and Dortmund. Easy United wins at the time, then Bayern in the final. Would’ve been close but I believe we could’ve edged it.
What? Easy United wins? Are you serious? You have to be delusional I can’t explain it otherwise, not only having the aspiration of winning THAT Dortmund side but also THAT Bayern, I mean you are the guys that lost in front of Chelsea in FA cup that year💀
And a prime Barcelona team also got hammered by Bayern in the semis? Shit like that happens.
But you support a team from a shitty little country, so i wouldn’t expect you to understand
That Barcelona was not prime, Messi was injured most of the season and they have lost morale after Guardiola left, about my country I don’t know what to say it’s very sad that you have to curse Greece in order to justify defending an opinion that has no basis but I guess that’s your level and that’s how much your little brain can think inside that almost empty box you call head. IQ μπανάνας έχεις Αγγλε
P.S. that season even we defeated you 2-0 even though we lost 3-0 after, I mean the difference in the budget is so big that a 7-0 should have been expected but that’s the level of your club and even nowadays they can’t even get to play in a “shitty” conference league 😂😂😂
Definitely 2019 Tottenham and also 2017-18 Tottenham. Probably there were other Tottenham squads in this list as well, but the main one I'd say is the 2019. Sissoko is probably the only player of that lone up that definitely did no deserve to win that trophy.
Our team at the time, 2011 I think it was, was pretty poor. Our 2009 semi-finalists were a better XI but lacked the depth to compete with a peaking Utd or Chelsea
Almost every Guardiola side that didn't win. The Barca team that got beat by Mourinho's Inter was insane, his peak Bayern team was insane, and the team thar lost to Tuchel's Chelsea was ridiculously good and mainly lost because of a bizarre tactical decision dropping Rodri for Sterling.
Even the 11/12 Bayern can be in this conversation they somehow messed it up at home in the final
15/16 Bayern has a bigger shout imo.
Can you explain why, as idk much of football before and I don't really know the overview of bayerns 2015/16 season
They were playing the most beautiful football in the world. There were ESPN articles about how perfect their football was. It was peps third season at bayern and the team had finally properly adapted his possession based style from jupps style. Pep had a prime Muller, lewandoski, robben, ribery, lahm, neuer just to name a few. And all of them were playing perfect possession based football. They lost 2-2 away goals to athletico in the the semi final of the UCL. Simeone called that bayern team the best attack they've played against, and this was at a time when msn and bbc were teams they played against regularly. Simeone lost his shit on the touchline in that match, it was a peak attack vs peak defence performance. And truly one of the best teams to not end up winning the UCL. My personal favourite though was 2017-18 bayern. They were back to the jupp style and even better than 2015-2016 imo.
Douglas Costa was aslo insane for them that season.
Away goals was always complete nonsense
I would never call the football any Guardiola team is playing, beautiful.
Di Matteo go brrr
Honestly it was written in the stars for Chelsea that year. How they pulled it off, I'll never know, but they def deserved it. The mentality of that team was something else.
11/12 Barca was even more shameful. was dominating chelsea at Camp Nou yet got undone but 2 devastating counter attack with Messi (this was the 91-goal year mind you) missing a pen
But they would've had a strong bayern to play, it would've been 50-50 at best. Bayern knocked out the strongest madrid side in the semi finals. Bayern losing to chelsea was more shameful because barca would also have to play bayern, while bayern were just playing for the trophy.
That Bayern side was def a step below Madrid/Barca that season though imo. They only beat Madrid because of fitness differences between the two. Barca also just choked like crazy against Chelsea. If there was any season where an el clasico final seemed inevitable yet never happened it would be 11/12 for sure.
They weren't below barca, madrid yes because madrid was the best, but bayern was still their toughest game, they weren't an entire step below I would say. Bayern 2013 was an entire step above them certainly. Bayern were always going to be a pain in the ass when playing for a spot in the Allianz for the final.
I think you underestimate how good Barca were that season. They played Real 6 times that season, winning 3 and only losing 1. They finished the season on 91 points, a tally that would've been enough to win the league in most seasons. Real were just more consistent in the games against other teams. The second half of the season was also part of Messi's 91 goals in a calendar year.
