Eight teams have completed a clean sweep of domestic and European silverware in the last 34 years, but which stands out as the best?
At long last, Paris Saint-Germain have got their hands on the Champions League trophy after demolishing Italian giants Inter 5-0 in the 2025 final at the Allianz Arena. The first European crown in PSG's entire history capped a remarkable season that also saw Luis Enrique's side romp to the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France as they joined a very exclusive club.
PSG are only the eighth team to have won the treble since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1991. Luis Enrique also achieved the feat at Barcelona in 2014-15, which puts him alongside Pep Guardiola, who is the only other manager to deliver the three biggest trophies on offer in a single season for two different clubs (at Barcelona in 2008-09 and Manchester City in 2022-23).
Elsewhere, Sir Alex Ferguson became the first modern-day coach to achieve the feat at Manchester United in 1998-99, Jose Mourinho defied all the odds at Inter in 2009-10, and Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick both became immortals at Bayern Munich (in 2012-13 and 2019-20, respectively). There have been plenty of other great Champions League-winning teams, but these eight sit in a class of their own for showing such incredible consistency across all of the major competitions.
GOAL has attempted to rank the holy octet below, and the comments section is now open… let the debate begin!
AFP8Inter (2009-10)
Jose Mourinho's second season at Inter was arguably his last truly great season as a manager, and perhaps the finest one of his entire career. The Portuguese delivered the Scudetto in his first year at San Siro, but the summer additions of Samuel Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito and Lucio took the Nerazzurri to a whole new level.
Inter were pushed all the way in the Serie A title race by Roma, but pipped them to the post by two points after Milito's final-day winner against Siena, and finished with the best attacking and defensive records in the division. Mourinho's side also beat Roma 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final, courtesy of more heroics from Milito, who would incredibly also prove to be the hero in the Champions League showpiece.
Inter saw off Chelsea and CSKA Moscow before pulling off an upset for the ages against Barcelona in the semi-finals, progressing after a 1-0 loss at Camp Nou that Mourinho called "the most beautiful defeat of my life", because it wasn't enough for the Blaugrana to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg. Another counter-attacking masterclass would come in the final as a Milito brace fired Inter to a 2-0 win against Bayern Munich.
It wasn't always pretty, but each and every member of the dressing room was willing to run through a brick wall for Mourinho, and that team spirit gave Inter the edge in all of the biggest games.
AdvertisementAFP7Bayern Munich (2019-20)
Bayern's 2019-20 season did not start well, with Niko Kovac losing his job at the start of November after a chastening 5-1 Bundesliga defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. Hansi Flick was the man tasked with lifting a Bayern team that had fallen to fourth in the table, and though he would lose two of his first four league games in charge, he soon transformed the team into an unstoppable winning machine.
With 18 wins from their final 19 games, Bayern romped to the title, finishing 13 points clear of arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund. They also downed Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in the DFB-Pokal final to complete a domestic double, but that wasn't much of a surprise considering they had managed the same feat in 2018-19.
Bayern had pulled so far ahead of the rest in German football that they were being judged mainly on their Champions League exploits. Flick's men had to win the competition to silence those who doubted their overall quality, and they did so in emphatic fashion, winning all of their games (albeit while benefiting from UEFA temporarily scrapping two-legged knockout ties due to Covid-19 pandemic).
After dispatching Chelsea 7-1 on aggregate before that change, Bayern absolutely battered Barcelona into submission with an 8-2 win in the quarter-finals, and then saw off Lyon and PSG to lift the trophy. Flick's direct, high-intensity style of play made Bayern the footballing equivalent of a bulldozer, and Robert Lewandowski served as the wrecking ball with a staggering 55 goals across all competitions.
Getty 6Manchester City (2022-23)
Man City became the most dominant team in England after Pep Guardiola arrived in 2016, but for so long Champions League success remained elusive. Monaco, Liverpool, Tottenham and Lyon all ended City's European dreams before they suffered a heart-breaking defeat to Chelsea in the 2021 final and an agonising semi-final loss to Real Madrid the following year, leaving many fans wondering if they were under some kind of curse.
That was lifted in 2022-23, though, with Erling Haaland proving to be the final piece of the puzzle after his transfer from Dortmund. The Norwegian terminator plundered 52 goals in his debut campaign at the Etihad, including 12 in the Champions League, with City blitzing past RB Leipzig and Bayern before exacting revenge on Madrid in the last four and edging out Inter 1-0 in the final.
As a result of their European exertions, City were not always at their best domestically, but they clicked into top gear down the home straight with 11 wins on the bounce to secure a third-successive Premier League title with three games to spare. Guardiola's all-conquering team also conceded just one goal en route to winning the FA Cup, and completely outclassed neighbours Manchester United in the final.
City's domestic procession was too predictable for them to be any higher on this list, but they were undeniably one of the most complete sides of all time. Haaland wasn't the only one to deliver, as Kevin De Bruyne reached the pinnacle of his playmaking abilities, Rodri ran the show in a deeper role, Ruben Dias was colossal at the back and Rico Lewis and John Stones both shone in hybrid midfield roles, with Guardiola once again leading the way as a tactical innovator.
AFP5Paris Saint-Germain (2024-25)
Let's get this harsh truth out of the way first: PSG are by far and away the best team in the worst of Europe's top five divisions. Ligue 1's status as a 'farmer's league' was cemented this term as Luis Enrique's side finished 19 points clear of second-placed Marseille with a +57 goal difference and only two losses on their record.
It was practically a certainty that PSG would be crowned champions again, and retain the Coupe de France, which they achieved via a comfortable final win against Reims. There's no doubt that the competitiveness in the French top-flight has suffered since the Qatari takeover at PSG some 14 years ago, but that fact will be put to one side for a while longer after their spectacular run in the Champions League.
PSG became only the second French club to ever win the trophy, and the manner in which they dismantled Inter was nothing short of breath-taking. Simone Inzaghi's team couldn't lay a glove on PSG, who were also single-handedly responsible for busting the myth that the Premier League has become too powerful after overcoming Man City, Liverpool, Aston Villa Arsenal in the earlier rounds.
Luis Enrique created a special team after losing Kylian Mbappe, with Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Willian Pacho and Khivicha Kvaratskhelia all proving to be incredible signings while the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi and Gianluigi Donnarumma have taken their respective games to new levels. Ligue 1's failings should not count against this ruthless, swashbuckling version of PSG, who can outplay and outwork any team.
