Who is the greatest European team in recent history?

The Introduction:

The triumph of Manchester City over Inter Milan on Saturday in the Champions League Final saw the Citizens become only the second English side to lift a “continental treble” after bitter rivals Manchester United in 1999. Victory for Pep’s side inevitably sparked debate as to whether this City team is the greatest side to play the beautiful game in recent memory, and I will attempt to embark on providing a satisfactory answer. In order to do so, I will apply a criterion that will narrow the debate down into a select number of teams, which will allow me to dive deeper into those respective clubs. The criteria I have chosen is winning a continental treble; after all, it may be a cliché, but football is all about lifting trophies, and the pinnacle of a club’s success is victory domestically and in Europe. Following that, I will then analyse the journey of each of those clubs to their continental treble, which will consequently enable me to deduce as objectively as possible the greatest team in recent memory.

The Criteria:

The term “continental treble” in modern football refers to victory in three competitions, with at least one being the Champions League. In the 21^st century, only four teams have achieved such a task: Barcelona (2008-9 / 2014-15), Inter Milan (2009-10), Bayern Munich (2012-13 / 2019-20), and most recently Manchester City (2023). Despite Manchester United winning their treble a year prior to the turn of the millennium, I feel inclined to include them in a debate involving “modern football” because of their intimacy with the dawn of the modern era in 2000. To streamline these teams into a select few, I considered the UEFA coefficient rankings; essentially, these are rankings based on the results of each association’s clubs in the five previous UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and European Conference Leagues (although this is not relevant as it was only present for one of these five teams). By applying the coefficient rankings, it is the most objective way of determining the strength of Europe’s top five leagues and just how difficult it was for the respective team above to achieve that continental treble. Of course, it is no surprise that the Premier League and La Liga have languished at the top of the rankings for much of the 21^st century; subsequently, I can streamline the debate to Manchester United (1999), Barcelona (2008-9 / 2014), and Manchester City (2023) while excluding Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

Having established the three contenders, I will begin to analyse the journey of these select clubs to their continental treble and then conclude who the greatest European team is in recent history.

Their Journey’s to the “continental treble”:

In 1999, Manchester United completed the continental treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League. The Red Devils finished the 1998/1999 season on 79 points, with Arsenal finishing runners up on 78 points and Chelsea just four points behind first on 75 points. Without a doubt, the 1998-99 season was one of the most exciting in Premier League history because it was incredibly competitive. It took United until the final day of the season to solidify the league after a 2-1 win versus mid-table Spurs; meanwhile, Chelsea lost three games, which was a total only bettered by three English Champions that century. The top two (Manchester United and Arsenal) would only lose two games after Christmas. Consequently, it was one of the most evenly contested seasons in the Premier League of all time. Even though, since 1999, no champion has ever failed to get over 80 points, the low points tally is overwhelmingly outweighed by the above. Now, let’s look at the FA Cup. The Red Devils had a relatively tough FA Cup run, facing just one opponent outside the Premier League on their way to the final (Fulham). Throughout their journey to Wembley, United impressively dispatched quality sides in the form of Liverpool and Chelsea. Fergie’s side also ran into league rivals Arsenal in the semi-final, where a wonder goal by Giggs and a penalty save by Schmeichel would propel them into the final against Newcastle, which they’d win in convincing fashion. Therefore, Manchester United’s road to lifting the FA Cup was in no way an easy undertaking, and while there was an element of luck involved, overall, the quality of the team shone through and enabled them to defeat any team in England capable of threatening their dominance, such as Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. However, the road to winning the Champions League surpasses both the achievements of the League and the FA Cup. The campaign began in rather miserable fashion when the team was drawn in what became known as the “Group of Death” (Group D), containing Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The relentless nature and determination of the Red Devils enabled them to progress to the knockout rounds after results elsewhere went their way. The quarter finals and the semi finals saw United face two Italian giants, Inter Milan, and Juventus. What it made clear is that however badly they played, their never say die attitude would somehow get them over the line. Finally, their Champions League journey was a long one and culminated in epic fashion against Bayern Munich. Despite being 1-0 down for 90 minutes, an equaliser by Sheringham in the 91^st minute would then be followed in the most dramatic fashion when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer flicked the ball home and went down in Manchester United folk law.

