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Winning the UEFA Champions League is an incredible feat and usually showcases the top club soccer team in both Europe and the world. Plenty of teams from different countries have qualified annually by placing in the top four spots of their respective club’s league, although only a handful can be considered the best. In this article, we’ll break down five of the best UEFA Champions League winning club teams including what year they won it, who was on the team at the time and what made them so dominant.
After a heartbreaking defeat in the previous year’s (2017/2018) UEFA Champions League Final to Real Madrid, Liverpool FC would work their way back to the final for a second shot at the title. Surprisingly in the first leg of the semifinals, Liverpool were in a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona, with the expectation that they’d easily be knocked out. This wasn’t the case however, as they’d go on to score four unanswered goals against the Spanish giants in the second game to move on to the final, where they would beat fellow English club Tottenham Hotspur. Players like defender Virgil van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson Becker and right-winger Mohammad Salah would all play crucial roles in creating one of the deadliest counter-attacking teams that would go on to win the European trophy, all while letting up only 12 goals throughout the entire tourney.
In the 2019/2020 soccer season, not only would top German club Bayern Munich dominate the Bundesliga by a whopping 13 points, but they’d take home the UEFA Champions League trophy as well. When it comes to practicing perfectionism, you won’t find it in many other places than Bayern, where they’d win every single one of their group stage and knockout matches while only conceding eight goals, much to the credit of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. With lethal striker Robert Lewandowski at the helm, the Champions League final against PSG was the only game won in the mix where Bayern would score just one goal to win, having an unbelievable 43 goals scored in all UCL games combined.
As the most recent team on this list to win the Champions League, the 2022/2023 Manchester City squad played some of the highest-quality team football showcased in decades. While this team, coached by Pep Guardiola, would draw a few of their games, Manchester City would only concede six goals in the entire European campaign, with defenders like Kyle Walker, John Stones and Joao Cancelo holding strong at the back with goalkeeper Ederson. In addition to heavy firepower in attack with players like Erling Haaland and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, Manchester City offered no surprise to anyone in winning the Champions League, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the final.
The 2014/2015 UCL-winning Barcelona team may have well been placed as one of the greatest teams of all time. Naming just a few of the known all-stars on the team like Neymar, Leo Messi and Luis Suarez, you can understand just how deadly this team was in goalscoring. In the knockout stages against PSG, Barcelona would suffer a 3-2 loss in the first leg before losing being down 3-1 in their second leg. Within around 12 minutes of their seemingly last Champions League game of that season, Barcelona would net four goals to nab the win on aggregate, before walking their way to the final with heavy goalscoring with 13 more goals scored in the next knockout matches. The resulting 2015 Champions League final against Serie A’s Juventus ended in a 3-1 result favoring the Catalonian club, which no one was surprised to see.
As part of the most dominant team with the most Champions League trophies out of any European club team, the 2016/2017 Real Madrid team was impeccable. No matter who the Spanish giants played, it didn’t seem to matter, as the dynamic duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema would collect a combined 17 goals in their run this season. Through the group stages they’d draw three of their games, but not without scoring at least two goals in every single one. In total, Real Madrid had 36 goals scored across all of their Champions League games, only struggling in one game against rival city team Atletico Madrid, which they’d still beat 4-2 on aggregate. In a no-mercy final against Juventus, the team would come out victorious 4-1 for their 12th Champions League trophy.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.