Top 5 biggest Football clubs in the world.

Tier 1: Real Madrid followed by (with a distance) AC Milan
Tier 2: Liverpool & Bayern
Tier 3: Barcelona
Tier 4: United, Inter, Ajax, Juventus

Those who put Barca above AC Milan, Liverpool, Bayern probably think football was invented early 2000s.

Juve could make it to Tier 2 if they didn't lose that many UCL finals, United too if they could win couple more..
:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Tier 1: Real Madrid followed by (with a distance) AC Milan
Tier 2: Liverpool & Bayern
Tier 3: Barcelona
Tier 4: United, Inter, Ajax, Juventus

Those who put Barca above AC Milan, Liverpool, Bayern probably think football was invented early 2000s.

Juve could make it to Tier 2 if they didn't lose that many UCL finals, United too if they could win couple more..

Your post is basically the answer to the question: who has the most CL titles?

But it's a lot more complicated than that.

How can AC Milan be the 2nd biggest club in the world, when they can't even win Serie A these days, which is not even a top 2 domestic league anymore?

-3rd most Scudettos with 19 after Inter wins their 20th title in a few weeks
-Won 4 of those 19 titles in the last 25 years
-Last won the Champions League 17 years ago
-Can't even compete with most PL clubs in the transfer market, let alone the big 7
-Their highest paid player is Rafael Leao with 147,000 per week (they have 2 players above 100k, check PL clubs for comparison)

AC Milan's only hope of returning to the status of a top 3-5 biggest club in the world in the current climate is the Super League.
 
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Real Madrid
Bayern
Milan, Juventus, Barcelona

Yes, I give much more credit to historical impact thant to social media numbers or how many Chinese/Indian fans a club has.
 
We would be tier 1 with Madrid and a couple other clubs if you ignore "international trophies" ranking. But if you take this under account we're probably between Ajax and Liverpool/Milan.

Indeed. I always thought clubs that were dominant on international stage were more highly rated by random fans. We've managed to get 3 CL trophies, and 2 of those we got barely, while Madrid was cruising in the last decade, and before that Barca dominated us and everyone else.
Madrid cruised vs Juve in 2017 and Liverpool in 2018 but they got lucky in 2014 and 2016.

If you ask me the biggest clubs:
1. Real Madrid
2. Barcelona
3. Man utd
4. Bayern
5. Liverpool

The 2 Spanish clubs have the most appeal for any upcoming player. United, Bayern and Liverpool are very similar with great history and success but not the appeal of Real/Barca.

United are a financial juggernaut in comparison to any club. Despite our struggles in recent times, we are still valued very highly hence the greedy glazers not wanting to let go. If Real Barca, Liverpool, Bayern went off the boil, their value would drop quite abit.
 
Real Madrid
Bayern
Milan, Juventus, Barcelona

Yes, I give much more credit to historical impact thant to social media numbers or how many Chinese/Indian fans a club has.

Why aren't we in there somewhere then?

Most English titles and 3 Champions League titles. Every big club is somewhere between 0 and 7 CL titles other than Real Madrid, so 3 is alright if you exclude them.

You can dismiss financial muscle, social media, etc. but leaving United out makes any list a joke, tbh.
 
Why aren't we in there somewhere then?

Most English titles and 3 Champions League titles. Every big club is somewhere between 0 and 7 CL titles other than Real Madrid, so 3 is alright if you exclude them.

You can dismiss financial muscle, social media, etc. but leaving United out makes any list a joke, tbh.
Because this is a top 5 and I consider all the clubs on my list bigger than United. By the way, Ajax would be the sixth.
 
We could say that Real and Barca was the state-backed clubs at one point and most of Real prestige came from during that time.

Couple with their familiarity of culture and languages makes them the destination of South American players and hence their status as the favorite destination for most players. Really, they have the advantages over other clubs in the world....
 
Because this is a top 5 and I consider all the clubs on my list bigger than United. By the way, Ajax would be the sixth.

Your logic is incredibly flawed then. It's totally subjective, so you can consider history much more important than social media, etc., but United are one of those clubs that have to be there no matter what.
 
Your logic is incredibly flawed then. It's totally subjective, so you can consider history much more important than social media, etc., but United are one of those clubs where they have to be there no matter what.
One of the biggest, but not one of the five biggest.

All those clubs were among the biggest contenders in Europe for a longer period and had more remarkable teams and players.
 
One of the biggest, but not one of the five biggest.

