Ajax 1995

Coach: Louis van Gaal

Louis van Gaal's Ajax side that won the 1995 Champions League is still held up as the standard for what a club's own academy can produce: Edwin van der Sar in goal, Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer and his twin brother Ronald, Danny Blind and Edgar Davids across the back and midfield, with Clarence Seedorf, Finidi George and a teenage Patrick Kluivert coming off the bench to provide the attacking spark. In the final against holders Milan in Vienna, van Gaal turned to his bench with the game goalless, and Kluivert scored the only goal with a composed finish that won Ajax their fourth European Cup. What made the achievement remarkable wasn't just the result but the age of the squad; several of these players were teenagers or barely into their twenties, developed almost entirely through Ajax's own youth system rather than assembled through transfer fees. The squad reached the final again the following year, losing on penalties to Juventus, but within a couple of seasons the core had been sold off piece by piece to Europe's richest clubs — the last time a team built primarily on homegrown talent won the competition.