Top 5 most dominant teams in Europe at the moment

With the UEFA Champions League round of 16 about to get underway in just under two weeks, the 2017/18 season is heading into its final stretch and while the European competition is wide open, the title races in the top European leagues are pretty much decided.

Except for Napoli in the Serie A, all league leaders are currently 10 or more points ahead of the rest of the pack. If you think this is an indicator of how well contested the Italian league is, you're unfortunately mistaken.

While Napoli and Juventus are only separated by a point at the top of the table, third-placed Lazio are trailing the duo by 10 points. As the title races appear to be decided early in various countries this season, we take a look at the 5 most dominating sides in Europe this season:

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#5 Juventus

Juventus have won the Serie A for six years running

Juventus are the only side to feature in this list who are currently not leading their national league. Napoli has been outstanding so far in the league and have only lost one game so far, but that sole defeat happened to be against Juventus.

While domination would normally mean leading your league, Juventus' superiority over Napoli is shown in the other competitions that both teams entered at the start of the season.

While Juventus has made it to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and more importantly, the last 16 in the UEFA Champions League, Napoli have already been eliminated from both competitions.

The Bianconeri have only lost three matches in the entire season, whereas Napoli have already lost six - most notably, four of those defeats came in their disastrous Champions League campaign.

If Juventus continue to play the way they are at the moment, we might not just see them lift their seventh consecutive Serie A trophy, but also make another deep run into the Champions League knockout phase.

#4 Paris Saint-Germain

PSG are unstoppable in France

This may raise a few eyebrows but PSG only make it to fourth on this list. While the French giants are unstoppable in the Ligue 1, winning 19 of their 23 games, national dominance isn't enough anymore from this point onwards.

PSG probably play in the worst of the top five European leagues and while this shouldn't in any way diminish their accomplishments, they shouldn't be dropping the joint-most points among the league leaders.

PSG may have played more games than the next team on the list, meaning their point per game ratio is currently higher. However, their most recent showing in the Champions League did show that the French outfit may be slacking off a little.

Being the most dominant team in an arguably 'easy' league comes along with the significant disadvantage of not knowing where you currently stand among Europe's best.

Without being disrespectful, having your most important games of the season against Lyon and Monaco is completely different from competing against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at a national level.

#3 Bayern Munich

Jupp Heynckes is completely in control of his team

Bayern's consistency at the top of German football is remarkable. However, it's their never-ending desire to become the best team in Europe that makes the club such a strong force. After a 'terrible' start to the season, winning just four of their seven league games and losing 3-0 to PSG, Carlo Ancelotti was sacked and the Bavarians brought in their triple-winning manager Jupp Heynckes.

What followed was the resurgence of the German powerhouse, that has been ensuring that the Bundesliga title race ends in March or April, and not in May for the last couple of years. Bayern currently lead the Bundesliga by 16 points, the largest margin in any of the top five European leagues, and looking at their track-record, that lead will only continue to increase.

The fact that they have lost more games than the remaining two teams, despite their league being significantly less competitive, prevents Bayern from being higher up in this list.

However, their revival under Heynckes, who has won 18 of his 19 games in charge, and their convincing 3-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the return leg of the Champions League just give them the edge over their French counterpart.

#2 Manchester City

Guardiola has worked wonders at the Etihad

What Pep Guardiola has done at Manchester City is truly remarkable. He has taken a club that was struggling to take the next step and has forged it into one of the most dominant sides in Premier League history.

The most astonishing thing about Guardiola's reign at the Etihad, is that he has managed to introduce his possession-based style of play into a league where many of his critics said it wouldn't be possible.

Within less than two seasons, the Spaniard has turned the blue half of Manchester into a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is uncontested in its quest for the title.

The Citizens have only lost two games in this entire season and one of those defeats came in a meaningless Champions League match against Shakhtar Donezk. However, two losses are one too many to be at the top of this list.

Despite sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League and dominating their Champions League group in a similar fashion, there is one team that is having an even more incredible campaign than the Sky Blues.

#1 Barcelona

Barcelona are currently the most dominant team in Europe

A lot had been said about whether Barcelona were on the decline, when Ernesto Valverde was appointed as their new manager and the Catalans have proved everybody wrong by putting in one of the most impressive campaigns in recent history, so far.

Barcelona hasn't lost a single match in their domestic league and have refused to do so in the Champions League as well. Their only loss of the season was in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final with local rivals Espanyol, a minor hiccup that they corrected in the second leg.

Ironically, the loss came when Barcelona rested almost all of their first-team players, meaning that their full-strength line-up is still unbeaten this season.

While Lionel Messi is back to his brilliant best, it's the team's defensive record that should really strike fear into their opponents' eyes. Barcelona have only conceded 10 goals this season, meaning that they have obviously fixed what many people thought was their Achilles' heel.

It will take a lot to beat Valverde's team this season, particularly in Europe where it will have to be done over the course of two legs. The Blaugrana look absolutely unstoppable at the moment and rightfully deserve their spot as Europe's most dominant team.