Football is played all over the world at the international and club level. Yet, only a few club leagues are exciting and watched by millions around the world. In the recent times, the true home of football seems to have moved out of South America to Europe. As has also been evident from the last few world cups, European teams have been dominating world football and the last time a South American team won football was in 2002. In fact, in the 2018 world cup, all the semi-finalists were Europeans.
In short, European teams today are much more successful than South American or any other part of the world. They dominate both at the club and international level.
In this list today, we would be looking at the 5 clubs which have won the most number of league titles in the 5 most popular and statistically proven best leagues in the world.
#5 Ligue 1 (France)
Most Titles: Saint-Etienne (10 Titles)
Special Mention: Olmpique de Marseille (9 Titles) (1 Champions League)
Recent Title: PSG (7 Titles)
As per UEFA Club coefficients, the Ligue 1, played in France is the 5th best league in Europe. However, in the past, the Ligue 1 has become a one-horse race with PSG winning the last 5 out of 6 titles since 2012.
Yes, the financial dominance of PSG has made the Ligue 1 a less exciting league but that certainly does not take away from it the fact that the Ligue 1 has some good teams. Till date, Marseille is the only French club to have won the UCL, in the 1992-92 season.
Yet, whilst PSG have failed to win the UCL, they are strong favourites to win the UCL every season and it is only a matter of time before PSG go on to win the Champions League. Moreover, with top players like Neymar, Edison Cavani, Thiago Silva, the Ligue 1 has a lot of talent in it.
Not to mention young talent in the form of Le Celso, Alban Lafont. It is important to mention that Marseille also had a good year, only losing to Atletico Madrid in the final of the Europa League.
As for now, Saint Etienne remain the most successful team in Ligue 1 having won the title 10 times, their last title came in 1980-81. The club were runners-up in 1981-82. However, post that, the club seems to have lost its brilliance having never won the title again or finished in 2nd or 3rd place.
Let us see till when can Saint-Etienne hold on to their record of most Ligue 1 titles.
4 Bundesliga (Germany).
Most Titles: Bayern Munich (27 Titles)
Recent Title: Bayern Munich
The Bundesliga was rated as the 2nd best League in Europe, however over the past few seasons, it has gone down to 4th place. This may be attributed to the German clubs other than Bayern Munich not doing well in European competitions.
Since 2007-08, Bayern Munich have finished either in 1st or 2nd or 3rd place. Moreover, since 2007-08, the Bavarians have won 8 out of the 11 league titles with Borussia Dortmund winning twice and Vfl Wolfsburg winning once. The Bundesliga has also become a one-horse race with Bayern winning the league and other teams fighting it out to see who finishes in second position.
#3 Serie A (Italy)
Most Titles: Juventus (34 Titles)
Special Mention: Inter Milan (18 Titles and 3 UCLs) and AC Milan (18 Titles and 7 UCLs)
Recent Title: Juventus
Juventus have been dominating the Serie A having won the league 7 times in a row. Yet, as can be seen from the last season, the Serie A is certainly not a one-horse race with Napoli almost winning it last season.
With many great talents coming in to Italy this season including Cristiano Ronaldo, the Serie A seems to be recovering well and is certainly a league that no one wants to miss this season.
Italy has been producing one of the finest clubs in world football. As such, the Serie A has five great clubs in Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Napoli. While Juventus have been doing outstandingly well in the Serie A having won 34 times, they have only won the UCL twice.
On the contrary, the 2nd most successful team in UCL history is AC Milan with seven titles, with their closest rivals Inter Milan having won the UCL three times.
#2 English Premier League (England)
Most Titles: Manchester United (20 Titles)
Recent Title: Manchester City (5 Titles)
The EPL may not be the best league in the world but it is certainly the most competitive and uncertain league in the whole of Europe. This is what makes it a fan favourite and the most watched league in the world.
Fans of football from all over the world see the EPL because of the uncertainty that surrounds it. You can never predict who is going to win the EPL even until the middle of the season.
Ever since the 2008-09 season, no team has won the EPL twice in a row. The world’s finest managers wish to coach in England and winning a title in this competitive league is more valuable than anything else. In recent times, these two clubs haven’t been very successful with Manchester city and Chelsea also doing well with the surprise EPL title with Leicester City. Yet, in the most competitive league in the world, Manchester United are the most successful club with 20 titles.
Five different English clubs have won the UCL, the most from any League. At present, the EPL is second in our list.
#1 LaLiga (Spain)
Most Titles: Real Madrid (33 Titles)
Recent Title: FC Barcelona (25 Titles)
The La Liga is the best league in the world as per UEFA Club Coefficients with a total of 106.988 points. The La Liga has two of the best clubs in the world, Barcelona and Real Madrid with Atletico Madrid also coming up very well.
Real Madrid have been more successful than Barcelona having won the league 8 more times. They also have a record 13 UCL league titles whilst Barcelona have five.
It is these two clubs and the rivalry between them that makes LaLiga the best in the world.