Some clubs are just serial winners of trophies, even in Europe, where the leagues are the most competitive globally.
While teams like Manchester City and PSG may have become dominant in recent years, especially domestically, their rise can be traced back reasonably recently to the injection of substantial funds in the club from wealthy owners.
Other teams have been successful for far longer. Here are the top ten, based on the current list of major trophies won, although this changes virtually every season.
1. Rangers FC (118 trophies)
Rangers FC is the most successful team in European football. The Scottish Premiership club has won over 121 official trophies through its history.
2. Celtic (119 trophies)
Celtic FC is the second club with the most trophies in the world. The club has won over 119 official trophies throughout its existence.
3. Real Madrid (96 trophies)
Real Madrid has been the dominant force in Spanish football, along with Barcelona, for a century and all. They are also the most successful team in the history of the Champions League, having won it 14 times in all, twice more than their nearest rivals.
Apart from that, their 97 trophies include 35 league titles, 19 Spanish Cups, 5 Club World Cups, and two Europa Leagues.
4. Barcelona (90 trophies)
Barcelona may have to settle for second in the all-time list, behind their great rivals, but they are still a highly successful club, having won 90 trophies and one with a unique identity.
League champions 26 times, they have won the Spanish Cup a record 31 times, and although it took them until 1992 to win the Champions League for the first time, they have won it on four occasions subsequently.
In fact, they can boast a clean sweep of European trophies, with three Europa League and four Cup Winners Cup successes under their belt.
5. Benfica (83 trophies)
Benfica has been a major force in Portuguese football for decades, having won the Primeira Liga on 37 occasions and the Portuguese Cup 30 times.
European success has been harder to achieve and their two Champions League titles were won back in the 1960s.
Financial constraints mean they have sometimes been forced to sell some of their better players to clubs in richer leagues.
Still, their domestic achievements mean that there are still 80 pieces of silverware in their trophy cabinet.
6. FC Porto (82 trophies)
Porto, along with Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, are part of the “Big Three” of Portuguese football, and they are currently just behind the Lisbon club when it comes to trophies, with 79 collected so far in their history.
Arguably their figures are inflated by the 24 Portuguese Super Cups they have won, but the numbers are still impressive – 30 league titles and 18 Portuguese Cups.
Like Benfica, they have won the Champions League twice, but those victories were of more recent vintage – in 1987 and again in 2004 when Jose Mourinho was their manager.
7. Bayern Munich (77 trophies)
Bayern are the undisputed king of German football. Since the Bundesliga was first contested in 1963 – 1964, they have won the league 32 times. And they also have raised aloft the German Cup 20 times.
Nor has their success been domestic – their 81 trophies include 6 Champions League titles, the Cup Winners and UEFA Cups, and two Club World Cups.
8. Ajax (75 trophies)
Ajax has won their domestic league, the Eredivisie, more times than any other club in the top ten apart from Bayern Munich.
Add to that 20 Dutch Cups, and there is already a lot of silverware in their Amsterdam home, without considering their achievements in Europe, where they have consistently punched above their financial weight.
They have won the Champions League four times and also have a Europa League and Cup Winners Cup to their name.
9. Juventus (71 trophies)
The Old Lady, as the Turin club are known, are the most successful club in Italian football.
However, their history has been dogged by scandals – Calciopoli and the false accounting investigation they are currently facing.
However, domestically they have won Serie A on 36 occasions and the Italian Cup 14 times.
A club of their stature and size would have been expected to have won the Champions League more than twice, and not since 1997, although they do have the unwelcome distinction of having been beaten in the final more times than any other club (seven).
They do, though, have a Cup Winners Cup and two Europa League wins on their CV.
10. Liverpool (71 trophies)
Liverpool are the most successful English club, with 60 trophies to their name, many of those won during the 1970s and 1980s when they were the dominant club domestically.
They can also claim to have a special relationship with the Champions League – they have won it on six occasions and been beaten by finalists on four occasions as well, including last year.
In the case of both Liverpool and United, who follow them, it is worth pointing out that they play in arguably the most competitive domestic league in Europe, so winning trophies there is inherently harder than in some other countries.
11. Manchester United (70 trophies)
The first English side to win the Champions League, it is perhaps fitting that they are joined in battle with their great rivals Liverpool for ascendancy in this list.
They enjoyed their own golden era of success under manager Sir Alex Ferguson, and now, after a period in the doldrums, may be about to become a serial challenger honours again, this time with Erik ten Hag at the helm.
Nobody has won the Premier League/ First Division title more often than United, and they are second only to Arsenal in FA Cup wins (and can close the gap on the Londoners if they beat neighbours City in this year’s final.
12. AC Milan (52 trophies)
The second most successful Italian club after Juventus are AC Milan, although they have enjoyed more success in Europe.
They have won it seven times, putting them second behind Real Madrid on the all-time list.
Milan, though, lags their Turin rivals in terms of domestic success, with a mere 19 Serie A titles and six Italian Cups to their name.