The 15 best performing football clubs in Europe in 2025-26

Who were the best football clubs in Europe in the 2025-26 season? Instead of ranking on reputation or gut feeling, this list goes by what each club actually won. It is ordered by the biggest honour each club took in 2025-26: the Champions League first, then the league titles in Europe’s big five leagues, then the Europa League and Conference League, then the domestic cups. The last places go to the clubs that went furthest in Europe without winning a trophy.

Champions of Europe

1. Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1)

PSG retained the Champions League, beating Arsenal in the final in Budapest on May 30, 2026. The match finished 1-1 after extra time and PSG won 4-3 on penalties. On the way they knocked out Monaco, Chelsea (8-2 on aggregate), Liverpool (4-0 on aggregate) and Bayern Munich (6-5 on aggregate). They also won Ligue 1 with 76 points, their 14th French title.

League champions

2. Arsenal (Premier League)

Arsenal won the Premier League with 85 points, seven clear of Manchester City, for their first league title in 22 years. They also reached the Champions League final, beating Sporting CP and Atlético Madrid (2-1 on aggregate) before losing to PSG on penalties, and were runners-up in the EFL Cup.

3. Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)

Bayern won the Bundesliga with 89 points and scored 122 goals, a new league record, and added the DFB-Pokal for a domestic double. In the Champions League they beat Real Madrid 6-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals before they lost 6-5 on aggregate to PSG in the semi-finals.

4. Barcelona (La Liga)

Barcelona won La Liga with 94 points, eight ahead of Real Madrid, with Lamine Yamal named the league’s best player. Their Champions League run ended in the quarter-finals, where Atlético Madrid beat them 3-2 on aggregate.

5. Inter Milan (Serie A)

Inter won Serie A with 87 points, 11 clear of Napoli, and the Coppa Italia for a domestic double, with Lautaro Martínez the league’s top scorer. Europe was the disappointment: Bodø/Glimt knocked them out of the Champions League in the knockout play-offs.

European trophy winners

6. Aston Villa (Premier League)

Aston Villa won the Europa League, their first, beating SC Freiburg 3-0 in the final in Istanbul, with Morgan Rogers named the competition’s best player. They also finished fourth in the Premier League.

7. Crystal Palace (Premier League)

Crystal Palace won the Conference League, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the final in Leipzig for the first European trophy in the club’s history. Ismaïla Sarr was the competition’s top scorer and best player.

Domestic cup winners

8. Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City won both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup and finished second in the Premier League with 78 points, with Erling Haaland the league’s top scorer. Real Madrid knocked them out of the Champions League in the last 16, 5-1 on aggregate.

9. Real Sociedad (La Liga)

Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey, the third in their history, beating Atlético Madrid in the final.

10. Lens (Ligue 1)

Lens won their first Coupe de France and finished second in Ligue 1 with 70 points, qualifying for the Champions League.

The best of the rest in Europe

11. Atlético Madrid (La Liga)

Atlético reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking out Tottenham and Barcelona, before Arsenal beat them 2-1 on aggregate. They were also Copa del Rey runners-up and finished fourth in La Liga.

12. Real Madrid (La Liga)

Real Madrid finished second in La Liga with 86 points and knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League before Bayern beat them 6-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. Kylian Mbappé was top scorer in both La Liga (25 goals) and the Champions League (15).

13. Sporting CP (Primeira Liga)

Sporting reached the Champions League quarter-finals, where Arsenal beat them 1-0 on aggregate, and finished second in Portugal with 82 points behind champions Porto.

14. Liverpool (Premier League)

Liverpool reached the Champions League quarter-finals, where PSG beat them 4-0 on aggregate, and finished fifth in the Premier League with 60 points.

15. SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)

Freiburg reached the Europa League final, losing 3-0 to Aston Villa, and finished seventh in the Bundesliga.

Order: Champions League winner, then big-five league champions, then Europa League and Conference League winners, then domestic cup winners, then the furthest European runs (Champions League semi-finalist, the three other quarter-finalists by league finish, and the Europa League runners-up). Where clubs share a category, they are ordered by how far they went in the Champions League.

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