Ajax are a European superpower who have in recent years been hamstrung and left behind by the TV money brought in by the top leagues.
People want to see Ajax back amongst the top teams and are rooting for them to return to what they once were. Villarreal and others are good underdog stories, but nobody really thinks it’s possible for them to be at the top table of European football.
Got to be Totti.
The others didn’t really sacrifice anything as world class players being at top level clubs. Totti sacrificed a club career at the very very top to stay at Roma, who while a good club were not going to challenge for the UCL or that many Serie A titles.
Pirlo was an incredible player and easier on the eye, but Xavi was a better all round player.
He was the player that dictated the two greatest teams of a generation. Most time on the ball, touches and passes every game for the most possession dominant team in history. His stats for passing, accuracy, through balls, goal contributions etc are still way out in front of any deep lying playmaker to this day. He did it in a better league and consistently at a higher level in the CL than Pirlo.
The fact this is even a question shows how truly underappreciated Xavi still is.
Got to be Barca.
Madrid went all in on European level competition, and yeah they’ve got one more European Cup in that time, but Barca have a good amount of European success and have basically dominated La Liga for 20 years.
Steve Clarke’s terrorball shows no mercy.