All those clubs were among the biggest contenders in Europe for a longer period and had more remarkable teams and players.

So you consider Real Madrid's first 5 CL titles (1956-1960) to be on par with Barcelona's 5 CL titles in terms of significance?
 
I'd be more interested in non united fans answers on this. Curious to see where they see United

Utd are top two biggest fanbased club in the world. Big growth in India too in the past 2 decades. Then Barca and probably Bayern. Not sure where Liverpool are.
 
How can AC Milan be the 2nd biggest club in the world, when they can't even win Serie A these days, which is not even a top 2 domestic league anymore?

How can United be 2nd-3rd when you never had any domination in whole Europe like AC Milan, Barca, Real, Liverpool, Bayern etc. did?
There's not a single period in the UCL history where United dominated. Apart from the SAF era, it's hard to talk about United domination in the national league (English league) as well.

There's no way an average German will put United over Bayern
an average Italian putting United over AC Milan or Juve
or an average Spanish putting United over Real or Barca

Most these fans will put AC Milan, Bayern, Barca (not to mention Real) easily over United. Nobody cares how many followers team A has in China or India.
 
Because this is a top 5 and I consider all the clubs on my list bigger than United. By the way, Ajax would be the sixth.

What puts Juventus above United?
 
Here's a somewhat mathematical approach:

1) Most fans

Social media (Insta, facebook, X, twitter)


1. Real
2. Barca
3. United
4. PSG
5. Juve
6. City
7. Chelsea
8. Liverpool
9. Bayern
10. Arsenal

Attendance

1. Dortmund
2. Bayern
3. United
4. Inter
5. Milan
6. Real
7. AS Roma
8. Tottenham
9. Arsenal
10. West Ham

Shirt sales

1. Barca
2. Real
3. Liverpool
4. Bayern
5. United
6. PSG
7. Arsenal
8. Chelsea
9. Juve
10. Tottenham

2) Most trophies

Domestic titles (in the top 5 leagues)

1. Juve
2. Real
3. Bayern
4. Barca
5. United
6. Liverpool
7. Milan
Inter
Arsenal
10. Atletico

UCL titles

1. Real
2. Milan
3. Liverpool
4. Bayern
5. Barca
6. Ajax
7. United
8. Inter
9. Chelsea
10. Juve

3) Club value

(according to Forbes)

1. Real
2. United
3. Barca
4. Liverpool
5. City
6. Bayern
7. PSG
8. Chelsea
9. Tottenham
10. Arsenal

RANKING

This adds up to this top 5:

1. Real
2. Barca
3. United
4. Bayern
5. Liverpool
(6. Milan, Juve)

What do we think? Seems reasonable to me...

We can't tell if it's reasonable because you do not explain your methodology. Are you assigning a point value for 1-10 (i.e. 10 points for 1st, 1 point for 10th or something else?).
 
I couldn't justify more than two tiers when there are only 5 teams.

Tier 1: Real Madrid because they won a lot and have the biggest aura.
Tier 2: United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich.


In reality the second tier would also include at least the likes of Juventus, Milan, Ajax and Chelsea.
 
What puts Juventus above United?
Well, I already answered that, but Juventus has more time as an European force and had more notable teams and players than United. They were very unfortunated in UCL finals, but they were one of the most present teams in the highest level. Liverpool and United are very inconsistent clubs, especially the former. I don't think the difference is huge, but I'd have them above without doubt.
 
I couldn't justify more than two tiers when there are only 5 teams.

Tier 1: Real Madrid because they won a lot and have the biggest aura.
Tier 2: United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich.


In reality the second tier would also include at least the likes of Juventus, Milan, Ajax and Chelsea.
I don’t think anybody really cares about Chelsea.

I struggle in deciding who’s bigger between Juve and Milan. I feel like Milan are more popular outside of Italy, while Juve are the number 1 there.
 
One of the biggest, but not one of the five biggest.

All those clubs were among the biggest contenders in Europe for a longer period and had more remarkable teams and players.
Because this is a top 5 and I consider all the clubs on my list bigger than United. By the way, Ajax would be the sixth.
Both united and Liverpool are bigger than Ajax
It’s always been Madrid/united as the top 2 in the world. I’ll even admit that.
 
I don’t think anybody really cares about Chelsea.

I struggle in deciding who’s bigger between Juve and Milan. I feel like Milan are more popular outside of Italy, while Juve are the number 1 there.

My list is a subjective summation of most of the metrics shared in the OP.
 
