The two sides entering the Metropolitano Stadium on June 1 can legitimately be pinned up against some of the great European sides witnessed during the competition’s rich history.
Ahead of this blockbuster encounter between Tottenham and Liverpoo
Trimming the list down to five is an enormously tricky task and any one of the five picked hold claim to top spot.
But here is our look at the five best European Cup/Champions League sides.
1. REAL MADRID 1959/60
It was a different era and so far in the past when compared to the game today, it seems like a different sport altogether.
Yet, peer down the illustrious list of Real Madrid stars from their five straight European Cup triumphs and time is no detraction.
Paco Gento, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano, Jose Santamaria and Canario are names even Millennials would recognise.
These were the original Galaticos, a side which thumped an impressive Eintracht Frankfurt side 7-3 – a record final scoreline – and one which overwhelmed teams with its aggressive attacking verve.
Indeed, footage of 1959/60 Los Blancos is in black and white, but they coloured Europe with their vibrant flashes and bold 3-2-5 lineup. In seven games, 31 goals were scored, including Di Stefano’s hat-trick and Puskas’ four-goal haul in the final.
They were ahead of their time, creative, flowing and tactically astute. Sir Alex Ferguson was a teenager when he watched on at Hampden Park in the 1960 final, and the beautiful destruction he witnessed formed the foundation of his philosophies as a manager.
2. BARCELONA 2010/11
In the modern era, no team comes close to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
In truth, it’s a contest between his own iterations to decipher which is best because Europe witnessed a dictatorship, as Barca’s possession-based ‘Tika-Taka’ team pressed and oppressed, owning the ball and challengers.
The aim for opponents wasn’t even to score, it was simply to figure out how to be involved. Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi all emerged as the leaders of Guardiola’s seismic revolution, one which changed the face of football.
This philosophy culminated in two Champions League triumphs but given its maturity, the second was most impressive with Manchester United beaten 3-1 in the final, a game which Sir Alex Ferguson remarked: “No one has given us a hiding like Barcelona did.”
3. AC MILAN 1988/89
Art, food, architecture, music, cars and football. Leonardo Da Vinci, Massimo Bottura, Michelangelo, Luciano Pavarotti, Enzo Ferrari and Arrigo Sacchi.
These pillars of Italian culture bare the names of their biggest influencers, football and Sacchi are not out of place here because his Milan were revolutionary.
His team’s philosophies are commonplace in modern football but in the 1980s, Sacchi’s concepts to act, rather than react with an incisive short passing game and a rapid press using 11 active players was almost unstoppable.
In the 1988/89 European Cup semi-final they decimated Real Madrid 5-0 in the second leg with five different goalscorers.
Iconic names, for an iconic game – Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Roberto Donadoni, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten were on the scoresheet.
In the final, the Rossoneri deafened Steaua Bucharest with their powerful songsheet of pressure, position and penetration.
Steaua were semi-finalists a year previous and winners in 1986, but the Romanians were blown away by Van Basten and Gullit.
4. LIVERPOOL 1977/78
A new golden era for English football is on the horizon, yet its period of European dominance from 1977 to 1984 is unlikely to matched this time around.
Liverpool won four of their five European Cups during that time with Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest winners, too. Ony Hamburg in 1983 managed to provide any interruption.
The supremacy was kicked off by Liverpool who became just the second British team to collect the European Cup in 1977, and then the first to retain a year later.
It’s debatable which side was better, but given the perception Bob Paisley would struggle without Kevin Keegan who left in the summer of ’77 to join Hamburg, the second is sweet.
Additions like Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen and Phil Thompson coated Britain’s best ever side. Dalglish’s strike downed Bruge at Wembley as the Reds painted Europe red.
5. BAYERN MUNICH 1973/74
This feature may have been easier had it have been the best era as opposed to single team because narrowing in on a leading side within certain periods is difficult enough.
Bayern Munich add credence to that because in the mid-70s the German giants achieved a hat-trick of European Cups which wasn’t repeated until Real Madrid did so in recent seasons.
Germany’s first ever European Cup win edges it. This Bayern side contained a spine of legends through cat-like goalkeeper Sepp Maier, sweeper Franz Beckenbauer and goal machine Gerd Muller.
Udo Lattek’s iteration was perfectly balanced, organised and well disciplined. They required a replay to secure the title, Schwarzenbeck’s last-minute equaliser in extra-time cancelling out Luis Aragones’ opener for Atletico Madrid in Bursells.
Two days later, Muller and Uli Hoeness grabbed two each as Die Rotten swatted Atletico 4-0 to signal the beginning of their super-power rise.
