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It doesn't seem that long ago when a legendary AC Milan side consisting of the likes of Kaka, Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini took a 3-0 lead in the first half of the Champions League final of 2005, seemingly headed for a predictable and comfortable win, before 3 goals by Liverpool in 6 breathtaking second-half minutes threw the game wide open.
Come to think of it, it wasn't even that long ago when Sir Alex Ferguson led a side of underdog players against the German giants from Munich in the 1999 Champions League final, winning the match in typical fashion with two stoppage-time goals from two substitutes.
We're already almost two decades into the new millennium, and football has changed and evolved a lot. We've seen new technology like VAR and goal-line tech come into existence, and yet, the basic thrill that sport gives us hasn't changed one bit.
As we near the end of another decade, we take a look back at some of the best players to have graced a football pitch. So here's the best XI of the past decade:
Goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer
5 Bundesliga titles, 1 UEFA Champions League title, 1 FIFA World Cup, and 4-time UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year. No real competition on this one.
Neuer joined Bayern at the turn of the decade, signing from Schalke for €22 million in 2011. While he did spend 6 seasons at his boyhood club, it was in Bayern that he truly established himself as the best keeper in the world.
In the six seasons he has spent in Munich, Neuer has given new meaning to the term "sweeper-keeper". Possessing an uncanny calmness on the ball, his natural instincts to push forward when his team was attacking took the spotlight off his incredible reflexes. Over time, it became almost natural to see him near the centre line, picking up opposition clearances.
His recent injuries have severely limited his playing time this season, and has seen the likes of de Gea and ter Stegen challenge him for the title of best goalkeeper in the world. But if you're considering the last 8 years? Absolutely no question.
Defence
Right-back: Dani Alves
Alves might already be 34 and nearing the end of his career, but for what he has achieved at Barcelona, he will go down as one of the best attacking full-backs in history.
He joined Barca for around £23 million in 2008 and went on to win an astounding 23 major honours with the Catalans, 17 of which came in this decade. Not to mention the three trophies he has with Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain since leaving Spain.
When you're a left-back playing in the Spanish top flight, there are few sights more terrifying than Dani Alves dovetailing with Leo Messi and running at you.
His high intensity attacking play was perfectly suited for Pep Guardiola's philosophies at Barca, as the Spanish boss went about building one of the greatest club sides in history. The fact that clubs like PSG and Juventus would have him as a first choice at his age is proof of his class and talent.
Centre-back: Sergio Ramos
Ramos had had one good season with boyhood club Sevilla before Florentino Perez swooped in to make him a Galactico and the most expensive Spanish teenager of all time.
In his 13 seasons at Real Madrid, Ramos has won everything the game has to offer, including the World Cup in 2010 with Spain. Centre-back is one position that Los Blancos have had no problem with, in no short thanks to him.
He's also one of the best goalscoring defenders in the world right now. Last season was his most productive one yet, with his 7 goals in La Liga going a long way in helping Real break Barca's stronghold on the league title.
This season has been a difficult one. With Real struggling for form and lagging 19 points behind Barca, Ramos has probably never faced a more difficult situation in his career at the Bernabeu. But it is under pressure that he performs best, and you can bet your money on him to do his best to revive his team.
Centre-back: Gerard Pique
Pique joined Manchester United even before he went professional, given that Barca's star-studded academy was producing world-class graduates with a lot of competition for first team places.
He eventually ended up making only 12 senior appearances for Alex Ferguson's team, and in what was one of the Scottish tactician's rare errors in judgement, joined Barca for €5 million in 2008. Ever since, he's been the first choice at the back, forming solid partnerships with Puyol and Mascherano.
He recently even extended his contract till 2022, with a buy out clause of €500 million, proving just how much everyone at the club value him. He's won almost every single trophy available at club level, and also the Euros and the World Cup with Spain.
Barca have experienced a few ups and downs in the years following Pep Guardiola's departure, but Pique's commitment and passion for the club have never been in question. While Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi hog the limelight, Pique deserves credit for being just as consistent and dependable for the Blaugrana as they have been.
Left-back: Marcelo
It's not really surprising that most of this team is made of Barcelona and Real Madrid players, considering the duopoly of Spanish dominance they've established in Europe over the years.
In the last decade, Marcelo has been named in the FIFPro World XI 4 times, but interestingly, only once in the La Liga team of the season. Considering Real's domestic struggles before Zidane took over, that shouldn't come as a shock.
But based on performances alone, Marcelo is a cut above the rest. He has everything you would need in your typical left back - pace, dribbling, strength and a sweet left foot. After all, when you have a legacy like that of Roberto Carlos' to fill, you have to pretty good if you're still considered one of the world's best.
In the 12 seasons since he joined Real, he's been so phenomenal that you don't even look beyond him when you think of the best left back in the world. The only ones who come close to him are Jordi Alba and David Alaba, but even they fall short compared to the Brazilian.
Midfield
Left Central Midfield: Andres Iniesta
Iniesta was 26 at the turn of the decade, about to win a World Cup with Spain, and the beating heart of a brilliant Barcelona squad that was built around his creativity, Xavi's reliability and Leo Messi's genius.