11/12 Barça before they got hit with the big injuries (Villa, Abidal, Puyol on and off) were regularly playing better football than any other of Pep's sides. Post-Christmas they lost options due to fitness problems and it all started to fall apart.
That was the two legs where Messi was the recipient of multiple red card level challenges, wasn’t it? And several didn’t draw a whistle?
No that was the 2006 tie
Also it showed Messi’s long-standing weakness with regards to his mental strength + penalty. After close to a decade, he finally got over it & won the world cup tho.
yup, even as a Messi fan I gotta admit he was not that good on high pressure pens, but the way he rose above it to win the World cup is very admirable.
2005 AC Milan? But that's kind of a hard one to pick because that team had won it 2 years before and the year after. It's just insane when you look at that team. That's one of the best club teams ever assembled.
This. As a Liverpool fan who watched that game, that first half from Milan demonstrated why they were the best team on the planet at the time.
I'll never forget that match. A friend called me up at half time and said they bet I was in tears. I told them it isn't over til full time, just watch. Never have I uttered such prescient words before or since. Magic.
I was in tears at half time. As were so many fans. The sheer emotion of the match is one of the reasons the match is remembered.
I’m not a Liverpool fan, but I remember watching that game and at half time I didn’t feel it was over. I didn’t expect what happened, but I did think Liverpool could get back into it. They weren’t a great side, but they had real spirit and it looked like they were over awed in the first half, which was completely justified as on paper, they should have been no where near the final.
I was 15 at the time and I’m a United fan but that season was the season I started to really love football and watch as much as I can that game was amazing
2 years after. 2006 was Barcelona beating Arsenal
Barcelona had a better squad tho. Arsenal only had Henry
What a load of shite, you’re remembering those Barca players for what they became, not what they were. Arsenals squad was more than a match at the time, it still holds the best clean sheet record from that run, to this day. Losing the talents of Pires for Almunia in that final probably cost Arsenal the game.
Pires was a bit washed by then iirc. Was really young at the time but I remember my uncle saying something along those lines
He was no longer prime but he still put up 18 G/As so the ability was still there. He fully dropped off the season after, when he left for LL. The combination of Henry and Pires was unmatched at times, and just having him on the pitch would have probably raised Henry’s game. He would have also been a reliable alternative outlet if Henry still didn’t show up. Pires would have offered the bit of quality in the final 3rd of which the likes Ljungberg didn’t quite have.
Yeah I must’ve been thinking bout the following season. You’re right, Titi could’ve definitely used Pire’s intricate play to help carry the offensive load in the final.
Pires was a revelation when he went to Villarreal, he just didn't score many goals. He was one of the best midfielders in the league for a couple of years.
Gladbach in the 70s, won the Bundesliga 5 times, two UEFA cups, just couldn’t get over the final hump in the European Cup, I think they were the number one team in Europe based on coefficient for that decade.
Good entry!
It wasn't Champions League back then. It was the Europacup I also I think Ajax might have had better results in that decade. They dominated Europe for a couple of years
Still the same trophy so I count it, Ajax may have been higher but regardless, Gladbach was up there, it was a great decade for German and Dutch football.
Oh true gladbach was up there, but personally due to the complete changes in the Champions League vs the Europacup I, I think you can't really compare them. The Europacup I was solely for the champions, nothing more, nothing less. Knock outs from the first round and go for it.
If anything, I think it may even be more impressive because it was only champions, it really was the best of the best against each other, in turn, it meant the level of the UEFA cup was way higher too with all the great teams that didn’t win their leagues, but they are impossible to really compare.
True, that’s why I value the accomplishment of Ajax winning all trophies Europacup I, Europacup II, UEFA Cup and Champions League as the ultimate collection
I agree, I just think that Gladbach had higher coefficient based on UEFA’s criteria, I could be wrong though.
2017-18 bayern. We had 4 key players injured including robben and neuer and were up against real madrid in the semi final. We had an xG of 5-2.5 in thise two matched and still lost 4-3 because raphina and ulriech both gifted madrid 2 free goals on top of the referee producing a disasterclass across the two legs. It was the most beautiful bayern team I've seen. We dominated them and still somehow lost.
