Barcelona's MSN, Real Madrid's BBC and Europe's top 10 attacking trios of the 21st century - ranked

Porto scoured the globe to assemble arguably their most fearsome strike force ever in 2009, luring Colombian star Radamel Falcao from Argentina and Brazilian sensation Hulk from Japan for bargain fees to link up with homegrown trickster Silvester Varela - who had been cast off by Sporting CP. They quickly developed a telepathic understanding, and Andre Villas-Boas recognised their incredible potential after being drafted in as Porto's new head coach ahead of the 2010-11 campaign.

Falcao, Hulk and Varela hit 86 goals between them that season as Porto romped to the Primeira Liga title without losing a single game, won the Taca de Portugal, and got their hands on the Europa League trophy. Master finisher Falcao scored 18 times in the continental competition alone, a record that still stands to this day, and with Hulk smashing through opponents at will and Varela leaving defenders for dust with his lightning turn of pace, Porto were a match for anyone.

Borussia Dortmund's 2012-13 campaign was full of heartbreak. Jurgen Klopp's side finished a distant second to Bayern in the Bundesliga title race and lost to their arch-rivals in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, but had the chance to exact revenge in an all-German Champions League final.

Unfortunately, BVB blew it again, though, with Bayern emerging as 2-1 winners at Wembley courtesy of an 89th-minute strike from Arjen Robben. But make no mistake, it would have been Dortmund who won the treble that year, not Bayern, had their defence not been in such a shambles.

With Marco Reus and Mario Gotze on hand to provide world-class service, Robert Lewandowski hit 36 goals across all competitions to cement his standing as the most deadly centre-forward in Europe. Four of those efforts came in a 4-1 demolition of Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals as Klopp's heavy-metal brand of football was unleashed in all its glory.

It was enough to leave Bayern fearing they could soon be usurped as Germany's most dominant team, so they proceeded to trigger Mario Gotze's €37 million (£31m/$41m) release clause, before snatching Lewandowski on a free transfer the following year to nip Klopp's revolution in the bud.

Pedro, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa did not immediately gel at Chelsea. All three men were guilty of underperforming in a nightmare 2015-16 season that saw the Blues finish 10th in the Premier League and exit the Champions League in the round of 16 at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, but the outlook changed dramatically after the arrival of Antonio Conte.

Costa notched 22 goals as Hazard and Pedro racked up 24 goal involvements each across all competitions to help Chelsea re-establish themselves as England's top club in Conte's first season in the dugout. The Blues finished seven points clear of Tottenham and 15 ahead of Manchester City to clinch their fifth Premier League title and reached the FA Cup final, ultimately losing 2-1 to Arsenal.

N'Golo Kante scooped the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for his outstanding displays in midfield, but Costa, Hazard and Pedro would all have been deserving winners too. Costa was a force of nature upfront, Hazard produced match-winning moments out of nothing and Pedro was a constant menace on the left wing; a lack of European football definitely gave Chelsea an advantage over their domestic rivals, but it was a joy to see that trio reach its full potential.

Edinson Cavani had already etched his name into PSG folklore with his goalscoring exploits in his first four years at the club, but the French giants moved to bolster his supporting cast ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, breaking records in the process. Neymar became the world's most expensive player when joining PSG from Barcelona in a €222m (£187m/$247m) deal, while Mbappe was snapped up from Monaco for a cool €180m (£152m/$200m).

PSG's new trifecta gelled instantly, racking up 87 goals between them in their first season together to help PSG land all four domestic trophies on offer in France. A hugely disappointing last-16 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid overshadowed their achievements somewhat, but PSG became a truly elite team that season, as evidenced by a 3-0 rout of Bayern Munich in the group stage of the competition.

Neymar came as close as he possibly could to justifying his outrageous price tag as he pulled the strings with his exceptional dribbling and passing, while Mbappe lived up to his billing as Europe's newest superstar and Cavani broke Zlatan Ibrahimovic's all-time scoring record for PSG. There was no stopping them in full flow, and up until this season, 'MEN' were undoubtedly the most potent trio in the club's history.

Between 2000 and 2004, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp scored a combined 272 goals in 128 Premier League games for Arsenal. They won two league titles in that time and formed part of the 'Invincibles' squad that went through the entire 2003-04 campaign unbeaten under Arsene Wenger, blowing away fans across the country with their technical prowess and elegance on the ball.

Pires was a two-footed magician capable of turning defenders inside out, Bergkamp had a first-touch bestowed on him by the Gods and Henry was the best all-round centre-forward English football has ever seen. Together they set new standards of excellence on the football pitch and helped Arsenal develop a distinct style that made them the envy of every other club on the continent.

Arsenal didn't make it beyond the Champions League quarter-finals in this period, but all three of their main men still left their mark, especially Henry, who scored an unforgettable hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Inter at San Siro in 2023. Meanwhile, Pires netted a fine solo goal to cap a match-winning display against Bayer Leverkusen in 2021-22, and Bergkamp produced perhaps the greatest assist in European history for Freddie Ljungberg in a 3-1 home win over Juventus in the same season.

