The Greatest Champions League Teams of All Time

Here are eight teams that settled the argument, at least for one season. Every one of them lives in the Drafted squad database, which means every player below can turn up in your draft.

Ajax 1994-95: the kids who conquered Europe

Louis van Gaal's Ajax remain the romantic's answer. A team built almost entirely from the club's own academy — Seedorf, Davids, Kluivert, the De Boer twins, all barely out of their teens, guided by the veteran Frank Rijkaard — went the entire Eredivisie season unbeaten and carried that swagger into Europe. They faced the reigning champions AC Milan three times that campaign and beat them three times without conceding, the last of them in the final itself, where an 18-year-old Kluivert came off the bench to score the only goal. No team has made winning the biggest prize look so young since. Explore the Ajax 1994-95 squad →

AC Milan 2006-07: revenge under the lights

Two years after the heartbreak of Istanbul, Carlo Ancelotti's Milan met Liverpool in the final again — and this time finished the job, 2-1, through a Filippo Inzaghi double. It was the last stand of a magnificent generation: Maldini marshalling the defence in his late thirties, Pirlo conducting from deep, and Kaká at the absolute peak of his powers, tearing through Manchester United in the semi-finals on his way to the Ballon d'Or. An ageing team, a timeless triumph. Explore the AC Milan 2006-07 squad →

Manchester United 2007-08: Ronaldo's coronation

Sir Alex Ferguson's third great United side won the club's third European Cup on a rain-soaked night in Moscow, beating Chelsea on penalties after John Terry's slip. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions that season and headed United in front in the final; around him, Rooney, Tevez, Scholes and a defence built on Vidić and Ferdinand made United champions of England and Europe in the same spring. Explore the Manchester United 2007-08 squad →

Inter Milan 2009-10: Mourinho's masterpiece

Nobody has made pragmatism look this glorious. José Mourinho's Inter knocked out Guardiola's Barcelona in a semi-final remembered for one of the great defensive stands, then suffocated Bayern Munich in the final, winning 2-0 through Diego Milito's double. It completed the first treble in Italian football history — and Mourinho left the Bernabéu pitch that night having built a side whose collective will outweighed any individual star. Explore the Inter Milan 2009-10 squad →

Barcelona 2010-11: the high-water mark

Guardiola's Barcelona had already won the trophy in 2009 with the treble-winning side, but the 2011 vintage is the one managers still show their players. The 3-1 dismantling of Manchester United at Wembley — Messi, Xavi and Iniesta passing an elite opponent into submission — is routinely called the finest final performance ever given. Even Ferguson conceded no one had ever beaten his teams like that. This was tiki-taka at its absolute zenith. Explore the Barcelona 2010-11 squad →

Bayern Munich 2012-13: the machine

Jupp Heynckes' Bayern turned an entire continent into a training exercise. They demolished Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals, then edged Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the first all-German final, Arjen Robben scoring the winner in the 89th minute to exorcise his ghosts. A treble followed — and the frightening part is that this team was arguably at its most ruthless away from home. Explore the Bayern Munich 2012-13 squad →

Real Madrid 2016-17: the middle act of the three-peat

Zidane's Madrid did something the Champions League era had never seen: they retained the trophy, then won it again. The 2016-17 side was the best of the three — La Liga champions, 4-1 winners over Juventus in the final, with Ronaldo scoring twice in Cardiff and the BBC front line in full flow ahead of Modrić and Kroos. Winning this competition once takes a great team. Winning it three years running took this one. Explore the Real Madrid 2016-17 squad →

Manchester City 2022-23: the inevitable

After years of near-misses, Guardiola's City completed the set — Premier League, FA Cup and, at last, the Champions League, sealed by Rodri's strike against Inter in Istanbul. Haaland's 52-goal debut season, De Bruyne's vision and a John Stones hybrid role nobody had a name for yet made City the first English treble winners since 1999. It felt less like a triumph than a conclusion: the best team in the world, finally holding the proof. Explore the Manchester City 2022-23 squad →

Settle it yourself

Eight teams, eight arguments. The only honest way to compare them is to put their players on the same pitch — draft your own XI from these squads and see how far it takes you through the league phase, the knockouts and a final under the lights.