Top 10 club football teams of the decade (2010-2019)

#1 Barcelona (2010/11)

Barcelona v Arsenal - UEFA Champions League

Perfection is a difficult term to explain in even the simplest of settings, let alone a football pitch. Pep Guardiola's Barcelona of the 2010/11 season is the closest anybody may ever come to footballing perfection.

Pep Guardiola's time at Barcelona from 2008 to 2012 saw an incredible tactical evolution in Barcelona's style of play. Guardiola reverted to his mentor Johan Cruyff's philosophy and implemented a short passing game at the club, popularly dubbed "tiki-taka". Barcelona did win the sextuple in 2009, but in terms of style and the extent of sheer domination that the team enforced over the opposition, Barcelona's core group of players reached the pinnacle of their abilities in 2010 and 2011.

A large number of players in the team had graduated through La Masia and had grown up playing together and learning from each other. A midfield of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, and a young Sergio Busquets oozed class in midfield while Lionel Messi wreaked havoc in the final third.

Messi was deployed as a 'false nine' in Guardiola's system and often dropped deep into the midfield to link up with Xavi and Iniesta. David Villa and Pedro exploited spaces further up the pitch, resulting in effective and lethal combinations all over the pitch. With a team full of talented individuals and Guardiola's novel ideas to boot, the Barcelona of 2011 was very nearly invincible.

While 5-0 and 6-0 scorelines were this Barcelona's sides bread and butter, a few spectacular performances stand out. Much was expected out of the first El Clasico of the season, but Barcelona thrashed a hapless Real Madrid 5-0 at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid's star-studded lineup was left chasing shadows as Barcelona toyed with their food, inflicting a humiliating defeat. The result was obvious: Barcelona won La Liga with consummate ease.

Barcelona outdid themselves on the biggest stage of them all: the Champions League final. In what was the finest performance in a final in Champions League history, Barcelona denied Manchester United any opportunity to touch the ball and bossed the Red Devils in Wembley on their way to a 3-1 victory. The Catalans' performance was one for the ages and drew praise from the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson himself.

Pep Guardiola departed in 2013 in search of new adventures, and much of Barcelona's world-beating side has now retired. Their exploits, however, continue to define the Blaugrana to this day.

Starting XI: Victor Valdes; Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves; Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta; Pedro Rodriguez, David Villa, Lionel Messi