Barcelona’s treble winning team from 2008-9 quite simply had everything in abundance and more. It combined a strong mentality and invincible attitude with phenomenal natural talent and a tactical masterclass on a regular basis. In La Liga, stopping Barcelona seemed an impossible task, with the club losing just once in 38 games and winning the league with a nine-point gap over Real Madrid. Barca scored 102 goals that season, largely thanks to their front three of Samuel Eto (30 goals), Thierry Henry (19 goals), and, of course, Lionel Messi (23 goals). But what was also particularly impressive was their defensive record; in the league, they only conceded 35 goals and kept 20 clean sheets, with the legendary Carlos Puyol at the peak of his powers and Gerard Pique beginning to emerge as one of the world’s best at the art of defending after switching from the Red Devils. Xavi and Iniesta were pivotal in dictating the pace of the game in the middle of the park and were the beating heart of the team, with Xavi getting 19 assists, the highest in the league. The team from Catalonia would dominate the awards: Lionel Messi would win La Liga Best Player, Dani Alves Best Defender, Xavi and Iniesta Best Midfielder, and Lionel Messi again for Best Forward. In the Copa Del Rey, it was more of the same story; they continued their outstanding cutting edge in front of goal, scoring 23 goals in seven matches en route to the final against Athletico Bilbao. Despite the scoreline of 4-1, the final was a cagey affair, and it took a brace from Messi as well as goals from Eto and Krkic to ensure victory. However, it was in the Champions League that Barcelona and their fresh young coach, Pep Guardiola, would build a legacy that would cement them as one of the best teams to ever play the game while also arguably catalysing the inception of the redefined modern game. Guardiola’s men scored 18 goals in the group stages of the competition, and at the time they were the second highest scoring team in the opening stages ever, behind Manchester United in 1999. The most notable victories in Group C were a 5-0 win against FC Basil at the Camp Nou and a 5-2 win against Sporting Lisbon. Lyon put up a good fight in the first knockout round, and Barca feared an early exit; however, heroics from Henry across both legs and goals from Eto as well as Keita resulted in a 6-3 win on aggregate after it’d finished 1-1 in the first leg. Despite elements of complacency against Lyon, Barcelona tore four-time European Champions Bayern Munich apart, leading 4-0 in the first leg. It finished 5-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in the second leg. The semi-finals saw Pep’s side full of attacking flair and expression matched against the brick wall of the Chelsea defence marshalled by John Terry. There was nothing to match the two teams in the first leg. Even though the second leg began with the west Londoners taking the lead through Michael Essien with a tremendous volley that soared past Valdes and nestled into the back of the net, it would be his failure to clear his lines that enabled Iniesta to strike the ball straight past Cech in added time and send Barca through to the finals in Rome. The final in Rome was between the two best teams in the world at the time: Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who had won the Champions League the year before, and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, who were tactically brilliant and possessed without a doubt the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. On the day, Barcelona’s fast paced, tiki taker, possession-based football proved to be too much for Fergie’s Red Devils, and they dominated them, winning 2-0 with goals from Messi and Eto. Overall, the team’s success was built upon the foundations of a dazzling new manager who changed the modern game forever, youth like Busquets, Gerard Piquet, and Messi who would one day be regarded as one of the best footballers of all time, and a club with a clear identity and objective. Their dominance captured the imagination of football fans all across the world.

