The Champions League season has just been wrapped up with Real Madrid winning the title and now that the dust has settled, UEFA have announced the Champions League team of the season.
UEFA’s Technical Observer have selected the 11 best players during the 2021/22 season and it’s no surprise that Liverpool and Real Madrid players have dominated this list.
The Los Blancos won their 14th European Cup/Champions League so quite naturally players like Benzema and Luka Modric make it into the best XI. Vinicius Jr scored the only goal in the Champions League final and is rightly awarded the UCL Young Player of the Season.
Despite have a poor final, players like Van Dijk and TAA have also made it to the side and Chelsea have only one representative in the form of Antonio Rudiger. Man City also have only one player in the team and that’s midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
However, there are some major names missing so we decided to take a look at some players who could and probably should have been named in the Champions League team of the season.
First, the Champions League team of the season:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois.
Defenders: Robertson, Van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger, Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Fabinho, De Bruyne.
Forwards: Vinicius Jr, Benzema, Mbappe.
👕 UEFA's Technical Observer panel has selected its 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season 🙌#UCL pic.twitter.com/I8t9T6uM5R
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 31, 2022
Now, we take a look at some of the players who could very easily have made it into the UCL’s best XI but are probably unlucky to miss out.
David Alaba:
The defender has had a dream season after joining Real Madrid in the summer and he had a very solid group stage as well as the knockout games. He missed the second leg of the semi-final but apart from that, his performances were almost flawless.
Joao Cancelo:
Cancelo was another player who had a superb Champions League season, providing three assists and scoring two goals in Europe. Robertson, who’s in the best XI has also provided three assists but Cancelo is very versatile because he’s played on either wing.
Champions League Player of the Season: Karim Benzema 🤍
Champions League Young Player of the Season: Vinicius Junior 🤍
They helped each other to new heights. pic.twitter.com/0oFuRuzmEI
— GOAL (@goal) May 31, 2022
Lewandowski:
The striker was immensely unlucky to miss out because he had scored 13 goals in Europe this season but Karim Benzema went out and had a dream run for Madrid.
Mo Salah:
Salah scored eight goals in Europe this season plus he reached the final with Liverpool so is another player who could very easily come into the Champions League team of the season.
Bruno Fernandes:
Manchester United had a very poor campaign but Bruno Fernandes ended up providing six assists in the UCL and created eight big chances(the highest). However, the fact that United were knocked out in the Round of 16 was probably the reason why the Portuguese missed out.