My list is a subjective summation of most of the metrics shared in the OP.
To be fair, these metrics literally include „everything really“. So I guess my criticism is fair. ^^

I just don’t think they matter much outside of England. I think they are just a little bit above a club like PSG.

But to give you a chance to criticise my choice, this would be my top 5:
Real
United
Bayern
Barca
Juve

Though I continue to struggle by comparing Milan and Juve. Liverpool might also have a case for fifth spot.
 
To be fair, these metrics literally include „everything really“. So I guess my criticism is fair. ^^

I just don’t think they matter much outside of England. I think they are just a little bit above a club like PSG.

But to give you a chance to criticise my choice, this would be my top 5:
Real
United
Bayern
Barca
Juve

Though I continue to struggle by comparing Milan and Juve. Liverpool might also have a case for fifth spot.

I have no reason to criticize your choice your fifth team is among the teams that I put in the same tier. You swapped Juventus with Liverpool and I have both of them in a the same tier.
 
Manchester City and then the rest in some particular order that I won't even take the effort to analyze.

Because according to full mind teachings the present time is all that matters and they seem untouchable at the moment.

I saw them destroy Aston Villa yesterday and they did not even play at full speed. And Haaland and De Bruyne were on the bench!! Emery's players looked hopeless!
 
The global accepted hierarchy is Madrid, Barca, United and Bayern in some variation, usually it depends who's doing well at the time. Occasionally you might have Juventus in 5th, last couple of years arguably City. Some might put Liverpool in there but their global appeal is greatly exaggerated and they'll likely be back where they belong in 9th / 10th place once Klopp leaves.
 
1. Real Madrid
2. Bayern Munich
3. Barcelona
4. Juventus
5. Milan

I think there’s going to be a big difference in opinion between the UK/Continental Europe. I think a lot of it has to do with the biggest players not playing in England until very recently.
 
Madrid cruised vs Juve in 2017 and Liverpool in 2018 but they got lucky in 2014 and 2016.

If you ask me the biggest clubs:
1. Real Madrid
2. Barcelona
3. Man utd
4. Bayern
5. Liverpool

The 2 Spanish clubs have the most appeal for any upcoming player. United, Bayern and Liverpool are very similar with great history and success but not the appeal of Real/Barca.

United are a financial juggernaut in comparison to any club. Despite our struggles in recent times, we are still valued very highly hence the greedy glazers not wanting to let go. If Real Barca, Liverpool, Bayern went off the boil, their value would drop quite abit.
There are some areas in which Barca don't measure up historically (remember that the first European Cup victory was in 1991-2) but one area where the club is supreme is genius alumni. Just off the top, the list of former legends includes:

Messi
Maradona
Ronaldo Luis
Ronaldinho
Cruyff
Romario
Laudrup
Iniesta
Xavi
Riquelme
Rivaldo
Kubala
Luis Suarez (both of them)
Hagi
Neymar
Stoichkov
Kocsis
Neeskens
Henry

I don't think even Madrid can match that. And it's mad to think that for all the European success of a club like Liverpool, the best they could offer in these stakes is the relatively underwhelming Kenny Dalglish....
 
1. Real Madrid
2. Bayern
3. AC Milan
4. Barcelona
5. Manchester United / Juventus / Liverpool
 
To be fair, these metrics literally include „everything really“. So I guess my criticism is fair. ^^

I just don’t think they matter much outside of England. I think they are just a little bit above a club like PSG.

But to give you a chance to criticise my choice, this would be my top 5:
Real
United
Bayern
Barca
Juve

Though I continue to struggle by comparing Milan and Juve. Liverpool might also have a case for fifth spot.

United and Bayern above Barca?
 
The "biggest club" virtual dick swinging is really cringey. I'd rather we could boast about having a world class team
 
In a football solar system I would put three gas giants, Bayern, Barcelona and Manchester.
Then other big but not so massive; Juve, Liverpool and Milan and then others like Mercury or Pluto, which could be Ajax, Chelsea, Benfica, Inter...
and of course Sagittarius A, 26,000 light years away, devouring 14 Champions league and getting bigger and bigger :D
 
"In terms of history, power, prestige, wealth, reputation, trophies, popularity, fanbase and everything really etc."

You cannot compare all of those things, this is very flawed.
 
Seeing Bayern so many times was a bit strange to me. They obviously have a huge history and are very rich but i didnt know they were that large. I looked up world wide shirt sales and they are in those lists quite often. I did not know that. I think i see PSG shirts more often than Bayern shirts.