On Saturday, Manchester City’s long wait to lift the Champions League finally ended when a goal by Rodri in the 68^th minute capped off an absolutely sensational season for Pep Guardiola and ended several failed attempts by the Citizens to win the competition. A few months ago, nobody would have seen this coming, Arsenal were at the top of the Premier League and looked poised to lift the trophy for the first time in 20 years; Nathan Jones’s Southampton knocked them out of the Carabao Cup; there were questions over Haaland’s ability to fit into Pep’s style of football, and Guardiola himself admitted something wasn’t quite right. Under Pep, City had won the previous two Premier League seasons without a recognised striker and instead favoured the false nine; however, their failure to lift the Champions League despite coming incredibly close on several occasions identified to Pep that perhaps a quality out-and-out striker was the answer. Consequently, City bought the exciting young Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51.1m. The introduction of Haaland saw Pep adapt his style of play slightly, becoming far more direct in order to incorporate the Norwegian international; subsequently, when the Citizens started the season slower than their usual standards, many cited this as the major factor and suggested that perhaps Pep ought to move back to his freer flowing, flamboyant, fancy football. The 2022-23 season was a bit different than the years prior to it because of the World Cup in between from early November to December. As a result, it was essentially split into two halves. Before the unprecedented break, Manchester City were second in the league on 32 points and four points behind Arsenal on 37, who were experiencing their best ever start to a Premier League season. Notable losses to Liverpool and Brentford as well as draws to Aston Villa and Newcastle, revealed that the team as a whole were still transitioning into this new way of playing. Crucially, however, the fact that Norway didn’t qualify for the world cup was a blessing in disguise for both Haaland and Guardiola, as it gave him six weeks to coach his new striker and those remaining into playing the way he wanted them to play. But the misery continued for City; they drew their second game after the restart to Everton at the Etihad, and in January they sustained back-to-back defeats at the hands of Southampton in the Carabao Cup as well as Manchester United in the Manchester Derby. In the next game, they were forced to come back from 2-0 to beat Spurs 4-2, and it was then that he branded his team “soft”. Things didn’t get much better in February. City made the headlines for the wrong reasons when the Premier League charged the club with more than 100 breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018. However, for many, this was the turning point of Manchester City’s season, as after this point they went on to do the double over Arsenal in the league, overturn an eight-point gap and lose just once in 28 games. City would finish the season five points above Arsenal on 89 points and would wrap up the league with a game to spare. Haaland would win the golden boot in his debut season in the Premier League with 36 goals, and Kevin de Bruyne would be the top assister with 16 assists. Alongside their triumph in the league, the Citizens also overcame their neighbours, Manchester United, by winning 2-1 in the final to lift the FA Cup. It was an FA Cup run that saw them face tough Premier League opposition in Chelsea and Arsenal, but also the best outside England’s first division in the form of Vincent Kompany’s Burnley and an exciting Sheffield United team, all of which failed to score against City. However, the real aim for Pep Guardiola going into the 2022/23 season was the Champions League after losing to Chelsea in 2021 and a shock defeat to Real Madrid in 2022. Unlike their slow start in the Premier League, City were ruthless in the Champions League, topping Group C with ease and then beating RB Leipzig 8-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16. Although it was the Citizens emphatic display in their 3-0 victory at home to European powerhouses Bayern Munich that they announced themselves as favourites to win the competition, Pep’s side would go on to win 4-1 on aggregate and draw Real Madrid in the semi-final. Of course, after their collapse the year before, there was a certain amount of apprehension and nerves from the City team going into the game, and it showed in the first leg when there was nothing to separate the two teams and they played out a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital. Despite this, in the second leg Manchester City dismantled the reigning European Champions and arguably played the best they’d ever done under Pep Guardiola, running away 3-0 winners on the night. When it was confirmed that City’s opponents in the final would be Inter Milan, many already had the Citizens as Champions; however, the game on Saturday night proved to be their hardest of the competition, and it was credit to Inter manager Inzaghi. A goal from Rodri was enough to clinch the Champions League for Pep’s City team, and they became the first English team to win the treble since Manchester United in 1999. In his debut season in what is considered to be the hardest league in the world, Erling Haaland won the Golden Boot in the Premier League and the Champions League, finishing the season with 52 goals in all competitions. Pep’s City understood that even though his team had dominated England for nearly as long as he had been manager, he needed a striker with the quality of Haaland to cement them as the world’s best team at the present time of writing.

Analysing their continental treble’s:

In order to directly compare the treble seasons of Manchester United and Manchester City, the BBC contrasted goals scored, goals conceded, and win percentage. While I think that there are much simpler and more effective ways of assessing and balancing the different treble seasons, this is certainly interesting to look at and consider. The blue side of Manchester scored 149 goals, conceded just 33, and had a win percentage of 73.3%. On the other hand, Manchester United scored 128 goals, conceded a fair few more at 60, and had a 58.06%-win percentage. Even though the BBC did not provide stats for the Barcelona treble winning team of 2008-9, according to fbref, they scored 105 goals, conceded 35, and had a win percentage of roughly 65%.

As I mentioned earlier, these stats cannot be cited as a major factor in this debate. While they’re helpful, it is imperative to take into account that stats like these can be deceiving and can, in actual fact, instead reflect just how competitive it was in that season when the respective team won the treble. Subsequently, on stats alone, Pep’s City are much further ahead than Fergie’s United or that Barca team from 2008-9, but perhaps the lower stats could be a testament to the merciless and fierce competition they had to overcome in order to achieve a treble, and that could work in each of their favours, hence why it was vital I took a deep dive into each of their journeys to such greatness, to find out this exact fact.

When considering the greatest team in recent history, it is my firm belief that dominance must be a major factor. While Manchester United’s treble win was a fairy tale story and hugely impressive, from what we can see above, they were never completely dominant and relied heavily on a considerable amount of luck. While I understand this is a bit of a cliché, it is undeniably relevant and mirrored in their 60 goals conceded throughout the season, constantly having to come back. Despite the admirable resolve demonstrated throughout their campaign to achieve the continental treble, it is for that reason that I am removing Manchester United.

The exclusion of Manchester United means that it is now a head-to-head between Barcelona and Manchester City. Data published by 90min give us a more detailed look into each of the respective teams and their journey to the treble, specifically there: Champions League record, Top-flight record, and Domestic cup record. In the Champions League, the Blaugrana won seven, drew five, and lost one; in La Liga they won 27, drew six, and lost five; finally, in the Copa Del Rey they won seven, drew two, and lost 0. On the other hand, the Citizens stats were slightly superior, winning seven, drawing five, and losing one in the Champions League; recording 28 wins, five draws, and five losses in the Premier League; and winning all six games in the FA Cup.

