It’s almost impossible not to create a biased top 10 best soccer clubs in the world. But judging by the quality of their players, the trophies they’ve won, and simply by their fan base, the following teams tend to impress the most. You also tend to see them on the international scene the most.
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10. Borussia Dortmund
Image: Wikimedia / Werner100359
With a young squad, Borussia Dortmund prides itself as one of the teams that’s not really rich but who’s always playing at a high level, nearly as good as that of the richest soccer clubs. It has very good players and just in the last year, they snatched up Halaand, a player that has all eyes on him. Borussia Dortmund also gave great coaches such as Jurgen Klopp that went on to win the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool.
9. Juventus
The pride of Turin and of Italy, Juventus dominates the Serie A and it has a few Champions League titles under its name. It gave the world players such as Del Piero and it now has Cristiano Ronaldo in the team.
But Juventus also has its dark side with allegations of corruption, bribery, and relegation. However, these stories seem to be in the past now and the club is looking to shine on a European level once again.
8. Chelsea
Chelsea was the first true English club to have used foreign investments smartly. Located in the London borough with the same name, Chelsea FC gave the world great players such as Frank Lampard. It also was the team that fought the most with the biggest traditional rivals, particularly Manchester United and the London-based rivals Arsenal. Chelsea’s future is somewhat uncertain as its owner is banned in the UK, but at the moment, the club still has some top players.
7. Manchester City
Manchester City also used foreign investment for an influx of high-quality players such as Aguero. It now also has a very good coach, no other than Guardiola, the man behind the legendary FC Barcelona team.
Standards are now very high at Manchester City and for the first time in history, they are dominating their arch-rivals Manchester United on every level with the exception of the fanbase.
6. Sevilla
Image: Flickr / Solent Creatives
One of the teams that don’t get sufficient credit is Spain’s FC Sevilla. This is one of the constant teams with excellent performance in the Europa League which it dominates in the past few years. Sevilla can’t pay wages as high as Real Madrid or Barcelona and it can’t keep players of a certain level in the team. But the constant fan support, its presence in a historic city like no other, and the quality of soccer it produces seem to impress even those with more money.
5. Bayern Munich
Image: Flickr / Doha Stadium Plus Qatar
Bayern has always been a big name in soccer ever since the old days of federal Germany. It’s now the most successful German club and one that impresses even when the odds are against it. Some of the greatest soccer matches in history were played by Bayern Munich, such as the legendary 1999 UCL final with Manchester United.
4. Manchester United
Image: Flickr / Paul
Located in Manchester, United is a team that has impressed in the 90’s and a few years into the new millennium. Today, the team is struggling to find its identity and it seems the retirement of Alex Ferguson was too much to handle. The coach led United to many victories and many believed he should have retired quicker until he actually retired.
A line of poor performing coaches is forming in Manchester now and it seems it’s about to end with Ole Gunnar Solkjaer. It’s true that Beckham, Ronaldo, Giggs, or Van Nistelrooy aren’t there anymore. But something has to happen before the team is forever forgotten on an international stage.
3. Liverpool
It took Liverpool a few attempts but it’s finally there, a team to be feared in the UEFA Champions League. With wins over AC Milan in dramatic finals or with sensational come-backs with Barcelona, Liverpool somehow manages to rise again.
The fan support is incredible on Anfield Road and it might be the cause of its success. But Liverpool also seems to go a bit further with a bit less money in terms of transfers potential so the official’s board might be doing something right as well.
2. Real Madrid
The Spanish kings of Madrid or Real Madrid are often the first name that comes to your mind when thinking about the UEFA Champions League. With players such as Roberto Carlos, Raul, Ronaldo, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid seemed to have the best in the world at some point. Things are a bit different now that the likes of Halaand prefer other teams.
Even Ronaldo left for Juventus. But what seems to surprise the most is just how successful its former Ballon d’Or player Zinedine Zidane is as a coach. Maybe he understands Real Madrid a bit better than all other managers before him and maybe he has the flair to bring the club back to European domination.
1. FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona is the team with the most fans around the world. Nearly every child has Barcelona short. Almost every boy dreams of becoming the next Messi. Even those who play against Barcelona simply try to limit the number of goals so they don’t look too bad at the end of 90 minutes.
Some succeed in stopping Barcelona. Others get the famous ‘Manita’(5 goals). What we know as soccer fans are that Barcelona has impacted the soccer world the most over the past couple of decades.
Players such as Messi and Iniesta are often seen as idols here. Their stadium is one of the biggest soccer stadiums in the world. Even the way they promote local players tends to impress. Often caught in the crossfire of political wars of independence of the Catalonia region, FC Barcelona doesn’t speak Spanish, it speaks soccer, a language so many understand around the world. Will it survive past the Messi era? We’ll have to wait to find out.
