Football masterclasses: Liverpool ‘better than the Brazilians’, Man United thrash Roma, Milan destroy Barca and more

Watching Barcelona's masterly display against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League got us thinking about other wonderful team performances. England tearing the Dutch apart and Newcastle taking Man United to the cleaners came to mind, so what is the best team effort you've ever seen?

CAPELLO CRACKS A SMILE AS MILAN DESTROY BARCELONA
Milan, runners-up the year before, lined up against Barcelona, winners two years previously, in a dream 1994 Champions League final. While Barcelona could boast the brilliance of Romario, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman, Milan were without their key central defensive partnership of Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta, both suspended, while talismanic striker Marco van Basten no longer an option after suffering a career-ending injury. Johan Cruyff's Barcelona were nicknamed 'the Dream Team', having won four consecutive La Liga titles and were favourites to lift their second European Cup, but Fabio Capello's side tore the Catalan club apart and were 2-0 up by half-time courtesy of a Daniele Massaro brace. Dejan Savicevic's stunning goal widened the gap and Marcel Desailly's effort even had manager Fabio Capello smiling – seriously (see video below). Milan's performance has gone down as one of the greatest in football history and proved to be the peak of a glorious nine-year period that yielded three European Cups, another two finals and five Serie A titles.

SHEARER AND SHERINGHAM GO DOUBLE DUTCH
In 11 magical second half minutes, Terry Venables' England wowed the Wembley crowd at Euro '96 as Teddy Sheringham (twice) and Alan Shearer added to Shearer's first half penalty to put the Three Lions 4-0 ahead against the Netherlands. It wasn't just the scoreline that was impressive, but the quality of football played by England against a country renowned for their passing philosophy. Despite conceding a goal to the Dutch, the night was made even sweeter for England when Patrick Kluivert's consolation sent Scotland out on goal difference, preventing the Auld Enemy from making it past the first round of a major tournament for the first time. For England fans, it doesn't get much better than that.

ARGENTINA'S SIXY FOOTBALL SINKS SERBIA
A marvellous 24-pass move before Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso smashed the ball into the back of Dragoslav Jevric's goal was the highlight of Argentina's fine 6-0 win against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup. Either side of the passing master class, Maxi Rodriguez scored twice to make it 3-0 before the break, with Hernan Crespo, Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi adding three more shortly before the end. Despite the performance, Argentina were eliminated by old adversaries Germany on penalties at the quarter final stage.

MAN UNITED REIGN AGAINST ROMA
Just three days before putting seven past the Italians in the 2007 Champions League quarter final, Man United crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park and before that lost by the same scoreline in Rome in the first leg. Therefore, many were surprised at the blistering display from the Red Devils, who dominated their Serie A opponents from start to finish, with Michael Carrick opening the scoring after 11 minutes. Patrice Evra even bagged himself a rare goal in what was an incredible demolition considering the stage of the tournament. Serie A proved its class in the next round, however, when Milan and Kaka in particular gave a masterclass in the San Siro to win 3-0 and deny United a showdown with Liverpool in Athens. Fortunately for United fans, Liverpool were unable to stop Milan either and one year later it was Fergie's team who succeeded the Italians as Champions League winners.

LIVERPOOL DO IT BETTER THAN THE BRAZILIANS
Arguably the greatest ever Liverpool team, the 1987/88 side built by Kenny Dalglish stormed to the title with a brand of attacking football that gave the opposition little chance. When the Reds met title rivals Nottingham Forest at Anfield, one of the few teams capable of giving them a good game, they demostrated the full array of their talent by dishing out a 5-0 pasting and playing some sumptuous football. No less a judge than the great Tom Finney declared that "It was the finest exhibition I've seen the whole time I've played or watched the game. You couldn't see it bettered anywhere, not even in Brazil."

FIVE-STAR NEWCASTLE TROUNCE UNITED
Excellent passing, with goals ranging from the scrappy (Darren Peacock's opener), to the sublime (David Ginola, 2-0) coupled with the power of Les Ferdinand (3-0), the poaching of Alan Shearer (4-0) and the cheeky brilliance of Philippe Albert (5-0) produced one of Newcastle's finest moments. Shearer later missed a chunk of the season through injury, while manager Kevin Keegan resigned halfway through, derailing the club's title push and they could only manage a runners-up spot for the second successive season. United may have won the silverware, but Keegan's Toon left an indelible mark on all those who watched them, earning the nickname 'The Entertainers'.