ESPN FC's correspondents have looked back at 2016 and provided one highlight from their clubs.
Premier League
MAN UNITED: Manchester United's FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace at Wembley delivered a glorious end to a troubled season -- and the fighting manner of it made the success all the more admirable.
They battled back after conceding a Jason Puncheon opener on 78 minutes, with Palace manager Alan Pardew dancing in celebration. Juan Mata's equaliser three minutes later ensured extra time. Despite United going down to 10 men as Chris Smalling was sent off, boyhood fan Jesse Lingard hit a stunning winner. It meant Louis van Gaal could end on a high and the subsequent news that Jose Mourinho was taking over in the summer gave the feeling that better times were ahead. -- Arindam Rej
MAN CITY: It could easily be forgotten that while 2016 can be seen as largely disappointing when compared to recent years for Manchester City, they did at least win a trophy.
Goalkeeper Willy Caballero was the unlikely hero with three brilliant penalty saves as City beat Liverpool in a Capital One Cup final shootout victory at Wembley in February. City went into the game on the back of successive home defeats to Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur that all but killed their hopes of challenging for the Premier League title.
But Manuel Pellegrini's side produced one of their better performances of the second half of last season as the Chilean secured a third trophy in his three-year reign. -- Jonathan Smith
LIVERPOOL: It still beggars belief Liverpool managed to emerge victorious from their Europa League quarterfinal tie with Borussia Dortmund.
It was always going to be an extremely difficult test for the Reds, who would have to overcome the fanfare over Jurgen Klopp's return to his former club and a formidable opponent too. After drawing the first game 1-1, the second leg at Anfield will take pride of place as one of the best European nights the historic stadium has witnessed.
Dejan Lovren's winner to complete the unlikeliest of comebacks -- from 3-1 down to 4-3 winners -- was undoubtedly Liverpool's best and most dramatic moment of a 2016 that was filled with mixed fortunes for the club. -- Glenn Price
CHELSEA: Chelsea 4-0 Manchester United. Before October's match, all the talk was of Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge with his new club, but the aftermath was dominated by Chelsea's bright new dawn.
The first signature result and performance of Antonio Conte's tenure at Stamford Bridge also provided the first compelling evidence of how formidable his new-look 3-4-3 system could be.
Chelsea were ahead inside 30 seconds and never looked back, playing with pace, width and purpose against a Manchester United side floundering in search of their own identity. Mourinho's sense of humiliation was palpable, and underlined by his complaint about Conte's decision to rouse Stamford Bridge in the final minutes. -- Liam Twomey
ARSENAL: Danny Welbeck's last-gasp winner against Leicester at the Emirates on Feb. 14 was perhaps the only fairy-tale moment the Gunners experienced in 2016.
Making his first appearance of the season after his knee injury, Welbeck came on as a substitute to head in Mesut Ozil's free kick in injury time to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory that pulled them within two points of the league leaders.
It sparked the biggest celebration the Emirates had seen in a while and in that moment, it was easy to imagine Arsene Wenger's team using it as a springboard to surge toward the title. Instead, that was as good as it got as their campaign fell apart shortly afterward as the Foxes went on to claim the prize. -- Mattias Karen
TOTTENHAM: Tottenham's 2-1 win against Man City at the Etihad on Feb.14 was the moment the supporters started to believe they could win a first league title since 1961.
Judging from Mauricio Pochettino's jubilant march from the dugout to the away end, congratulating every one of his players on the way, it was also the moment the manager started to believe.
City were favourites to win the match after Kelechi Iheanacho canceled out Harry Kane's penalty, but Christian Eriksen's coolly taken winner, seven minutes from time, was further proof this Spurs side was made of sterner stuff than previous teams. They moved to within two points of league leaders Leicester and although things didn't work out in the end, Spurs can look back on that result with great pride. -- Dan Kilpatrick
La Liga
REAL MADRID: Sergio Ramos' dramatic, last-minute equaliser in December's Clasico at Barcelona, a goal which kept this team on course to win the 2016-17 La Liga title, was the highlight of the last 12 months for Real Madrid.
Ramos also made similar vital interventions in May's Champions League final against Atletico Madrid and August's European Super Cup against Sevilla. But winning back the La Liga title for the first time in five years is now the burning focus at the Bernabeu -- and Barca remain the real rival against whom everyone at Madrid measures themselves.
So the celebrations when Ramos headed home at the Camp Nou, just when it seemed bitter rivals Barcelona were set to end their long unbeaten run, lasted even longer than those when Cristiano Ronaldo netted the winning UCL penalty in Milan. -- Dermot Corrigan
BARCELONA: Barcelona won three trophies in 2016, but none of them came in particularly euphoric circumstances.
They almost threw La Liga away, before eventually sealing it at Granada on the final day, and beat Sevilla to win the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Perhaps the biggest high of the year arrived on Valentine's Day when they hammered Celta Vigo 6-1.
Reigning treble holders at the time, there was the feeling they could repeat that historic feat once again as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar put on a master class. There was also that passed penalty and a rainbow flick from Neymar. The South American trio were truly in their element and while it was only three points, it's a performance which will live long in the memory. -- Sam Marsden
Bundesliga
BAYERN MUNICH: An obvious highlight was Bayern's 25th Bundesliga title since 1966, a historic fourth in a row as Pep Guardiola departed Bavaria with his second domestic double in three seasons.
This campaign under new boss Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern lost the league leadership for the first time in 39 games following a timid 1-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund. But the Italian maestro's belated switch to a more fluid 4-2-3-1 system, coupled with the highly anticipated return of Uli Hoeness as president, revitalised a stuttering Bayern.
Hoeness' return to the hierarchy in late November and Ancelotti's tinkering have coincided with five straight wins as Bayern delivered a statement of intent going into 2017 with a resounding 3-0 thrashing of presumptuous upstarts and nearest challengers RB Leipzig. -- Mark Lovell
Ligue 1
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Ultimately, 2016 was bittersweet for PSG. The French giants accomplished a second consecutive domestic clean sweep but fell in the Champions League quarterfinals (again) to Manchester City.
They also parted with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, replaced Laurent Blanc with Unai Emery and ended the year in wretched form.
However, when Les Parisiens followed a 2-1 win away at Chelsea with a 9-0 savaging of Troyes across four days in early March, they were among the most golden of the Qatari era. The victory in London secured PSG's European last eight berth, while the Troyes win wrapped up Le Championnat in record time. -- Jonathan Johnson