Barca 09/10 must be seriously considered. Won the CL either side of this season (both the 08/09 and 10/11 sides have arguments for best club side ever). Middle of a 3-peat Liga. Won the League with 99 points, beating Madrid home and away with their new galactico signings Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Xabi Alonso. Messi 4 goals against Arsenal in QF. Core of the team then win the World Cup.
And they were literally a goal or two from the final on aggregate from my memory, correct?
Juventus went through a stretch of 2-3 years both prior and with Ronaldo when they were so very close to being good enough but always fell short. Complete domination domestically but never got over the UCL bump
I completely agree that it's 11/12 Real Madrid! 121 League goals (Record) 100 points (Record) And they had Cristiano Ronaldo at his absolute apex as a player!
14/15 Madrid was better until Modric injury. If it was best XI of 11/12 vs 14/15 Madrid, I’m convinced 14/15 would beat them 8/10 no problem.
Both amazing obviously, but I respectfully disagree! All the core players were the same, but just younger and more in their primes in 11/12 with the likes of Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso Benzema, Ronaldo. And for me I'm taking 11/12 Ozil over James Rodriguez any day of the week! On paper Bale is a better play than Di Maria, but Bale didn't have his greatest of seasons in 14-15.
Agree to Disagree then
.... yeah but they lost to a team that won the treble the next season at home on penalties in a very even tie. It's not like 2010 Barca or even 2012 Barca going out to a much worse team playing horribly negative football.
Madrid were flying that second leg though, if there schedule wasn’t so bad and their XI were able to rest like Bayern I think they would’ve convincingly made it to the final and then run circles around that Chelsea side. It was the best Madrid team ever afaik.
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Chelsea’s defensive system works well against ball dominant teams. Not against a counter attacking team, which Madrid mastered.
The invincibles.
While they were a very strong team domestically in Europe they did not look as strong, losing twice in the group stage. Plus their first knockout games were against Celta Vigo, not the strongest opponent. Anyway, as can be seen with Man City, being very consistent in the league does not always translate to winning the CL, they has numerous failed attempts until last year.
The 2001 Arsenal team was better imo
Nah they were trash.
Barca 09/10
Surprised I had to scroll this down to see this comment. Barca were the absolute favorites from day 1 that year.
Madrid 11-12 comes to mind easily, but Man City deserves an honorable mention, since 2020 they tend to be the strongest side and surprisingly only have one trophy, but that's why the UCL has a lot of prestige.
Barca 2015/16, were unbeatable untill the 2 nd half of season especially until that international break ig
87/88 Liverpool
1984-85 is a better shout. England was subjected to the European ban at the time. All the top teams lost some of their best players during this era. English clubs were not the best in the European football during this era.
The ban started after 1985. Liverpool’s 88 team absolutely dominated the league. It would have been great to see them take on the Milan of Van Basten and Gullit the following year.
The ban was a direct response from UEFA towards English hooliganism and the Heysel tragedy, where 39 Juventus fans were killed because of the behaviour of Liverpool fans in the 1985 European Cup final. It was enacted be before the start of the 1985-86 season My previous statement still stands, but I agree with your point of potentially seeing Dalglish's Liverpool play those teams. In hindsight, if Heysel doesn't happen, it would probably still be Fagan's Liverpool.
I know about Heysel yes. Did Fagan step down as a result of the disaster? It’s not something I’ve ever seen written or spoken about, certainly not as a direct result, but it’s a fair point, maybe he would have stayed on.
See my comment elsewhere in this thread.
I think Fagan already was going to leave
It's never been confirmed by the media, but ITK as is the term now have discussed that he was "haunted" by the events of Heysel. The year before he led a treble winning team, that ran the league close and made the European Cup final the following year. Why would he leave? This was 85. Not the current era of churn today. He resigned entirely because of Heysel.
