Borussia Dortmund 2013

Coach: Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp's high-pressing, high-intensity Borussia Dortmund side reached the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley, an all-German showdown against Bayern Munich, built around Robert Lewandowski leading the line (he scored all four goals in the semi-final first leg against Real Madrid) and Mario Götze supplying creativity just behind him, with Marco Reus, Ilkay Gündoğan and centre-backs Mats Hummels and Neven Subotić giving the side both attacking flair and defensive steel. Dortmund had already won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 playing a brand of vertical, transition-heavy football Klopp termed 'heavy metal football', and the run to Wembley was the natural continuation of that identity on the European stage. The final itself was tight and cagey until Arjen Robben's late winner settled it for Bayern, denying Dortmund the treble their extraordinary campaign had threatened. Both Lewandowski and Götze would leave for Bayern within the following two seasons — a familiar pattern for a club competing against a domestic rival with far greater financial resources — but this squad's Klopp-driven identity became hugely influential on football tactics across Europe throughout the following decade.