Italy has been at the forefront of world football for over a century, producing some of the game's greatest international sides, and the most legendary club outfits.
Serie A had its heyday in the 1990s when the domestic league was the centre of the footballing universe, and saw many of its clubs dominate in Europe too, in particular AC Milan and Juventus.
The Bianconceri have gone on to enjoy unparalleled success into the 21st century, but their grip has loosened, and Inter Milan are now arguably the most impressive club in the country.
Under Simone Inzaghi, the Nerazzurri will compete in a second Champions League final in three years on Saturday night against Paris Saint-Germain, seeking to add a fourth title to their glittering trophy cabinet.
Ahead of what could be a huge night for Inter, Sports Mole goes back through the archives and picks out the five greatest club sides ever to grace Italian football.
5: 'Grande Torino' (1942-1949)
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One of the greatest and most tragic footballing stories concerns that of the Torino team from the 1940s, nicknamed 'Grande Torino', who enjoyed utter domination of Italian football prior to the days of the European Cup.
There will be few who can argue that Torino were not the best club in Europe at the time, as they enjoyed 'Quinquennio d'Oro': translating as 'five years of gold', thanks to their five successive Scudetti won either side of World War Two.
Torino also became the first club to win the domestic double in Italy, when they added the Coppa Italia to their Serie A title in 1943, and post-war, the Granata overtook the Italian national team, at times having eight, nine or even 10 members of the Azzurri's starting XI.
However, tragedy struck in 1949, when the entirety of the squad was killed in the Superga plane disaster, flying home from a friendly in Lisbon against Benfica, a story that gained traction and deepest sympathies across the world, damaging not only Torino, who were relegated within the next decade, but also for the Azzurri, who lost a bulk of their footballing heroes on the eve of the 1950 World Cup.
Their legacy lives on though, as they still hold the record for the most Serie A home games without defeat (88), the most goals scored in a single season (125), and the biggest margin of victory in a top-flight encounter (10-0 vs. Alexandria in 1947-48)
4: Inter Milan (2009-10)
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It shows the strength of Italian football over the years that a team that managed the unthinkable only ranks fourth in this list, but that is where Jose Mourinho's history-makers place.
Inter were the first, and will likely remain for the foreseeable future, the only Italian club to win the treble, during a perfect 2009-10 campaign, that saw the Nerazzurri take home the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League.
Mourinho's men were far from the flashiest of teams in world football at the time, but the Portuguese manager's methods worked a treat, especially in Europe, where Inter eliminated Chelsea, CSKA Moscow, and famously Barcelona, on their way to facing Bayern Munich in the final in Madrid.
There were big names all over the pitch, such as Samuel Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder and captain Javier Zanetti, but Diego Milito was the hero and the man for the big occasion, scoring the winner against Siena that clinched the title, the solitary goal in the Coppa final versus Roma, and both goals over Bayern in the Champions League final, which crowned the greatest individual season by an Italian club in history.
3: AC Milan (2002-07)
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Under former player Carlo Ancelotti, AC Milan enjoyed a rapid resurgence in the 2000s after their glory days in the 80s and early 90s, and the era between 2002 and 2007 was certainly a dramatic one.
There was nothing dramatic about their 2003 Champions League final success over Juventus, as the game is frequently listed as the worst final in football history, but the Rossoneri did not care one bit as they lifted a sixth title in Manchester, on top of the Coppa Italia they won the same season.
That side included the likes of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta at the back, with an all-time midfield of Andrea Pirlo, Rui Costa, Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf, as well as Filippo Inzaghi and Ballon d'Or winner Andriy Shevchenko up front.
The Scudetto followed in 2004, and it looked as though another Champions League would follow in 2005, before the biggest collapse in the competition's history, which still leaves a huge stain on the Ancelotti era, losing to Liverpool despite being 3-0 up in the final.
Kaka and Cafu joined the already-illustrious XI by this point, and they helped Milan on their way to revenge in the 2007 final, when Inzaghi netted twice to beat Liverpool in Athens, crowning one of the greatest eras in Italian football, in what was a bizarre spell for the sport in the country, given the Calciopoli scandal, but the joy of World Cup glory in 2006.
2: Juventus (2011-2020)
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It is unlikely Italian football will ever see dominance on the scale Juventus enjoyed throughout the entire 2010s ever again, when Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri enjoyed a monopoly over Serie A.
The Old Lady won nine straight titles in this period, three with Conte, five with Allegri, and the final one with Maurizio Sarri, but they were famed for having four players who became part of the furniture and were the most reliable quartet in the club's history: goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, and back three Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli.
Those four were the regulars, but even when they lost players in other areas, Juve's recruitment was among the best in Europe, replacing Carlos Tevez with Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata with Mario Mandzukic, and adding the likes of Dani Alves, Pirlo and Paul Pogba for nominal fees.
Juve also won the double in four straight seasons between 2014-15 and 2017-18, earning 102 points in 2013-14, and over 90 points in four straight campaigns between 2015 and 2019.
The only thing that was missing was a European title, as this crop were unable to replicate the 1996 squad that won the Champions League, losing in both the 2015 and 2017 finals to Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, but that should not detract from their performances domestically, which virtually turned Serie A into a one-team league.
1: AC Milan (1987-1994)
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There is only one team who can top this list, and there is a strong argument that they could well be the greatest club team in history, and that honour goes to the AC Milan squad from the late-80s and early-90s, who ruled the Italian and European game for over half a decade.
Under Arrigo Sacchi between 1987 and 1991, the Rossoneri were arguably at their very best, winning back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990, a year after claiming the Scudetto at home.
Legendary figures such as Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and a fresh-faced Maldini made up one of the best defences ever to grace the sport, while Demetrio Albertini and future manager Ancelotti complemented the Dutch influence of Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten.
After Sacchi's departure, Fabio Capello took the reins and won the title without losing a single match in his first season, as part of a 58-game unbeaten streak in Serie A, and that would be the first of three straight Scudetti.
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The 1993-94 season remains notorious for the fact Milan won the title despite only scoring 36 goals in 34 matches, because that aforementioned defence only gave up an incredible 15 goals throughout the entire season.
Capello nurtured more future superstars who were added to the ranks, such as Zvonimir Boban, Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly, and their crowning moment came in one of the three straight Champions League finals they reached under his stewardship, when the Rossoneri beat favourites Barcelona 4-0 in 1994, which put the gloss on the greatest era any Italian club has ever enjoyed.
Andrew Delaney
