Manchester United icon Paul Scholes has named Barcelona and Real Madrid as the greatest teams he came up against during his playing career.
The former Red Devils ace suffered Champions League heartbreak against Barca twice when the Spanish giants secured European triumphs in 2009 and 2011.
The Nou Camp heavyweights, then managed by Pep Guardiola, are widely regarded as the greatest club in European history.
But Scholes has also highlighted how Real Madrid, who boasted a star-studded squad in the early 2000s, were another team who stopped United from dominating Europe.
"We were quite unlucky really. In any other era we might have won four, five, or six European Cups," Scholes told the A Goal In One Podcast.
"But the teams that were about…you look at Guardiola’s Barcelona team – Jesus, how good were they?!
"You could go right through the team. In midfield you had Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi. Henry on the left. Centre halves of Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol. Just unreal. They’re without doubt the best team I’ve played against. They’re one of the best teams that’s ever been."
Scholes went to highlight several examples of facing Barca's rivals Madrid, including their memorable clashes in 2000 and 2003 - encounters both won by the Spaniards.
"But If I go a bit further back and think of the Real Madrid side that we played against," he added.
"We got absolutely battered in the Bernabeu one year. 3-1 it was in the first game but what a team that was. It’s not far away from that Barcelona team.
"They had the Brazilian Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Redondo was unreal, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Hierro, Iker Casillas in goal, that was a team that was just ridiculous.
"We came up against some ridiculous teams. We did alright against them but Barcelona just had that edge over that great Real Madrid team."
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