1. FC Barcelona
Scored goals for fun all year, be it in la liga, the champions league or the copa del rey. Few are the teams that can hold their heads up high after playing them this season, and from the six goals they put past their greatest rivals on their own turf, to the confident dismissal of the defending champions to claim the European Cup they were always a joy to watch. Sadly a smear campaign seems to have been led by the unlikely but equally jealous pairing of man utd and chelsea fans to try and diminish their achievements, but six of eight teams that met them on their march to Europe's summit were brushed aside with sheer impudence while the second best team and one of those very victims struggled to assert themselves over the likes of Villarreal, Celtic and Porto. There is really no comparison.
2. Manchester United
Clearly second-best this year, and you can take that as flattery or derision. In praise of them they won Europe's strongest league for the third straight year and claimed a few mickey mouse trophies to boot. There ain't many teams (just one) who are a match for them right now.
3. Chelsea
When you consider Chelsea's season highlights were bringing the game into disrepute both on the field and off it in the champions league semi-final with their cynicism and lack of class, and a consolation trophy against a mediocre Everton, you could argue that other teams could easily take this spot. But I put them ahead of Liverpool on the strength of their performance to knock them out of the Champions League, with one of a rare few impressive performances after their gangbuster start to the season burnt out within the first two or three months.
4. Liverpool
Went trophy-less, but famous thrashings of Manchester United and Real Madrid hint at what might of been if they didn't draw so many games in the EPL, where they only lost two matches the whole season.
5. Wolfsburg
Looked like Barcelona at times in the very entertaining German League, which looks to be rapidly closing the gap with Serie A, as the likes of Bayern, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and Hamburg all copped hidings. One hopes their attacking trio can stick around at the club for next season so they can prove their class in the Champions League.
6. Inter
Won Serie A in a canter for their fourth straight title, but it should be a massive concern for them that they're carried by one player who now seems to want out. Could well be the end of their dynasty if Zlatan leaves, and, with their European exploits barely worth mentioning during that time, one feels that they haven't quite done enough to be remembered alongside some of the greater Italian club teams of the past.
7. Juventus
While their previously mentioned national counterparts look to be on the wane, this is certainly one club that the other european heavyweights will be wary of when the next champions league season kicks off. Faded in the end domestically, but the most successful club in Serie A flew the flag for Italy with arrogant demolitions of Real Madrid in the group stage, and gave Chelsea a real fight in the knock out rounds.
8. Porto
Regardless of exiting in the quarter-finals they were probably the fourth best team in the Champions League this season. Finished ahead of Arsenal in the group stages and did what Liverpool couldn't do without Gerrard's cheating, namely matching Atletico; indeed they were all over them in Portugal. Manchester United barely scraped by this team, and with two domestic trophies they had a very good year.
9. Bayern Munich
Despite failing to win a trophy, Bayern at their best this season was a sight to behold, and though they didn't walk all over the Bundesliga as expected it's more a testament of that league's growing quality than Bayern's decline. Won a tough Champions League group comfortably and then produced one of the most stunning results in European history smashing 12 goals past Sporting Lisbon in two games. Who knows where to from here. They've already made a few quality signings for the new season but Ribery's potential departure (despite Bayern's continued confidence he will remain) could stall their development.
10. Atletico Madrid
Slumped in the middle of the year when Aguero lost his form and until Forlan found his, but either side of that they were fantastic. In the earlier stages they were lead by Kun, dominating in the league and in Europe. Towards the end Forlan came to the fore, going absolutely goal-crazy in a way you rarely ever see, scoring 20 goals in the last 17 games of the season, including 12 in the last 8 and 7 in the last 4. If they have a good summer they can go further in the Champions League next season.
Honourable Mentions:
AZ Alkmaar
Didn't feature in Europe but turned around a poor 07/08 to finally get the league championship they've been building towards for the last half a decade. One of the feel good stories of the season.
Werder Bremen
A poor league season but still almost walked away with two trophies, contenting themselves with just the German Cup in the end. One feels there might have been a second if not for the absence of their now departed star Diego from the UEFA Cup Final. But with his exit who knows where they'll go from here.
Bordeaux
While reliable first hand sources and my own fleeting exposure to Ligue 1 this season suggests Bordeaux were nothing more than an above average side in a very average year in France (and their performances in Europe certainly don't challenge such an assertion) they deserve a nod for finally ending the reign of Lyon. And won two domestic cups to boot.
