Champions, record-breakers, and newcomers: 7 best football teams of 2024

Strong and dedicated players who made millions of fans cheer for teams they didn't know before. Fantastic teams that made many fall in love with them at first sight. Coaches who rewrote history. All this happened in European football in just one year. OBOZ.UA recalls which teams we enjoyed watching in 2024.

Real Madrid (2nd place in the UEFA rankings)

The Champions League winner can definitely be considered one of the best football teams in the world. Star-studded lineup (with even more famous players since the summer), a focus on results, and complete dominance in the two main tournaments of the season. One could say a lot of great things about Real Madrid because that's exactly what the club was like before the fall. However, now the team is not feeling good: in La Liga, Real Madrid is a leader that can fall in any time, while in the new Champions League, it is on the verge of being kicked out. The team is skillful, but there is no confidence on the field, especially after the painful defeats to Barcelona and Liverpool. Still, if they fix the mistakes in the next championships, their dominance will continue.

Borussia (8th in the UEFA rankings)

Borussia is a team that left completely different impressions. The Champions League finalist, who confidently smashed Atletico Madrid and PSG, was not as bright in the Bundesliga. Its players were not in a hurry to overcome their rivals; Malen, Füllkrug and Brandt did not stand out among the rest. That's because Dortmund is a team of balance. Young talents with experienced leaders provided the stability that Şahin maintained after Terzić. In the 24/25 season, they repeat the previous draw, giving more preference to European competitions. And this year, they can emphasize their new position by winning the Champions League. Many analysts list the club among the contenders for the title.

Atalanta (19th in the UEFA rankings)

Atalanta is feeling confident. This year, the team won their first ever European Cup. And they did it with boldness, breaking the unbeaten streak of the incredible Bayer Leverkusen. It seemed that in the summer the fairy tale would end, but Lukman, Zappacosta, Scamacca and others stayed. Gasperini continues to build a team that is convenient for him and very uncomfortable for opponents. Right now, Atalanta is the leader of Serie A, which has completed its eight-year transformation into a new force in the Italian championship. They are also doing well in the new Champions League, in which they will face an opponent difficult for anyone in the playoffs.

Aston Villa (63rd in the UEFA rankings)

The sudden star of the EPL is also on our list. This is the only team from the English championship that surprised us last year. In a very short period of time, Coach Emery managed to turn a messy squad into a star team that set its own record for points in the 23/24 season, leaving many English leaders behind. It also boats a goalkeeper ranked among the thirty best players in the world - Martínez really does something incredible defending the goal. Aston Villa also decided to focus primarily on the Champions League. The team wants to spend their debut season in the elite European competition among the best.

Bayer Leverkusen (10th place in the UEFA rankings)

Progress of the year. That's how the 2024 was for Bayer Munich. Under Alonso's leadership, the team set a unique unbeaten record for both themselves and German football in general, almost having the first European Cup in the pocket and engraving a new name on the world football map. People usually paid attention to the last 10 minutes of their matches, because everyone knew that even failing with a 0-2, they would win back the game a moment before the whistle. It's amazing that the club managed to keep its leaders - Grimaldo, Wirtz and Boniface - this summer. This attacking trio is still leading Leverkusen to a new peak: they have almost caught up with Bayern in the Bundesliga and are one step away from the CL playoffs.

Olympiacos (43rd in the UEFA rankings)

To see a Greek team on this list is something fantastic. But the achievement of the Conference League winner cannot be underestimated: they brought Greece its first international cup. Moreover, this is also the first European trophy for Greece, so the team's achievement is as historic as it gets. Right now, the team is once again the first in the home championship, fighting for the knockout phases in the Europa League. In the summer, they were outplayed by the toughter clubs, making almost all the leaders leave. The rebuilding led by striker El-Kaabi has been delayed, as the best team in Greece no longer has a confident advantage over its rivals. However, the year was still impressive.

Brest (110th in the UEFA rankings)

Girona could have been on this list, but they are lagging behind in La Liga, completely failing in the Champions League, so it's impossible to call the whole year a success. Brest, on the other hand, is the star of French football, which in their first ever Champions League stayed confidently among the giants. The average team of Ligue 1 was not considered a contender even for the top ten, but they showed some skills in the last round of the domestic championship, and then we learned about a new name in the CL. In the summer, the team replenished, selling several players. Now it continues to rewrite history. Moreover, Brest may rise in the UEFA rankings soon as the team is growing every week. They will be Shakhtar's opponents in the January European Cup matches, which is sure to be an interesting encounter.