With the 2020s beginning at the corner, we look back at the best of the 2010s–and make some tough decisions.
Picking the best teams of the past 10 years is always going to divide opinion. We list 10 teams with the most exciting, inspiring and entertaining football in the last 10 years. Here we go!
10.CLAUDIO RANIERI'S LEICESTER
The underdog story of the decade and the greatest title triumph in English football history. Leicester were among the favourites for relegation when 2015/16 kicked off, only for the unfancied East Midlanders to end the campaign as Premier League champions by a substantial 10-point margin.
Having adopted a you-score-two-we’ll-score-three approach in the early part of the season, Leicester showed superb steel and solidity in the run-in, racking up six wins to nil in their final 10 matches.
Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante were the main men in a terrific counter-attacking team, with the serene but shrewd Ranieri finally able to celebrate a league title as a manager.
9. DIEGO SIMEONE'S ATLETICO MADRID
Atletico Madrid made one of the best decisions in their history towards the start of the decade, appointing Diego Simeone as their new manager in December 2011. The Argentinian promptly won the Europa League, followed by the Copa del Rey a year later and, in 2014, the crowning glory that was the league title.
It’s impossible to overstate the extent to which the odds were stacked against Atletico in 2013/14, by which time the Real Madrid-Barcelona La Liga duopoly had long been established.
Simeone created a well-organised, tactically intelligent unit that benefited from a ferocious team spirit, a combination which proved sufficient to topple the division’s two heavyweights. Atletico also came within seconds of winning the Champions League a few weeks after sealing their La Liga crown, only to lose the Lisbon final to Real Madrid in extra time.
8. JURGEN KLOPP'S LIVERPOOL
Liverpool were in need of a pick-me-up in late 2015, and Klopp was the perfect manager to give them it. His debut campaign at Anfield ended in disappointment as the Reds lost the Europa League final to Sevilla, but despite that defeat it was clear that the German had already begun to get his high-energy, heavy-pressing ideals across.
Fast forward three years and Liverpool had just been crowned champions of Europe for a sixth time, having also reached the previous year’s final against Real Madrid. Klopp now looks set to end the club’s 30-year wait for a league title, and could yet feature in a future Teams of the 2020s list having recently extended his contract until 2024.
7. JOSE MOURINHO'S INTER
Mourinho’s stock has gradually fallen as the decade has progressed, but in 2010 he was Europe’s most in-demand coach after guiding Inter to the greatest season in their history. The Nerazzurri fought off a stiff challenge from Roma to win the Serie A title and beat the same opponents in the final of the Coppa Italia, but it was in Europe where this team attained legendary status.
The Inter of 2009/10 are best remembered for Mourinho’s masterclass against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg, but it would be unfair in the extreme to paint them as a defensive side: Inter produced some tremendous football at times that term, not least in the 3-1 win against Barcelona in the first meeting between the sides. Mourinho signed off with victory over Bayern Munich in the final, earning himself a move to Real Madrid in the process.
6. PEP GUARDIOLA'S MANCHESTER CITY
After an underwhelming debut season in the Premier League, many opined that Guardiola would have to change his ways if he wanted to be a success in England. Instead, the Catalan doubled down and came back stronger, expertly guiding Manchester City throughout a record-shattering campaign in 2017/18.
City won more points, scored more goals and registered a better goal difference than any other team in English top-flight history. They were arguably even better the following year, amassing two fewer points but holding off a phenomenal Liverpool side to retain the trophy.
Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling have all excelled under Guardiola, but the manager has been the foremost figure in City’s recent spell of domestic dominance.
5. LUIS ENRIQUE'S BARCELONA
Barcelona were in trouble midway through the 2014/15 campaign. A 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at the start of January prompted a so-called crisis at the Camp Nou; after beating Atletico Madrid a week later, manager Luis Enrique admitted that adversity would return as soon as they lost another game.
It’s just as well, then, that the Blaugrana lost only twice more all season - and neither proved decisive.
Led by the sensational front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, Barcelona romped home in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, impressively overcoming Manchester City, PSG, Bayern Munich and Juventus on their way to the latter gong.
4. JUPP HEYNCKES' BAYERN MUNICH
Jupp Heynckes’ third spell as Bayern Munich boss got off to an inauspicious start. The Bavarians were beaten on the opening day of the Bundesliga season in 2011/12 and ended the campaign empty-handed, finishing as runners-up in the German top flight, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League.
They went one better in all three competitions the following season, becoming the first German team to complete the treble.
Bayern finished a remarkable 25 points clear of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and beat the same opponents in the Champions League final, having famously crushed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the last four.
3. ZINEDINE ZIDANE'S REAL MADRID
It's hard to argue that Real Madrid were undoubtedly and continually the best team in Europe between 2015/16 and 2017/2018, but the record clearly states that no other side won the Champions League in that three-year period. And while Zidane successfully mould Madrid’s collection of stars into a functioning collective.
Madrid benefited from a settled side throughout this period, as president Florentino Perez reined in his cash-splashing instincts.
Cristiano Ronaldo was patently the standout performer, but Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric were also crucial to los Blancos becoming the first team to win two - let alone three - consecutive Champions Leagues in the competition’s present format.
2. VICENTE DEL BOSQUE'S SPAIN
Other tournament favourites may have panicked after losing their opening World Cup game, but there was no hint of alarm from within the Spain camp following a 1-0 defeat by Switzerland.
Del Bosque’s side continued to practice the patient possession play that had become their hallmark, going on to beat Honduras, Chile, Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and the Netherlands - conceding just one goal along the way - to win the tournament in South Africa.
They followed that up with another triumph at the European Championship two years later. Critics argued that their metronomic passing had become dull and defensive, only for Spain to force them into silence with a 4-0 victory over Italy in the final. Their pool of top-class midfielders - Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas - remains frightening seven years on.
1. PEP GUARDIOLA'S BARCELONA
Guardiola’s Barcelona had already won two La Liga titles and the Champions League by the start of the 2010s, but their best was still to come. The Blaugrana again topped the table in Spain in 2010/11 and were also crowned champions of Europe, beating Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley in what was arguably the greatest performance in a final in the tournament’s history.
Lionel Messi was the side’s standout player but Barcelona’s style was best encapsulated by their midfield trio of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets; all three were academy graduates and all three relied primarily on their technical ability, rather than any physical gifts.
Dani Alves, Gerard Pique and David Villa were also important, while Guardiola’s tactical brilliance and intense personality ensured that Barcelona never let their standards drop. Not just the best team of the decade but a contender for the greatest of all time.