Which European clubs have won the most trophies in a single decade?
When Barcelona beat River Plate 3-0 in the final to clinch their third Club World Cup title, they created history by becoming the team to win the most trophies in a span of 10 consecutive years. They had also equalled the record for the most international trophies won in the history of club football in the world.
Since the Catalan club lifted the Champions League title in 2006, they have gone on to lift a total of 24 trophies in the 10-year period since. The incredible trophy haul includes an astonishing 4 UEFA Champions League titles, 3 Club World Cups, 6 La Liga titles. 3 Copa del Rey trophies, 5 Spanish Super Cups and 3 UEFA Super Cups!
Their biggest trophy haul came in 2009 under Pep Guardiola when they won the sextuple in his very first season in charge. Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey in the 2008/09 season and followed it up with the UEFA Super Cup, Supercopa de Espana and FIFA Club World Cup. Guardiola would win 14 trophies with Barcelona in four seasons having won more than 72% of the matches he took charge.
Previously, Liverpool held the title for most trophies in a decade with 23 trophies between 1977 and 1986. In this period, the Anfield club won 7 First Division titles, 4 Champions League titles, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cups, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Football League Super Cup (organised only in 1986) and 5 Community Shields.
The man in charge of the Reds for majority of that period was Bob Paisley who managed close to 600 games and had a win percentage of 65.4% – the best ever record for a Liverpool manager.
Manchester United had two periods of dominance between 1990 to 1999 and 2004 to 2013 – both orchestrated by Sir Alex Ferguson. The two eras (19 and 16 trophies respectively) just proves how successful the Scot was in building teams and winning titles.
What is more remarkable is that Barcelona appear thrice on the list of top 10 teams to have dominated over a decade. The Catalan club won 17 titles in the ‘90s and 14 titles in the ‘50s. Real Madrid appear twice, too, with their dominance from 1955 to 1964 and 1984 to 1993. The two Milan-based clubs, AC Milan and Internazionale also make the list with 17 and 15 trophies respectively.
| # | CLUB | DECADE | TROPHIES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 2006 – 2015 | 24 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 1977 – 1986 | 23 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 1997 – 2006 | 19 |
| Manchester United | 1990 – 1999 | 19 | |
| 5 | Barcelona | 1990 – 1999 | 17 |
| AC Milan | 1987 – 1996 | 17 | |
| 7 | Real Madrid | 1955 – 1964 | 16 |
| Manchester United | 2004 – 2013 | 16 | |
| 9 | Inter Milan | 2002 – 2011 | 15 |
| 10 | Real Madrid | 1984 – 1993 | 14 |
| Barcelona | 1951 – 1960 | 14 |