Barcelona 2011

Coach: Pep Guardiola

Regularly ranked among the best club sides in football history, Pep Guardiola's 2010-11 Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley to win their fourth European Cup, a rematch of the 2009 final that Guardiola's side won even more emphatically. Lionel Messi scored one of the goals and was at the very peak of an era in which he, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta formed arguably the greatest midfield trio the game has seen, with David Villa and Pedro providing further attacking threat and Gerard Piqué anchoring a defence built on the same possession principles as the rest of the team. Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side had been beaten in the 2009 final too, admitted afterwards that Barcelona had 'mesmerised' his players with their passing, calling them possibly the best team he had ever faced. Xavi's ability to dictate the tempo of a match through short, constant passing, combined with Messi's individual brilliance in the final third, made this Barcelona side a template that coaches across Europe spent the following decade trying to imitate.