He's 33 now, and still the first choice at Barca. He's helped them dominate the La Liga since 2010 in spite of some turbulence - Puyol retired, Xavi left, Pep took a sabbatical, but Iniesta was always there. Alongside Messi, he provided stability and familiarity during a period of time in their history that should have been more difficult than it was.
And he still hasn't lost his magical touch. He recently claimed that new mega money signing Philippe Coutinho wouldn't "kick him out of the team", and he's right. If anyone has the right to make a statement like that, its Iniesta.
With La Masia caught in something of a rut, his importance to the team is only going to increase. The recent lifetime contract means that he won't be leaving anytime soon (not that he would have either way), and it's easy to see him staying on in a coaching role when he retires.
Central Defensive Midfield: Sergio Busquets
The La Masia academy graduate is your typical, world-class midfield enforcer, but he's also a player with extraordinary tactical and technical skills, trained and honed by Pep Guardiola.
One particular quote by Vincente del Bosque completely captures the essence of what Busquets offers -
You watch the game, you don't see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.
Probably one of the most underrated players of his generation, he was the man who anchored the midfield while Xavi and Iniesta worked their creative magic along with Messi higher up the pitch.
While Guardiola's tactics relied heavily on the aforementioned trio for the final output, the Spaniard's tiki-taka style relied heavily on being able to maintain possession, and that is exactly what Busquets has done for Barca since breaking into the first team back in 2008.
During the early part of this decade, his maturity and tactical awareness were mind-blowing for his age, and if anything, he's only improved with time and experience.
Right Central Midfield: Toni Kroos
Kroos broke into Bayern's first team in 2010 after a good loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen. In the four seasons in Munich when he was a regular first-team player, he slowly developed into one of the most promising midfielders in Germany.
He managed to make himself important in a Bayern squad that had the likes of Lahm and Schweinsteiger. He won both the Bundesliga and the Champions League with them, managing to increase his stock day by day.
And then inexplicably, the Germans allowed him to leave for Real Madrid for a paltry €30 million. In Spain, he has become the best deep-lying playmaker in the world. Under Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, he's formed an incredible midfield partnership with Luka Modric that has seen the Los Blancos lift three UEFA Champions League titles in 4 years.
He's also helped his country win the World Cup, and will be a crucial player for them in the upcoming one. At the age of 28, he's relatively young for a player in his position, and will certainly be one of the world's best for the next 4 to 5 years.
Forwards
Left Wing: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo arrived in Madrid in 2009 as a superstar, and went on to conquer European football, breaking almost every goalscoring record on the way.
Ronaldo has been the world's best, not just in the past decade, but ever since Sir Alex Ferguson signed him as a scrawny teenager from Sporting CP. He's gone on to define the prototype of the modern day left winger.
He's been in every single FIFPro World XI since 2010 (though that streak might be ending soon), and there's not really much to say about him that hasn't already been said. To put it simply, Real Madrid wouldn't be what it is today without him.
Even as the signs of his inevitable decline begin to show themselves, he continues to battle it out at the very highest level, proving to fans why he is considered the very personification of hard work.
Real Madrid might be in one of the most difficult periods of time in their history, but one thing's for sure, they can always rely on their record goalscorer to give his 100% every time he steps out on the pitch.
Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
This one's close, with Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski and Neymar being the other contenders. But the outspoken Swede's ridiculous goalscoring record in Italy, France and England is enough to earn him a place here.
Zlatan was on the back of a frustrating and unsatisfying spell with Barca when he joined AC Milan in 2010 for €24 million. With the Italians, he won the Serie A in 2011, the last AC Milan side that won the league before descending into the chaotic mid-table side that it is today.
The inevitable big money move to Paris Saint-Germain followed, where he truly established himself as the best striker in Europe, becoming their all-time top scorer in the process (though he's currently tied with Cavani).
Between 2013 and 2016, he won four consecutive league titles, helping PSG dominate the French league like no other team has ever been able to.
Just when everyone was beginning to write him off at the age of 35, he moved to Manchester United after letting his contract in France run out, and helped them win the League Cup and the Europa League in his first season.
An ACL tear in the second half of the season should have ended his career, but he made a comeback this season, and in spite of some niggling issues with his knee, he's in the running to make a comeback soon.
Right Wing: Lionel Messi
Messi won his second Ballon d'Or in 2010 at the age of 22, by the greatest voting margin in history, kicking off an era of unprecedented global domination alongside Ronaldo.
The decade from 2010 to 2020 will probably forever be remembered for this tussle for supremacy between two of the best players to have ever stepped out on a football pitch. Messi's magic has dazzled us for over 14 years now.
He's had so many landmark personal achievements in the past 8 years that it would be futile trying to list them out. Like Ronaldo, he's been named in every World XI since 2010 (including for 3 years before that), he's won 5 Ballon d'Ors (4 since 2010), and the European Golden Shoe 4 times.
In the calendar year of 2012, he set an incredible record of 91 goals that will probably never be surpassed. In this decade, he's won 19 major honours, though the World Cup still eludes him.
But his mind-blowing hat trick against Ecuador in the final CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifier to seal Argentina's place in Russia showed us that he's capable of deciding matches on his lonesome, and you wouldn't put it past him to repeat the feat for this year's showpiece event.