Shaktar Donetsk
In truth they were a distant second in Ukraine, and couldn't even finish ahead of Sporting Lisbon in their Champions League group, but they won the UEFA Cup, so there you go.
Unirea Urziceni
Are they the new Romanian League champions or are they not? No one really knows yet while Timisoara await the result of their appeal against the farcical decision to strip them of six league points because they wouldn't change their jersey colour (yes, the same amount of points Porto were stripped for match-fixing last season. And UEFA backed this penalty, what can you say?). With one game left they're four points clear of second place, but it could be cut to two by the time the final matches are played next week.
So to ensure they finish the year as champions they have to beat no less an opponent than Steaua Bucharest, who need to win themselves to ensure they qualify for Europe. They represent a town of just 17,000 people; I don't know for sure but they might well become the smallest region to ever be represented in the Champions League next season.
Genoa
I was originally going to have five honourable mentions, and Genoa was going to be one of them. But then I forgot all about them and added Urziceni. But there's no crime in having six. I could re-ignite the eternal and paradoxical debate by pointing out that while in La Liga Diego Milito could only ever lead Real Zaragoza to relegation, and here in Serie A he's almost led a small club to the Champions League. But that would be too simple. They've really done very well, and it must be devastating to miss out on the CL on head-to-head differential. Certainly Genoa would have benefitted from qualification much more than Fiorentina, especially given the departure of their star striker. I suspect we won't be seeing them in equal fourth again next season, while I have no doubt Viola will be up near there again.
Notable Absentees (On teams other people have included who I feel shouldn't be anywhere near these lists. And here's why):
Milan
Did manage to finish level with Juventus this season, but while the former seems to be slowly rebuilding, Milan's effort felt more like a last hurrah of their current team. That's not to say they'll be back strong next season, but who really knows with Kaka's fate up in the air. They exited Europe with a whimper and while the season ends with a toast to the old champion Maldini, his life time club does not deserve the same ovation.
Arsenal
They were horrible domestically until Arshavin arrived and did just enough in the Champions League until they finally met decent opposition. Barely got past a fading Roma, before sweeping aside a demoralised Villarreal lacking their key player. One feels that they drew the one team they were likely to beat in the quarter-finals and despite Man United fans telling themselves their crushing victory over the Gunners in the semi-final (well, Cristiano's effort more specifically) over-shadowed the absolutely stunning performance of Messi in the Bernabeu a few days earlier, most could see that an Arshavin-less Arsenal was simply not a top four team this year and far too easy prey.
Real Madrid & Sevilla
Well I've lumped these two in the same boat for good reason. I was reading an interesting article on Marca of all places today where they decided to adjust the Spanish League table correcting for referee errors, and while goodness knows how exactly they made such judgements (they didn't bother to explain), it's no surprise that Real Madrid and Sevilla were the two teams who seemed to lose more points than the rest (while Villarreal, Valencia and Atletico Madrid all rose, the latter up to third no less, and Barcelona were deemed to have got everything they deserved this season and stayed exactly as they were).
And I'm sure this doesn't even take into account such ridiculous results as Madrid have a habit for earning, like Getafe for example, where in the second last minute of the game they conceded a penalty to seal their defeat and then in the last minute they scored the winning goal. Not to mention all the times when they were clearly outplayed and still won without a huge slice of luck, just a little slice. Against the likes of Villarreal, and Valencia, and Atletico Madrid (see a pattern here?).
Sevilla, well I'm not so much going to grouch about their astonishing feats of luck. I'm just going to point out that while they puttered along with result after result, they never really played that well this season. Only scored 54 goals, a lot of their wins seemed to be 1-0, and, apart from Valencia when their players weren't getting paid, they were the only team in the higher reaches of the table who seemed to be able to lose at home to, well, crap teams(Racing, Getafe, Betis). They were exposed towards the end there too, when they ran the gauntlet of big teams that the spanish draw so conveniently threw up this year, taking heavy beatings from Valencia, Barcelona and Real Madrid until a surprising away win in Villarreal stopped the rot, and they finished the season by playing a few junk teams again, eeked out a few more dour wins and it was enough to get them into the champions league.
So while the table might tell you otherwise, neither of these teams was anywhere near as good as Atletico this year, who themselves didn't really go as well as they might of. But they went better than these two teams. Believe me, I know these things.