Seven dynasties in European football history

European football history has been 147 years since the establishment of the English Football Association (FA) in 1863. During this period, various strong teams have emerged in European leagues, but the exchanges are limited and they are limited to dominating domestic leagues. And they are relatively evenly distributed. For example, in English Football League One: Preston, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, etc. have all won the championship. In La Liga, Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid, and Bilbao have all won the league championship. At that time, Real Madrid had no advantage over the above teams.

However, after World War II, as the situation stabilized and the economy recovered, world football also developed further. Especially in Europe, with the implementation of the Marshall Plan in Europe, the economies of European countries took off. Europe once again became the center of world football, and UEFA established the European Cup, the International Cities Fairs Cup, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1955 and 1960 respectively. Its purpose is to promote the development of international football and the exchange of European leagues, among which the European Cup is regarded as the highest honor.

In the development of European football history, especially in the history of the European Champions League, the team lineup and both offense and defense have shown dominant strength, and have monopolized most of the championships in domestic leagues, cup competitions and European competitions. Such teams are called dynasty teams. Looking at the history of European football, we have counted the following seven dynasty teams.

Real Madrid (1956-1960)

The first dynasty team in European football history and the greatest football club in the world. Real Madrid can have today’s glory, thanks to Di Stefano (Golden Arrow), Puskas (Flying Major), Gento, etc. They have won five consecutive Champions League titles, two league titles, and two runner-ups; their dominance is truly amazing.

The Great International Era (1964-1967)

When talking about the “Great International Era”, we must mention Moratti and the Wizard Herrera. The Wizard Herrera combined the catenaccio of Italian football, especially emphasized the importance of counterattacks, and placed the core of counterattacks and offenses on the wing, relying on Mazzola, Suarez, Facchetti and others to fully play the defensive counterattack tactics. He also engraved the 1:0 doctrine into the team’s bones. As long as the score was 1:0, the team would immediately retreat. In the European Cup final of the 1964-1965 season, Inter Milan defeated Benfica 1:0. This victory officially opened the beginning of the Great International Era.

Ajax (1970-1973)

The success of the Ajax team must be attributed to the tactical master and founder of total football, coach Michels.

Before Michels took over, Ajax was just a weak team that barely managed to avoid relegation. In 1965, 37-year-old Michels took over Ajax and implemented his own tactics on the team. It took two seasons for Ajax’s young team to dethrone Feyenoord and won three consecutive Eredivisie titles from 1966 to 1968, but they repeatedly failed in the European Cup. Then their arch-rival defeated Celtic in the 1969-70 season and won the European Cup first, which deeply hurt Ajax.

However, in the 1970-71 season, Michels’ all-out attack and defense tactics finally reached their peak in Ajax. Finally, Ajax defeated Panathinaikos 2-0 at Wembley Stadium and finally fulfilled their long-cherished wish. The system has been formed, and it is easy to create a dynasty. Although Michels left for Spain, Ajax still achieved the feat of winning the Champions League three times in a row.

Bayern Munich (1974-1976)

How lucky it is to have both “football emperors” Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller. Germany and Bayern Munich have both of them, so it is hard not to succeed. When Cruyff left Ajax in 1973, Ajax’s performance declined. Bayern Munich took over the Champions League throne.

The Germans won three consecutive Champions League titles in a different way from the Dutch. Relying on a central axis, Gerd Muller in the frontcourt, Hoeness in the midfield, Beckenbauer in the backcourt, and goalkeeper Meyer made Europe tremble. The Germans won the final victory with stable defense and strong will.

Liverpool (1976-1985)

It is more like the dynasty of the English League than the dynasty of Liverpool. Seven out of the nine Champions League titles were won by English teams, making the English League One the world’s top league at the time.

Of course, Liverpool is the brightest diamond in the crown. Under the leadership of Shankly and Paisley, Liverpool won four Champions League titles and six league titles in eight years. It cultivated world-class stars such as Kevin Keegan, Dalglish and Ian Rush. At that time, Liverpool was the happiest moment for all Red Army fans. Unfortunately, the Heysel disaster made Liverpool and English football unable to recover until the beginning of the 21st century. It also indirectly created the era of the mini-World Cup in Italy.

AC Milan (1987-1996)

Berlusconi took over AC Milan in 1985, and his investment in AC Milan was even greater than that of Abramovich later. In the three seasons from 1986 to 1988, Berlusconi helped AC Milan bring in Gali, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Ancelotti, Donadoni, and trained Maldini in his youth training camp. After winning the league title in the 1987-88 season, AC Milan reached its peak. In the nine seasons from 1987 to 1996, AC Milan won five league titles, three Champions League titles, and two Champions League runner-ups. The dominance was unprecedented and will be difficult to surpass, especially Capello’s record of 58 consecutive league games unbeaten in Milan, which is estimated to be unbreakable.

Barcelona (2008-2012)

Everyone has heard of the fame of the Cosmos team. The seeds of Michels and Cruyff’s all-out attack and defense blossomed in Barcelona. When Guardiola entered Camp Nou as a young coach, many people probably didn’t think highly of him. However, it was this young coach who Spanishized all-out attack and defense, made more short passes, slowed down the attack rhythm to suit the characteristics of the Spaniards, successfully created the tiki-taka tactics, and cultivated a generation of dual cores for Spain.

08-12 Guardiola’s Barcelona won six titles and five titles, and won 13 titles in four years, sweeping most clubs and monopolizing the European and domestic league titles. The strength of both offense and defense is terrifying.

However, Guardiola was both the cause of his success and his failure. In the 2011-12 season, he experimented with formations in key club matches to solve the team’s tactics of being weak in attack when facing defensive teams. Unfortunately, the reform failed and caused conflicts with the players, and the club’s chairman was re-elected. With Guardiola’s departure from Barcelona, ​​the Dream Three Dynasty also collapsed.

Looking back at the past 100 years of European football, there are still many strong teams. For example, Benfica in the 1960s, Sir Matt Busby’s Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Hamburg in the 1980s, as well as Barcelona from 1990 to 1994, Real Madrid from 1998 to 2003, and Real Madrid from 2014 to 2018. However, in terms of dominance, team stability, and peak combat power, only the seven teams listed above can be called dynasties. For more