5 clubs that are 'too good' for their leagues and a cut above their competitors

Juventus v Hellas Verona FC - Serie A
Juventus won their 7th consecutive Serie A title this season

The best thing about European football is that, all teams get to play each other twice a season in a Round-Robin tournament format. It makes sure all teams had equal and fair chances to win the league. And it also provides us fans with some unforgettable moments and exciting fixtures, which otherwise wouldn't be possible. Sounds great, right? But this format works especially well for the stronger teams and it's anyone's guess that in fixtures between the reigning champions and newly promoted team, whose odds are better.

It is observed that whenever big money takeover of a club takes place and everyone form players to managers to even medics get replaced league success is expected. This investment in training and hiring the best in the profession yields huge dividends. Also it keeps the fans happy.

But money does not always bring success, the quality of their academy and making the most of transfers also counts. Whatever be the reason, huge investments, high quality youth academy or sublime management by the coach, some teams are just so strong that fans and pundits alike declare them champions even before the season starts.

Here we will be looking at 5 teams who have absolutely dominated their leagues in recent years.

5. PSV Eindhoven

PSV v FC BATE Borisov - UEFA Champions League
PSV are unbeaten in their last four Eredivisie matches

The Philips Sport Vereniging, abbreviated as PSV and known as PSV Eindhoven is a football club based out of Eindhoven and competes in the Eredivisie, which is the First Division football league of The Netherlands.

This club has had in its ranks world class talents like Ronaldo, Romario, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman, Arjen Robben and recently the Mexican Sensation 'Chucky' Hirving Lozano.

Since the beginning of the century this team has won nine out of the 18 seasons of the Dutch league, and in all has won it 24 times, just behind another Dutch powerhouse Ajax, with 33 titles. But the reason we are looking at PSV is that it has won most of these titles recently, including seven Johan Cruyff Shields along with the seven titles last decade and even now it is sitting at the top of this year's Eredivisie table.

Currently managed by a former PSV star Mark van Bommel, they have started this season strong with four wins in four and are already a favorite to win the league. Let's hope their tough group draw in UEFA Champions league in Group B , which includes Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona and Inter Milan doesn't affect their domestic dominance.

4. SL Benfica

Benfica v Fenerbache - UEFA Champions League Qualifier
SL Benfica are currently on Top of Liga NOS table

Honestly most of us know about the Águias (Eagles), as known popularly in Portugal, which is a Lisbon based football team, because of the players of top quality they have sold over the years than their domestic performances. Well, if a teams sells players like, Ederson, Jan Oblak, David Luiz, Lindelof, Matic, Bernardo Silva, Di Maria and many more over the last decade, it will surely make some heads turn.

The Águias have a rich history and are the most successful team in Liga NOS, winning the title 36 titles. The team which was once the home club of Portugese great and Ballon d'Or winner Eusébio, won the league four times consecutively before loosing the titles to rivals Porto last season by 7 points.

The club is not only a consistent performer in domestic league, but is also the most successful club in domestic cup, with 26 titles. Also it holds the distinction of being the club with second highest appearance in UEFA Champions League, behind Real Madrid.

Though they lost out to Porto last season, expectations are always high from a club of such high quality and currently being on top of the table in the league they remain a favorite.

3. Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint Germain v Club Atletico de Madrid - International Champions Cup 2018
PSG have completed quadraple of French domestic football on 3 different occasions

There may not be a single football fan in the world who doesn't know about PSG now. 10-15 years ago things would've been difficult. But ever since PSG announced themselves on the world stage and made a statement by signing Brazillian superstar Neymar for a world record, whopping $263 million fee, it has been hard to ignore them.

The statistics lay bare the story of their dominance. Winning five out of the last six league titles, winning four consecutive French cups, winning last five league cups and supercups, it is no doubt they really are way too good for the Ligue 1. Six of the last seven top scorers have been from this club and with the signings of Neymar and World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, future golden boot winners might as well be from this team only.

Everything is going well for the Qatar Sports Investment-backed team, only European success evades them. With the kind of opposition they face league matches can be won with minimum effort and more focus should be given to UEFA Champions League fixtures. With so much quality in their team and a smart manager in Thomas Tuchel, they should achieve same success at the European stage, sooner or later.

2. Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Muenchen And Paulaner Photo Session
FC Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga more timess than any other German club in history

This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning FC Bayern Munich. A team full of superstars, young talents and of course World Champions (and some Dortmund players too).

Bayern have won the Bundesliga a record 28 times, including the six back to back titles won recently. The German champions are definitely a cut above the rest. A simple look at their squad will let us know why.

The players at the club currently include - Manual Neuer, Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Mats Hummels, recent World Cup winner Corentin Tolliso, James Rodriguez to name a few. With such a star studded line-up, it is not difficult to see why they have been so difficult to remove from the top spot.

They are absolutely dominant in domestic football, not only have they won 28 league titles, but 18 DFB-Pokal cups and 7 DFB Supercups (three years running), that makes a total of 25 domestic titles in last 10 years! Crazy, right.

New manager Niko Kovac would want to continue this domestic dominance and also want a double, which they missed out on last two occasions, if not a treble in his first season in charge as a manager.

1. Juventus

Juventus v Juventus U19 - Pre-Season Friendly
Juventus have won more domestic Italian titles than any other Italian club

The Old Lady, a club from Turin in Italy and a true piece of Italian masterclass. The team which went unbeaten in the 2011-12 season of Serie A are the most decorated club in Italian football history. As of now they have four unprecedented back to back doubles, winning the league title and the Coppa Italia together 4 years in a row.

Looking at the record it is obvious, which club is the boss of them all in Italy. Juventus, with seven back to back Serie A titles and a record 34 in total and four back to back Coppa Italia, 13 in total, since the turn of the century the Bianconeri have won 19 major titles, not counting the two league titles revoked because of the Calciopoli scandal of 2006 that rocked Italian football and world football as a whole.

With the recent signing of 5-time Ballon d'Or award winner Ronaldo, the intentions are clear. Juventus will only want to add to their domestic titles tally and who knows might conquer the evasive UEFA Champions league trophy this season. If there were any doubts regarding The Old Lady's ability to maintain their grasp on the Scudetto, after a close call last season, signing arguably one of the greatest footballers of all time should be able to clear them all.

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Edited by Emeka Monyei
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