Barcelona 1994

Coach: Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff's 'Dream Team' won a fourth consecutive La Liga title in 1993-94, the peak of a Barcelona side built around Cruyff's possession-based footballing philosophy that would go on to shape the club's identity for decades afterward — Pep Guardiola, then a young defensive midfielder, was among the key players learning directly from Cruyff on the training pitch. Hristo Stoichkov provided the goals, Romário arrived that season as a new attacking focal point, and Ronald Koeman's free-kicks and long-range shooting from centre-back were a recurring weapon. The Champions League final in Athens, however, turned into one of the most one-sided results in the competition's history: Milan, without the suspended Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta, routed Barcelona 4-0, with Daniele Massaro scoring twice and Dejan Savićević and Marcel Desailly adding further goals in a devastating display of counter-attacking football. The gulf between the sides shocked observers given Barcelona's domestic dominance that season, and remains a cautionary tale often cited about the difference between winning a title through attacking flair and surviving the tactical rigour of a European final against a well-drilled opponent.