Klopp finished building his all-conquering Liverpool side in 2017-18, bringing in star goalkeeper Alisson, dominant Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, and the man who would go on to become the club's 'Egyptian King': Mohamed Salah. The former Roma forward completed the Reds' all-star frontline as he slotted in alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, making an instant impact with his mesmerising dribbling and ice-cool finishing.

Over the next four years, Salah, Firmino and Mane fired Liverpool to success in the Champions League, Premier League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup, with very few teams able to keep the relentless trio at bay in full flow. Salah was the chief source of goals and assists during their time together, scoring 65 while setting up another 21, but Mane also weighed in with 61 goal involvements and Firmino recorded a more than respectable 51.

Mane's pace and aggression made him impossible to pin down, and Firmino was a master link-man whose clever movement often helped Liverpool break down teams playing low blocks. Salah, meanwhile, was the one to provide the magic spark when Liverpool were most in need.

Firmino and Mane are long gone now - as is Klopp - and Salah is still delivering the goods for the Reds at 32. But Salah, and indeed Liverpool, have never been more thrilling to watch than when the 'Fab Three' were all strutting their stuff a Anfield at the peak of their powers.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney only spent two seasons together at Man Utd, but they inspired the club to five trophies during that time, and set new standards of excellence in English football. Between 2007 and 2009, United's three leading superstars notched a combined total of 140 goals and 61 assists as Sir Alex Ferguson's side stormed to back-to-back Premier League titles and Champions League glory, while also scooping the Club World Cup and League Cup.

The trio was broken up when Real Madrid lured Ronaldo to Santiago Bernabeu and Tevez made the hugely controversial switch to United's noisy neighbours Manchester City - complete with the infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' billboard - but the impact they made at Old Trafford in such a short space of time guaranteed legendary status. Indeed, one man who got to see Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo running rampant from close quarters believes the Premier League will never be graced by a better all-around trio.

“Tevez for a year with Rooney and Ronaldo was just breathtaking, it was out of this world,” Gary Neville said in 2020. “Not just because of the quality of the players, but there was a selfish, horrible, nasty determination with those three. Ronaldo in a different way on the pitch, he wouldn’t go around kicking and hassling people, hustling, he was immense in terms of his performance levels, but Rooney and Tevez were street fighters but with unbelievable ability. The best front three in the Premier League, you’ll never beat those three for me.”

Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi didn't enjoy instant success together at Barcelona. In Frank Rijkaard's final season in charge at Camp Nou, Barca failed to win a single trophy, and Henry was their top scorer in all competitions with a fairly mediocre tally of 19 goals.

But everything clicked after Pep Guardiola was promoted from Barca B to replace Rijkaard ahead of the 2008-09 campaign. Under Pep's guidance, Barca swept aside all comers on their way to the treble, with Messi, Eto'o and Henry contributing a staggering haul of 100 goals between them across all competitions.

Barca outclassed Man Utd en route to a dazzling 2-0 Champions League final victory, demolished Athletic Club 4-1 in the Copa del Rey showpiece, and recorded respective 6-2 and 6-0 routs of arch-rivals Real Madrid and Atletico in La Liga. Guardiola created the best team football has ever seen, and the combination of Messi's wizardry, Henry's efficiency and Eto'o's ruthlessness proved too much to handle for all of Barca's opponents at home and abroad.

Between 2013 and 2018, Real Madrid pretty much took ownership of the Champions League. Los Blancos lifted Europe's most prestigious trophy in four of those five seasons, with Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale consistently coming up clutch in the biggest matches.

Bale provided the pace, Benzema the power, and Ronaldo was the ultimate predator as Real became a winning machine that will probably never be matched. They only won one La Liga title together, but that was mainly down to the fact Real prioritised Europe during this period, with Zinedine Zidane's dynamic set-up more suited to knockout competitions.

The famed 'BBC' trio scored 442 goals between them, averaging almost two goals a game. Records tumbled around Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale, all of whom had an insatiable appetite for scoring and a win-at-all-costs mentality that set them apart from their peers.

The first nine trios on this list were all world-class, but it wasn't difficult to decide on the special three deserving of the No.1 slot. Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar meshed together so perfectly at Camp Nou between 2014 and 2017 that Barcelona often didn't even need to function above 50 percent across all other areas of the pitch; if they could get any one of them on the ball, victory was always within their grasp.

Beyond the 537 goal involvements and seven trophies, which included Barca's second treble success in 2014-15, 'MSN' provided a spectacle like no other. Three of the most gifted South American players in history coming together was always going to produce fireworks, but Messi, Suarez and Neymar were so in sync that their relationship was almost symbiotic, and that led to feats of artistry that were scarcely believable.

Messi played the part of conductor, while Neymar was the lock picker and Suarez provided the clinical final touch. But they could also swap roles at will, and that unpredictability is what made them so effective. There have been better Barcelona teams, but we'll never see a better front-three.