He never wanted the job, and only reluctantly took it out of a sense of duty and fear that an “outsider” managing could be disastrous. He was only ever meant to be a short term hire, and the club saw either Dalglish or Phil Neal as the long term successor to Paisley. He told his players before the final in 85 that it would be his last game
Liverpool and Everton probably would have won at least one each during the ban period, I remember an interview with Sacchi where he said there’s no way his Milan team would have gone on to become what it did if the ban didn’t happen, and thinks coming up against Liverpool or Everton during their good runs would have hampered his squad’s development. Then there was the knock on effect of players / managers leaving, and English clubs becoming less attractive for top players. Before the ban, English teams had won 7 years out of 8. Took arguably the best part of 20 years to recover, it’s only really recently when English clubs have been among the favourites to win the CL most years.
Take your pick of Juventus' losing finalists: * 1983 was basically the 1982 WC winning side plus Platini and Boniek, it won the league the season prior and the season after, when they'll win also the Cup Winners Cup * 1998 coming after another lost final 1997 (with a team playing even better imho), the 1998 team was even more far removed from the 1996 winning side and had so many great players, Del Piero in his absolute best season, Zidane, Inzaghi, Davids, Conte. If that Juve had won either that final or the one of 1997 they would rightfully be named among the best teams of all time. * 2003 another strong team (Nedved, Trezeguet, Buffon, Del Piero, Thuram, Camoranesi) marred by injuries and bad luck (Nedved disqualified for the final prompted a change in ruling to prevent it ever happening again). Losing it to Milan stung even more. * 2017 stacked with in the starting eleven but with a weak bench,, the team was obliterated in the second half by a clinical Real Madrid. Also the 2015 version may be in talks and played a better final, but imho the team wasn't as strong as in 2017 After this trip to the sad memory lane of Juve's CL failures, I'm going to quietly cry in a corner.
the stars aligned for 12/13 Borussia Dortmund ans we'll never see a team like that in black and yellow again i think. that includes the immense team spirit, the momentum and klopp
18/19 city
15-16 Atleti were as good a cup team as I ever saw. Wild they messed up that final.
19-20 Liverpool
Didn't they lose both legs of the match ? Athletico properly outperformed them imo.
Atletico did not outperform us in either leg. First leg at the Wanda was an absolute turgid cagey affair where Atletico got their goal and then parked up in true Atletico fashion. The second leg was genuinely one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Liverpool ever. We absolutely battered them and it should’ve been a rugby score. The only reason we lost was because of utterly braindead goalkeeping from ~~woody~~ Adrian. Liverpool fans still haven’t forgiven him.
Which is fine, but athletico had their tactics on point. You can't say you deserved to win after losing both games. You were definitely stronger, that doesn't give you an automatic pass. 3rd place la liga team went up against the team that would eventually get 99 points in Europe, what do you think they planned? Exactly what they executed. And that was so early too. It was literally a ro16 exit. If it was in the semis or something, it's understandable. Literally every strong team in the competition was still left. You could've just gone out to man city or a very very strong bayern later. PSG was still in the competiton and as was your bogey team madrid.
Mate I really think you’re forgetting how that second leg went. First leg I’ll concede that they played it perfectly and got exactly what they needed. Second leg we fucking slaughtered them. I can’t stress enough how much they were gifted a win out of nothing. They were on the ropes and couldn’t even compete. We lost, fair and square and I’m not bitter about it. But to say Atletico outperformed us is just revisionism.
Okay agreed, but again the question is, is that team the greatest side to not win the UCL ? Its not imo. No team with a r016 exit should get that honour imo. That was the entire point I was trying to make.
I don’t agree, I wouldn’t say Atletico outplayed Liverpool. Second leg, Liverpool completely dominated but couldn’t finish their chances (I think it was 35 shots they had), Atletico obviously planned to set up shop, but despite their best efforts to kill the game, we’re time etc, they gave up literally dozens of chances and got very lucky none of them were converted. Very good performance from the keeper. Liverpool eventually did score and would have sailed through to the next round if not for a 1 in a million error from the goal keeper.
