Biggest football club in the world? (16 Viewers)

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

It's hard to give Real Madrid much credit for their La Liga titles considering many were won during Franco's reign. When many teams were afraid to beat the Dictator's squad.

Very true....when Barcelona was also not even playing that much football because they were too busy fighting for their freedom from Castilian Spain.

 

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[Elvin]

It's hard to give Real Madrid much credit for their La Liga titles considering many were won during Franco's reign. When many teams were afraid to beat the Dictator's squad.

Oh FFS

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

There is some truth to that statement though. Franco did gobble up a lot of the talent in the country to play for his squad. Not unsimilar to what the Croatian Government did with the transfer of Niko Krajcar not too long ago.

 

[Enron]

Barca

I don't really think you can add Barca into this conversation. Sure they have won a CL and climbed to marketing success in recent years, Barca's tradition is not one that was made of success. Part of Barca's following comes from their years of defiance against the Franco regime as well as "almost winning" many big games. When this conversation is had in 20 years time, maybe Barca will belong on this list, actually I am very convinced they will be. But not right now.

 

[Fred]

couldnt have put it better Enron,completely agree.

 

[JuveAdam]

Posted this some time ago so some of the totals maybe out now, hop it helps in some way. It was in a reply about European clubs but the rest of the world seems way behind & their fans & players all head here anyways.

Ok, after much research, thought & deliberation I am going to try to provide some kind of answer to this debate. Bear with me, here goes.

To define greatness is the hardest part of the arguement. Obviously every Juventino will say il bianconeri are the greatest club in the world, otherwise how could that man claim to be a Juventino, why support them if you don't hold that very belief close to your heart?

However, trying to be unbiased & objective about this, which club(s) can claim to be greater than Juventus? Firstly, who are the greatest teams from each major footballing nation? I think the definative list would read:

UK - Liverpool
Germany - Bayern
Netherlands - Ajax
Portugal - Benfica
Spain - Real Madrid
France - Marseille
Italy - Juventus

These clubs are chosen on domestic sucess, fan base & world wide support/identity.

Now, how to rank their domestic achievements? I figured the best ranking system is that used by UEFA in the Golden Boot top scorer rankings, which gives each league a multiplier, depending on strength of the league. Spain, Italy, Germany, and England are all given a multiplier of 2, Dutch, French & Portuguese leagues a 1.5. So, mulitplying the number of titles won by this number gives the following results;

Real - 58
Juventus - 54
Benfica - 46.5
Ajax - 43.5
Bayern - 40
Liverpool - 36
Marseille - 16

Then I felt the need to add domestic cups, at the value of half a league title, and UEFA cup victories at the same value as a league title. Factoring in CL/European Cups was more difficult, but finally decided that it must be worth 2 league titles. At this stage I also felt the need to bring Milan into the equation, as their continental sucess far exceeds our own, as well as Manchester Utd & Barca, due to their worldwide reputations. The following points totals were thus reached;

Real Madrid - 97
Juventus - 77
Bayern - 71
Liverpool - 69
Ajax - 69
Barca - 68
Benfica - 67.5
Milan - 51
Man Utd - 51
Marsielle - 30

These rankings show that the clubs I added rank some way behind the original list, & that Marsielle are even further out & thus are discounted from the discussion. Looking at the above table I find the top 5 to be a fair reflection of the rankings in Europe in terms of size, sucess & percieved "greatness". Real Madrid ARE head & shoulders above the rest, esp when you consider that in 51 years of the European Cup, they have won approx 1 in 5. Our domestic glory, even only counted 27 titles (that nearly killed me!), added to our huge worldwide fan base, plus 2 European cup wins & 5 losing finals apperances is enough to put us above Bayern, who's league is somewhat weaker, despite 4 EC wins. Liverpool & Ajax make up the top 5, & rightly so. Fans of all 5 clubs could argue all day about the final order they should take, but clearly these ARE Europes top 5 clubs, & I feel my ranking system is fair.

 

[Elvin]

I fuckin' love that post

Spot on!

 

[Marc]

The Bundesliga was not always inferior. It was a very strong league in the 70s and early 80s.

Wordage.

 

[Marc]

Posted this some time ago so some of the totals maybe out now, hop it helps in some way. It was in a reply about European clubs but the rest of the world seems way behind & their fans & players all head here anyways.

I said it´s Real Madrid.

 

[Omair]

i can agree with "screw you" and "screw Hilal" but definitely not screw Ettayeb

okay .. I will say sorry the next time the leaders of the table play the ninth .. ..

I never knew how the Saudi League works .. I mean al Hilal are 4 games short ?!!?!:faq1:

 

[Fred]

okay .. I will say sorry the next time the leaders of the table play the ninth .. ..

I never knew how the Saudi League works .. I mean al Hilal are 4 games short ?!!?!:faq1:

you said it yourself

Its a shame they went out to El Wahda though..but that was some goal by Ettayeb..the guys a freakin magician..i'm dumbfounded as to why he never played in europe.

What do you think of him??if you're a regular watcher of the saudi league.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

How can you say a CL is worth 2 league titles?

It should be worth 5...because Lyon wins the league constantly, but if they won a CL it would only be as big a success as winning their league twice over?

UEFA cup should be 2 league titles, and a CL should be 5.


Then recalculate and tell me.

 

[pavelnedved]

a heated discussion in this truly clear-cut thread ? gosh i didn't see this comming

 

[Lucky Luke]

1)Juventus
2)P.A.O.K.
3)Blackburn Rovers
4)Kastoria
5)Not.Forest
6)Ionas Dragoumis

 

[Omair]

you said it yourself

Its a shame they went out to El Wahda though..but that was some goal by Ettayeb..the guys a freakin magician..i'm dumbfounded as to why he never played in europe.

What do you think of him??if you're a regular watcher of the saudi league.

thing is, I'm not .. I just cheer for Ittihad because its my hometown team, I attend games though whenever they're in town .. and I watch important games, against AlHilal and AlAhli .. and that's pretty much it ..

 

[Elvin]

1. Real Madrid
2. Juventus
3. Liverpool
4. Milan
5. Bayern

I'm done with this thread...

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

BUT YOU CAN'T SLEEP!

 

[Doctor]

How can you say a CL is worth 2 league titles?

It should be worth 5...because Lyon wins the league constantly, but if they won a CL it would only be as big a success as winning their league twice over?

UEFA cup should be 2 league titles, and a CL should be 5.

Then recalculate and tell me.

I have to agree with this.
But also keep in mind that its easyer for a team playing French or Partugese league to win the Champions league because they dont have to many dificult domestic games.
And that would be inposibale to do in Italy, England or Spain.

In order to be the biggest club in the world you have to be playing good domestic league that will test you to your limits and be constantly good.
If we take Liverpool, it hasent been constantly good regardless of number of titles wan in the past.
If we take a look at Bayern, he is just simpley not playing in good enough domestic league.
Same goes for Ajax.

I can certanly agree that clubs like Real (naturally), Milan or even Barcelona have a good claim, but it is very dificult to rate teams like Ajax, Bayern or even Liverpool out there.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

Yea, but Bayern played in the best league in the world in the early 70's...and arguable in the mid/late 90's.

 

[Fred]

a heated discussion in this truly clear-cut thread ? gosh i didn't see this comming

what would you expect from a "biggest football club in the world"

its only natural that people come up with names,like milwall,Mothwerwell or Kastoria.