Everybody knows the G-14: The 14 or so most powerful clubs in Europe, but who really are the best clubs in Europe? You couldn't just look at 1 or 2 years. 5 years is a trend, and a good start, but I decided to go with 10 years. I figured that competing against each other meant most when factoring these choices, so I looked at European competitions, but knockout competitions are never a real determining factor when weighed against a long season, so I looked at average points per season over those years and I had to make tough choices. I valued momentum. I valued stability: other than one exception I didn't believe that spending a significant amount of time in the second division gave you the right to brag about being top of the heap. So here's my list. 1. Manchester United: 2. Real Madrid: 3. Barcelona 4. Chelsea 5. Bayern Munich 6. Arsenal 7. AC Milan 8. Liverpool 9. Valencia 10. Juventus 11. Inter Milan 12. Lyon 13. AS Roma 14. Bayer Leverkeusen Some observations: Dominance domestically gives United the top spot, and that 1999 season cements it. Chelsea was a surprising pick, but factor in those two monster years that upped their average tally per season, plus their cup record and I picked them fourth over Bayern and Arsenal. Momentum is important: both Munich and my Gunners are years removed from glory. Over 10 years in Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid are level in points separated by decimal points. Overall European victories give Madrid the edge, despite Barcelona's edge in the cup competitions. I knew Liverpool had never won the Premiership and so they were very much a European cup-centric side, but I had no idea how poor AC Milan had been domestically over that span despite their 2 Champions League titles, so I couldn't move them past any of the top 6. I hated putting Juventus in the mix but Europe is not something that Luciano Moggi had much control of but I docked them places nonetheless. Opinions? What's do you think?
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