Liverpool's 2021/22 season finished on a largely disappointing note.

In what will still rightfully endure as a historic year for the Reds, they were left to settle for the Carabao Cup and FA Cup as their quadruple dreams died in the final week of the campaign.

A late Manchester City comeback closed the door on any hopes of snatching the Premier League title, before Real Madrid ground out a second Champions League final over Liverpool in four years.

Liverpool's 2021/22 season

However, it's important to remember that Liverpool's end to the season was only disappointing within the context of the stellar performances that had come before it.

The achievement of Jurgen Klopp's men to even be playing in every possible game available to the them is something that we might never see matched for years, if not decades.

And just because City conquered England and Real tamed Europe, there's still an argument to be had that Liverpool are Europe's best team in spite of it all.

Are Liverpool the best team in the world?

While that might seem crazy to some, it's a viewpoint that's corroborated by the statistics with Liverpool ranked as the best men's side in European football over at ClubElo.

One of the most revered statistical models in the beautiful game, 'Elo' ratings are assigned to each club based on their win probabilities against the other top teams around them.

You can learn more about the Elo system at your own leisure here, but the moral of the story is that you're going to do well in the data if you have a superior win probability against more teams than not.

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Like any attempt at objectively ranking football teams, it's by no means perfect, but it's nevertheless a fascinating way to take stock of the state of play at the end of the 2021/22 season.

The top 50 clubs in Europe

So, without further ado, be sure to check out who's nipping at Liverpool's heels in the statistical ranking of the best teams in the European men's game at the time of writing down below:

50. Borussia Monchengladbach

49. Brentford

48. Rangers

47. Freiburg

46. Marseille

45. Rennes

44. Lazio

43. Wolverhampton Wanderers

42. Feyenoord

41. Union Berlin

40. Atalanta

Soccer Football - Europa League - Quarter Final - First Leg - RB Leipzig v Atalanta - Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany - April 7, 2022 Atalanta's Luis Muriel celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

39. Eintracht Frankfurt

38. Lyon

37. Athletic Bilbao

36. Aston Villa

35. AS Monaco

34. Crystal Palace

33. AS Roma

32. Real Sociedad

31. Newcastle United

30. Brighton & Hove Albion

Soccer Football - Premier League - Leeds United v Brighton & Hove Albion - Elland Road, Leeds, Britain - May 15, 2022 Brighton & Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring their first goal with Lewis Dunk Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

29. PSV Eindhoven

28. Benfica

27. Red Bull Salzburg

26. Sporting CP

25. Real Betis

24. Leicester City

23. West Ham United

22. Juventus

21. Bayer Leverkusen

20. Borussia Dortmund

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Greuther Fuerth v Borussia Dortmund - Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer, Fuerth, Germany - May 7, 2022 Borussia Dortmund's Felix Passlack celebrates scoring their third goal with Axel Witsel REUTERS/Heiko Becker DFL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT ANY USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AS IMAGE SEQUENCES AND/OR QUASI-VIDEO.

19. Napoli

18. Manchester United

17. RB Leipzig

16. Sevilla

15. FC Porto

14. AC Milan

13. Villarreal

12. Arsenal

11. Paris Saint-Germain

10. Inter Milan

Soccer Football - Coppa Italia - Final - Juventus v Inter Milan - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - May 11, 2022 Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates winning the Coppa Italia with the trophy REUTERS/Alberto Lingria

9. Tottenham Hotspur

8. Atletico Madrid

7. Barcelona

6. Ajax

5. Chelsea

4. Bayern Munich

3. Real Madrid

2. Manchester City

1. Liverpool

Soccer Football - Carabao Cup Final - Chelsea v Liverpool - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - February 27, 2022 Liverpool's Joel Matip celebrates with the trophy after winning the Carabao Cup REUTERS/David Klein

The Premier League shines

So, there you have it, the Premier League leads the way.

While City and Real might not like the sight of Liverpool's heels having freshly pipped them to the two biggest trophies of all, Kopites will be feeling vindicated that the collapse of their quadruple charge doesn't define their season.

Yes, of course, trophies are the most important metric by which you can judge a campaign, but make no mistake that 2021/22 was the year where Jurgen Klopp's men returned to football's top table.

Elsewhere, the Premier League also flexed its muscles with some interesting comparisons as Spurs got the better of PSG, Arsenal topped AC Milan and West Ham chased down Juventus.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Everton - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - May 22, 2022 Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah celebrates scoring their second goal with Gabriel Martinelli REUTERS/Toby Melville EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

But the continent still made its presence felt with the free-scoring Real and Bayern holding their own amongst the big boys, while Ajax are really punching above their weight in sixth place.

Barcelona are clearly benefitting from the Xavi renaissance, Atletico haven't lost too much ground on Europe's finest and Jose Mourinho still has his work cut out to make Roma a top, top side.

However, no matter what trend, pattern or placement you're honing in on, the moral of the story is that there are plenty of fascinating story lines ready and raring to unfold in the 2022/23 season. We can't wait.