Looking at the winners of the European Champions' Cup, I came up with the following idea. One could say that roughly you get four eras: 1956-1966, 1967-1977, 1978-1988 and 1989-1999. If you pick exactly one player from each year of each era (out of the sides that won the European Cup), you end up with 11 players for each era, which would form a representative lineup for that respective era. Afterwards one could compare the four lineups to decide which one looked the strongest and which the weakest. I already came up with my 11 for each era, and it's not as easy as you might think, especially if you do it from memory w/o looking up the lineups somewhere.
My picks: 1955/6 - 1965/6 Jose Araquistain (Real Madrid 1966) ---------------------------------- Jose Santamaria (Real Madrid 1959) Giacinto Facchetti (Inter 1964) ---------------------------------- Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid 1957) Gianni Rivera (Milan 1963) Sandro Mazzola (Inter 1965) ---------------------------------- Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid 1956) Francisco Gento (Real Madrid 1958) Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid 1960) Mario Coluna (Benfica 1961) Eusebio (Benfica 1962) 1966/7 - 1976/7 Sepp Maier (Bayern 1976) ---------------------------------- Tommy Gemmel (Celtic 1967) Barry Hulshoff (Ajax 1973) Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern 1974) Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (Milan 1969) ---------------------------------- Wim van Hanegem (Feyenoord 1970) Johan Neeskens (Ajax 1972) Johan Crujif (Ajax 1971) ---------------------------------- George Best (Man Utd 1968) Gerd Muller (Bayern 1975) Kevin Keegan (Liverpool 1977) 1977/8 - 1987/8 Peter Shilton (Not. Forrest 1980) ---------------------------------- Viv Anderson (Not. Forrest 1979) Alan Hansen (Liverpool 1978) Miodrag Belodedici (Steaua 1986) Joao Pinto (Porto 1987) --------------------------------- Dennis Mortimer (Aston Villa 1982) Graeme Souness (Liverpool 1981) Michel Platini (Juventus 1985) Soren Lerby (PSV 1988) --------------------------------- Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool 1984) Horst Hrubesch (HSV 1983) 1988/9 - 1998/9 Peter Schmeichel (Man Utd 1999) --------------------------------- Paolo Maldini (Milan 1994) Marcel Desailly (Marseille 1993) Matthias Sammer (Dortmund 1997) Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid 1998) --------------------------------- Ruud Gullit (Milan 1990) Robert Prosinecky (Red Star 1991) Michael Laudrup (Barcelona 1992) Marc Overmars (Ajax 1995) --------------------------------- Marco van Basten (Milan 1989) Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus 1996) The best team is the 1966/7-1976/7 one, while the worst the 1977/8-1987/8 one.
1956-1966 Ghezzi (Milan 1963) ---------------- Burgnich (Inter 1964) Santamaria (Real 1959) Facchetti (Inter 1965) ---------------- Kopa (Real 1958) Coluna (Benfica 1961) Di Stéfano (Real 1956) Puskas (Real 1960) ---------------- Amancio (Real 1966) Eusebio (Benfica 1962) Gento (Real 1957) 1967-1977 Clemence (Liverpool 1977) ---------------- Suurbier (Ajax 1973) Beckenbauer (Bayern 1976) McNeil (Celtic 1967) Breitner (Bayern 1974) ---------------- Neeskens (Ajax 1971) Charlton (Manchester Utd. 1968) Rivera (Milan 1969) van Hanegem (Feyenoord 1970) ---------------- Müller (Bayern 1975) Cruyff (Ajax 1972) 1978-1988 Shilton (Forest 1980) ----------------- Kaltz (Hamburg 1983) Belodedici (Steaua 1986) Koeman (PSV 1988) Lloyd (Forest 1979) ----------------- Souness (Liverpool 1981) Platini (Juventus 1985) Futre (Porto 1987) Morley (Aston Villa 1982) ----------------- Rush (Liverpool 1984) Dalglish (Liverpool 1978) 1989-1999 Schmeichel (Manchester Utd. 1999) ----------------- Sabanadzovic (Red Star 1991) Sammer (Dortmund 1997) Desailly (Marseille 1993) Maldini (Milan 1990) ----------------- Paulo Sousa (Juventus 1996) Savicevic (Milan 1994) Redondo (Real 1998) Davids (Ajax 1995) ----------------- van Basten (Milan 1989) Stoitchkov (Barcelona 1992)
Yes indeed. The info in brackets only indicates from which EC winning side a player was picked, not a player's complete trophy haul in European Club competitions.
Yes, I understood that, but on a curious note, wasn't this (I think) the only player to win it back to back with two different teams - if I recall....
