AC Milan 2007

Coach: Carlo Ancelotti

Two years after the trauma of Istanbul, Carlo Ancelotti brought largely the same Milan spine back to a Champions League final against the same opponent, Liverpool, this time in Athens — and won 2-1 thanks to two goals from poacher Filippo Inzaghi, the second via a deflection he later joked he 'didn't even try to control'. It capped an extraordinary individual season for Kaká, who scored ten goals in the competition, including a stunning solo run from inside his own half against Manchester United in the semi-final, and was crowned FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or winner in 2007. The rest of the squad had aged from the Istanbul campaign but remained formidable: Dida behind a defence anchored by Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini nearing the end of his career, with Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo still the engine room. It was Milan's seventh European Cup, second only to Real Madrid's all-time tally, and gave Ancelotti his second continental title in three seasons in charge, cementing his reputation as one of the finest big-game coaches of his generation.