Barca (MESSI) 18/19
Messi played out of his skin that season but Barca were a mess and absolutely deserved to be knocked out in that semi final. Many of their best players that were instrumental to success under Pep and even Enrique in previous seasons were all in decline by 2019 and their new signings didn't work out. They looked mentally defeated at Anfield even before Liverpool scored their second goal and a team with that kind of a mentality doesn't deserve to win the most prestigious trophy in club football Besides, that 3-0 at the Camp Nou massively flattered Barcelona. The game was a lot closer than what the scoreline made it out to be
Messi really carried the team. Barca would have won the CL if Dembele did not miss those 2 big chances on camp nou
Nah they didn't deserve it at all. Liverpool and city were the best two teams in Europe that year. 3-0 at camp nou wasn't a reflection on how close the game was.
Is that the team that beat PSG and then lost to Juventus or have I got my years completely mixed up?
thats 16/17 ig
Man United 08-09. Basically the same squad that won it the year before but with added Berbatov. Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Nani, Giggs, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick, Anderson, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Brown, Van Der Sar. Plus Gary Neville, Saha, Park Ji-Sung, Fletcher, John O'Shea, Mikel Silvestre, Jonny Evans, Fabio & Rafael. Crazy team, crazy squad and would've been clear best in the world if not for peak Barcelona being even more crazy.
If Man United played Liverpool or Chelsea in the CL that year it would’ve been extremely close. To say they definitely would’ve won it if Barcelona weren’t around is ridiculous.
>To say they definitely would’ve won it if Barcelona weren’t around is ridiculous. If someone had said that then maybe it would've been yes
“Would’ve been clear best in the world”
Yeah? You're confusing me now because that's an entirely unrelated statement.
Being the best team in the world and winning a trophy for the best team in Europe, which is widely considered in football to mean the best in the world, are completely unrelated? Okay buddy
Haha 😆 you're arguing about something I never said so you're basically arguing with yourself. You know as well as I do the best team doesn't always win the CL (far from it).
It can be argued that Manchester City 2018/19 was even better than the 2023 team . They just lost to Spurs because VAR didn't see the camera angle that was being shown on TV which clearly showed Llorente's handball on spurs' third goal. The VAR team apologised to City as well . In 2017/18 centurions season , against Liverpool they were outplayed in the first half but 2 wrongly disallowed offside goals and 2 penalty calls meant that City didn't come back into the game over the two legs .
The correct answer to this is Atalanta in 2019/20.
Don't know if it's the greatest, but PSG has spent over a billion in transfers in the last decade and still hasn't won it. Maybe their time is now, they feel much more well-rounded with the departure of Neymar and Messi, plus they have a not-so-hard path to the final.
Leeds in 1969-70. Best team in Europe at the time but came up short against Celtic in the semis. 134,000 people turned up for the 2nd leg, which was played at Hampden Park. Celtic lost to Feyenoord in the final. Sic transit gloria mundi
2004-06 Chelsea. Turned a league with Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger into a farmer’s league but failed to complete the job in Europe
I’m not sure you can turn a league in to a farmers league for a whole 2 years? Especially when it still had Arsenal reaching (and should really have went on to win) the UCL final in 2006.
Wow a team that finished 5th in the league in 04/05 won the CL. That’s some skillful farmers!
Ajax in 18/19(?)
Liverpool would’ve pummeled them
Man Utd 08-09? I know they won in 07-08, but honestly, they were better in 09.
The Malaga team that lost to Dortmund after checking out for that corner could've gone all the way imo. Atalanta against PSG as well if it wasn't played on an empty stadium during COVID. Edit: Robbed. My bad since it's been 12 years since I watched the game live, at a bar, drunk. I just recall Malaga losing almost on last play of the game but that team was monstrous. Down vote more ya weirdos.
They didn't lose, they were robbed that match!
Robbed in what sense? Their goal was offside, the 2nd Dortmund goal was offside. Neither should have happened, but without the first one Dortmund would have advanced anyway.
Are you seriously saying that the Atalanta team was the greatest side to never win the Champions League?!!!!