Perhaps one could even argue that a side made of players from the beaten finalists of the 1978-1988 era looks even stronger than a side picked from the winning teams: MÖLLER (Malmö 1979) -------- BASTIJNS (Bruges 1978) MOZER (Benfica 1988) LAWRENSON (Liverpool 1985) CAMACHO (Real Madrid 1981) -------- SCHUSTER (Barcelona 1986) MATTHÄUS (Bayern 1987) FALCAO (Roma 1984) BONIEK (Juventus 1983) -------- KEEGAN (Hamburg 1980) RUMMENIGGE (Bayern 1982)
Gregoriak: > If you pick exactly one player from each year of each era (out of the sides that won the European Cup), you end up with 11 players for each era, which would form a representative lineup for that respective era. Interesting. Not only when you compare different eras, but also when you have to choose the XIs. Picking only one player from each team is not trivial: to think "well, I pick the best player, then the best player from the remaining teams, etc." is not the best strategy, because the last choices could be non-optimal (I know this because I organized a fantasy football game where this was the only rule for team creation). Unfortunately, I don't know enough to pick my teams. However, I would include Didi from Real 59-60, at least if you consider his career and not his season in Spain. milivella
Here's mine: 1956-1966 Dominguez (Real Madrid, 1959) Burgnich (Inter Milan, 1965) Santamaria (Real Madrid, 1958) Facchetti (Inter Milan, 1964) Kopa (Peal Madrid, 1957) Coluna (Benfica, 1961) Di Stefano (Real Madrid, 1956) Eusebio (Benfica, 1962) Altafini (AC Milan, 1963) Puskas (Real Madrid, 1960) Gento (Real Madrid, 1966) 1967-1977 Maier (Bayern Munich, 1976) Gemmell (Celtic, 1967) Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich, 1974) Hughes (Liverpool, 1977) Krol (Ajax, 1972) Rivera (AC Milan, 1969) Neeskens (Ajax, 1973) van Hanegem (Feyenoord, 1970) Best (Manchester United, 1968) Muller (Bayern Munich, 1975) Cruyff (Ajax, 1971) 1978-1988 Shilton (Nottingham Forest, 1980) Joao Pinto (Porto, 1987) Belodedici (Steaua, 1986) Hansen (Liverpool, 1984) Heintze (PSV, 1988) Cowans (Aston Villa, 1982) Souness (Liverpool, 1981) Platini (Juventus, 1985) Magath (Hamburg, 1983) Woodcock (Nottingham Forest, 1979) Dalglish (Liverpool, 1978) 1989-1999 Barthez (Marseille, 1993) Ferrara (Juventus, 1996) Stam (Manchester United, 1999) Baresi (AC Milan, 1990) Maldini (AC Milan, 1994) Redondo (Real Madrid, 1998) Sammer (Borussia Dortmund, 1997) Laudrup (Barcelona, 1992) Litmanen (Ajax, 1995) Van Basten (AC Milan, 1989) Savicevic (Red Star Belgrade, 1991)
Beaten Finalists 1956-1966 Araquistain (Real Madrid, 1962) Jonquet (Stade de Reims, 1956) Germano (Benfica, 1965) Cervato (Fiorentina, 1957) Pfaff (Eintracht Frankfurt, 1960) Vasovic (FK Partizan, 1966) Schiaffino (AC Milan, 1958) Amancio (Real Madrid, 1964) Kocsis (Barcelona, 1961) Fontaine (Stade de Reims, 1959) Simoes (Benfica, 1963) 1967-1977 Zoff (Juventus, 1973) Bonhof (Borussia Monchengladbach, 1977) Picchi (Inter Milan, 1967) McNeill (Celtic, 1970) Suurbier (Ajax, 1969) Mazzola (Inter Milan, 1972) Bremner (Leeds United, 1975) Domazos (Panathinaikos, 1971) Augusto (Benfica, 1968) H. Revelli (Saint-Etienne, 1976) Aragones (Atletico Madrid, 1974) 1978-1988 Moller (Malmo, 1979) Brehme (Bayern Munich, 1987) Mozer (Benfica, 1988) Scirea (Juventus, 1983) Camacho (Real Madrid, 1981) Cools (Club Brugge, 1978) Schuster (Barcelona, 1986) Keegan (Hamburg, 1980) Conti (Roma, 1984) Rush (Liverpool, 1985) K-H Rummenigge (Bayern Munich, 1982) 1989-1999 van der Sar (Ajax, 1996) Babbel (Bayern Munich, 1999) Vierchowod (Sampdoria, 1992) Aldair (Benfica, 1990) Costacurta (AC Milan, 1993) Boban (AC Milan, 1995) Jugovic (Juventus, 1997) Zidane (Juventus, 1998) Hagi (Steaua, 1989) Romario (Barcelona, 1994) Papin (Marseille, 1991)