Real Madrid is top of the list obviously.

I think Manchester United was second but Messi lifted Barcelona to second place. I think they are still second now. Manchester United is still huge and rich but the lack of succes and having meme players like Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire and now Antony arent good for the reputation of the club.

Liverpool their combination of recent succes and being able to compete with Manchester City, is making them a current top 5 'biggest club' in my opinion. The fifth team would be one of Juventus or Bayern i guess. PSG was getting there too but losing big names like Neymar, Messi and Mbappe are going to hurt their appeal.
 
Seeing Bayern so many times was a bit strange to me. They obviously have a huge history and are very rich but i didnt know they were that large. I looked up world wide shirt sales and they are in those lists quite often. I did not know that. I think i see PSG shirts more often than Bayern shirts.

Real Madrid is top of the list obviously.

I think Manchester United was second but Messi lifted Barcelona to second place. I think they are still second now. Manchester United is still huge and rich but the lack of succes and having meme players like Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire and now Antony arent good for the reputation of the club.

Liverpool their combination of recent succes and being able to compete with Manchester City, is making them a current top 5 'biggest club' in my opinion. The fifth team would be one of Juventus or Bayern i guess. PSG was getting there too but losing big names like Neymar, Messi and Mbappe are going to hurt their appeal.

PSG? Only founded in 1970, never did anything in Europe, have only dominated a weak French league for 13 years, because their wage bill adds up to 40% of the whole league's wage bill, and the transfer fees are similar as well. Not to mention that all they've achieved was made possible by blood money, being owned by an authoritarian dictatoship in Qatar.

They're a stain on football and nowhere near even top 10. Same with City, Newcastle, and to a lesser extent, Chelsea.

Also, Maguire isn't a "meme player".
 
Seeing Bayern so many times was a bit strange to me. They obviously have a huge history and are very rich but i didnt know they were that large. I looked up world wide shirt sales and they are in those lists quite often. I did not know that. I think i see PSG shirts more often than Bayern shirts.

Real Madrid is top of the list obviously.

I think Manchester United was second but Messi lifted Barcelona to second place. I think they are still second now. Manchester United is still huge and rich but the lack of succes and having meme players like Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire and now Antony arent good for the reputation of the club.

Liverpool their combination of recent succes and being able to compete with Manchester City, is making them a current top 5 'biggest club' in my opinion. The fifth team would be one of Juventus or Bayern i guess. PSG was getting there too but losing big names like Neymar, Messi and Mbappe are going to hurt their appeal.
Liverpool have a huge amount of accomplishments, more than us historically if you look at the top trophies..
 
In terms of history, power, prestige, wealth, reputation, trophies, popularity, fanbase and everything really etc.

For me

1. Real Madrid
2. Manchester United
3. Barcelona
4. Bayern Munich
5. Juventus

Have I got it right? Or would you change anyone?

None of that counts for shit anymore. It basically comes down to which country you’re owned by.
 
PSG? Only founded in 1970, never did anything in Europe, have only dominated a weak French league for 13 years, because their wage bill adds up to 40% of the whole league's wage bill, and the transfer fees are similar as well. Not to mention that all they've achieved was made possible by blood money, being owned by an authoritarian dictatoship in Qatar.

They're a stain on football and nowhere near even top 10. Same with City, Newcastle, and to a lesser extent, Chelsea.

Also, Maguire isn't a "meme player".

All true but a more casual fan (which are most fans of the biggest clubs in the world) doesnt really care about all of that. They see PSG as a club that wins a lot of games, signed some of the most exciting players in the world in Neymar and Mbappe. Signed the best player of all time in Messi. Had David Beckham play for them. They do great on social media and have a big global appeal. They are a big club these days. They did reach the the CL final and you do see their name in the knock out phase of the CL all the time now.

He isnt anymore. He was the most ridiculed player in the world for quite some time. He didnt deserve to be made of that much but he certainly was a meme to most football fans at that time. Most expensive defender ever and captain of Manchester United making the mistakes he made. He managed to pick himself back up and now is a good Premier League defender again. He is doing a decent job as a back up centre back now. He certainly was a world wide meme too. You could argue that he was the biggest meme of them all even.
 
Liverpool have a huge amount of accomplishments, more than us historically if you look at the top trophies..

True. I wanted to type a combination of current succes, history and going toe to toe with Manchester City. Liverpool is a huge club. I think they deserve to be in that current top 5 list. They are certainly a lot more relevant than any Italian team at this time.