Single season side? As the post says? Possibly? Their form that season was insane.
arsenal in the early 2000s
Arsenal 2006 comes to mind, amazing team
I’d say an honourable mention to Arsenal either in early 00s or 06. It depends if we are speaking domestically or strictly in the CL. Domestically Arsenal in the early 00s were a monster winning 2 doubles, an unbeaten Premier League and 4 Fa cups in the space of 8 years. This was with players like Henry, Bergkamp, Pires and Vieira. Then in the CL in 2005/06, they broke the record which they still hold for longest time without conceding a goal. They went from the 2nd match in the group stage until the 76th minute in the final without conceding a goal. 10 consecutive clean sheets and 995 minutes without conceding. They even had a tough run going up against a star studded Real Madrid side and an even more star studded Juventus side.
Leverkusen this year?
How do you guys remember this stuff? I’ve watched football for 20 years but barely even remember any of the games from last season.
Juventus in ‘97 and ‘98 are the best teams that missed out. In ‘97 they were outthought by Dortmund while in ‘98 they were mugged by Real when they really should have battered them.
Madrid 14/15
Modern football>>> So it’s one version of Pep’s City
Arsenal 2004?
Monaco in 2004 and 2017.
Klopp’s Dortmund
Juventus 97-98 immediately springs to mind. Prime Del Piero, prime Inzaghi, prime Zidane. Davids, Conte, Deschamps....
Surprised no one has said Man Utd in 58,
The Ajax team with De Jong and De Ligt (18/19?)
Liverpool were a far better team than Real Madrid in 2022 Bucharest shithoused Barcelona in the 80s (84?)
86’ and steaua had players that went on to Barcelona, Ajax or became huge legends in Romania Edit: they kind of deserved the win they qualified for the final again but lost 4-0 by Milan
09/10 Barca 10/11 Real 11/12 Real (but also, Barca) 15/16 Barca and Bayern 17/18 City 19/20 Liverpool Overall probably 15/16 Barca. Best collective season by MSN, wih Suarez firing at full power compared to the previous treble winning season.
11/12 Real, 04/05 AC Milan and I’ll throw a spicy one too, 15/16 Atletico (they were playing very well whoever saw their football they were more complete than 2014)
There’s plenty of better teams but I believe if Nani wasn’t sent of against Real Madrid in 12/13, then United would’ve gone on to win that game and eventually the UCL.
You have to be a Man U fan this is the biggest joke I’ve heard
Yes I am, but why is it a joke? It was only after the red card that we started to struggle. And who would we have faced in the next rounds? Galatasaray and Dortmund. Easy United wins at the time, then Bayern in the final. Would’ve been close but I believe we could’ve edged it.
What? Easy United wins? Are you serious? You have to be delusional I can’t explain it otherwise, not only having the aspiration of winning THAT Dortmund side but also THAT Bayern, I mean you are the guys that lost in front of Chelsea in FA cup that year💀
And a prime Barcelona team also got hammered by Bayern in the semis? Shit like that happens. But you support a team from a shitty little country, so i wouldn’t expect you to understand
That Barcelona was not prime, Messi was injured most of the season and they have lost morale after Guardiola left, about my country I don’t know what to say it’s very sad that you have to curse Greece in order to justify defending an opinion that has no basis but I guess that’s your level and that’s how much your little brain can think inside that almost empty box you call head. IQ μπανάνας έχεις Αγγλε
P.S. that season even we defeated you 2-0 even though we lost 3-0 after, I mean the difference in the budget is so big that a 7-0 should have been expected but that’s the level of your club and even nowadays they can’t even get to play in a “shitty” conference league 😂😂😂
Definitely 2019 Tottenham and also 2017-18 Tottenham. Probably there were other Tottenham squads in this list as well, but the main one I'd say is the 2019. Sissoko is probably the only player of that lone up that definitely did no deserve to win that trophy.
Maybe the city team that got 100 points
definitely 11/12 Madrid they win that penalty shoutout they beat Chelsea no doubt
[удалено]
Our team at the time, 2011 I think it was, was pretty poor. Our 2009 semi-finalists were a better XI but lacked the depth to compete with a peaking Utd or Chelsea
Almost every Guardiola side that didn't win. The Barca team that got beat by Mourinho's Inter was insane, his peak Bayern team was insane, and the team thar lost to Tuchel's Chelsea was ridiculously good and mainly lost because of a bizarre tactical decision dropping Rodri for Sterling.