10 most successful football clubs in Europe

The center of attention and attraction of world football has slowly shifted to club football in England and Spain with teams like Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal etc. grabbing most of the headlines in sports pages across the planet. The English and Spanish leagues are the most popular leagues among football fans with Italy and Germany falling well behind over the years. Barcelona and United, with their recent success rate, might be considered the top teams in the world right now, but they are not actually the most successful clubs around.

Before I am bombarded with hate and demeaning mails and comments by passionate supporters, I might need to clarify- Success here implies the total no. of trophies won by a club since it was founded and only major domestic, European and international titles are being considered. And I do understand that the standard of the leagues and level of competition might differ from country to country, but we are only talking about clubs with the most amount of silverware in their trophy cabinets.

1) Rangers (Scotland)- 115 trophies

Domestic honours

Scottish League Championships: 54Scottish Cup: 33Scottish League Cup: 27

European honours

UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: One

2) Celtic (Scotland)- 92 trophies

Domestic honours

Scottish League Championships: 42Scottish Cup: 35Scottish League Cup: 14

European honours

European Cup: One

3) Real Madrid (Spain)- 74 trophies

Domestic honours:

La Liga – 31Copa del Rey – 18League Cup – OneSpanish Super Cup – Nine

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – NineUEFA Cup/Europa League – TwoUEFA Super Cup – One

International honours

Intercontinental Cup – Three

4) Barcelona (Spain)- 74 trophies

Domestic honours:

La Liga – 21Copa Del Rey – 25League Cup – TwoSpanish Super Cup – 13

European honours:

European Cup/Champions League – FourCup Winners’ Cup – FourUEFA Super Cup – Four

International honours:

FIFA Club World Cup – One

5) Porto (Portugal)- 70 trophies

Domestic honours

Portuguese League – 25Portuguese Cup – 20Portuguese Super Cup – 18

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – TwoUEFA Cup/Europa League – TwoUEFA Super Cup – One

International honours

Intercontinental Cup – Two

6) Benfica (Portugal)- 68 trophies

Domestic honours

Primeira Liga- 32Portuguese Cup- 27League Cup- ThreePortuguese Super Cup- Four

European honours

European Cup/Champions League- Two

7) Ajax (Holland)- 65 trophies

Domestic Honours

Eredivise – 30Dutch Cup – 18Johan Cruyff Shield – Seven

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – FourCup Winners’ Cup – OneUEFA Cup/Europa League – OneUEFA Super Cup – Two

International honours

Intercontinental Cup – Two

8) Manchester United (England)- 60 trophies

Domestic honours

First Division/Premier League – 19FA Cup – 11League Cup – FourCommunity Shield – 19

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – ThreeCup Winners’ Cup – OneUEFA Super Cup – One

International honours

Intercontinental Cup – OneClub World Cup – One

9) Liverpool (England)- 58 trophies

Domestic honours

First Division/Premier League – 18FA Cup – SevenLeague Cup – SevenCharity/Comunity Shield – 15

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – FiveUEFA Cup/Europa League – ThreeUEFA Super Cup – Three

10) Bayern Munich (German)- 55 trophies

Domestic honours

Bundesliga – 22German Cup – 15League Cup – SixGerman Super Cup – Four

European honours

European Cup/Champions League – FourCup Winners’ Cup – OneUEFA Cup/Europa League – One

International honours

Intercontinental Cup – Two

Conspicuous by their absence- Juventus (50), AC Milan (47 trophies), PSV Eindhoven (39), Arsenal (38), Manchester City (13)

Other surprise names- Levski Sofia (55), Steaua Bucharest (52), Red Star Belgrade (50)