Even though Manchester City were statistically better in the league than Barcelona, the Blaugrana in 2008-9 exerted their dominance in far more convincing fashion than Pep’s City in 2022-23. For example, Barca beat seven of the top eight clubs in La Liga by more than three goals, with one of their most famous victories coming away from home against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu when they defeated them in emphatic style 6-2. Meanwhile, City only managed one win against sides in the top nine away from home, which was a 3-1 win at the Emirates. As I stated earlier, dominance will be cited as a major factor in this debate, therefore with regards to their respective seasons in the league, the Blaugrana have the upper hand over City in the debate, largely down to the manner of the results and their dominance over the elite.

However, City’s campaign this season in the Champions League was considerably more impressive than Barcelona’s back in 2008-9. On the road Pep’s City side were ruthless, dismantling every team they came up against with ease. The 8-1 victory over RB Leipzig in the Round of 16 was a statement of intent from Pep that Bayern failed to heed as they destroyed them 4-1 on aggregate. Even when they were drawn against the holders Real Madrid it did not deter them and the Citizens put on one of the most complete performances the competition has ever seen in its history and came against one of the world’s best. Barcelona’s campaign was far less convincing, with them only progressing into the final because of away goals. Subsequently, having analysed this so far, there is very little to separate the pair.

The fact that both sides were managed by Pep Guardiola explain why they are so tactically astute. The fluid, high tempo, tiki tikka football behind the free flowing, attacking front five was first put into action by Pep nearly 15 years ago in the 2008-9 Champions League Final. As a result, the birth of his tactical genius came from his success with this 2008-9 Barca team who deployed his vision incredibly triumphantly. Messi lined up as a false nine and Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets were the glue that held the team together in the middle of the park. Barcelona’s treble winning side were not only the first to play under tactics that would revolutionise football, but also the most effective at it, hence why they were so successful. To put in a cliché, Barcelona walked so Manchester City could run, without this Barcelona side, perhaps the Citizens would not have the same amount of success.

Also, the key players of each team contribute substantially to the dominance of that team and therefore should be analysed. For Barcelona, three players would contribute to over 100 goals, Messi would finish as top scorer with 38 goals in all competitions, meanwhile Eto would follow closely with 36, and Henry would complete the trio with 24 goals. Consequently, the Blaugrana had three players that broke the 25-goal barrier, while only Haaland managed the same achievement for City with an absolutely outstanding 52 goals in 53 games. However, the large gap between Haaland and City’s second top scorer Julien Alvarez, who scored 15 goals, reflects that the Barca team was more of a collective and possibly we can deduce it had a broader spread of quality. This is furthered by the fact that when Haaland was in the midst of a goal draught towards the end of the season, it took club captain Ilkay Gundogan to step up during a string of increasingly unconvincing performances were City just go over the line, for example Manchester United in the FA Cup Final and Inter Milan in the Final of the Champions League. Similarly, injury for Barcelona across the backline saw club captain and legend of Spanish football, Carlos Puyol, step up in a similar fashion to Gundogan and cover a variety of positions. Xavi featured the most under Pep during that season at Barca and produced an incredible 31 assists, while Lionel Messi would win the Ballon Dor in 2009. Consequently, Barcelona’s ability to rely on a whole host of players combined with considering that the majority of these players were at the peak of there powers as professionals, can be cited as contributing to this dominance that would establish them as the world’s best.

Conclusion:

Consequently, having looked at all the evidence and critically evaluated it through an objective lens, I have come to the conclusion that the 2008-9 Barcelona team are the “greatest European team in recent history”. Despite Manchester City displaying some of the most complete performances ever seen in the Champions League, the Catalonians fulfilled the collective nature of a team to a far greater extent than the Citizens, which enabled them to dominate to a greater capacity. In a debate about “the greatest European team in recent history”, it is pivotal to ensure that the word “team” is at the centre of the debate. As I explored earlier, Barcelona’s attacking three contributed to over 100 goals; Xavi and Iniesta were the heartbeat of the team; Puyol played everywhere across the backline; and of course, Messi won the Ballon Dor. On the other hand, while it would be unfair to claim that City in the 2022-23 season were a one-man team, they were heavily reliant on Haaland and spent a large proportion of the first part of the season in transition as they sought to accommodate Haaland. Therefore, factors such as key players, tactical superiority, domestic form, and even their victory in the Champions League final give the Blagurana the edge over City.