As with European football last season, Barcelona dominate the nominees for the best players across the continent this year.
Luis Enrique’s side swept all before them last term and that superiority has been reflected in eight nominations for the Uefa Team of 2015.
While that may be positive news for La Liga, things are not quite as happy looking for the Premier League as just five players from the top flight in England make the cut.
Joe Hart represents Manchester City along with team-mate Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero while Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez make up the fivesome.
We’re a bit puzzled that David De Gea hasn’t made the cut and so are lots of other football fans who can’t understand how Hart made the cut, but the best goalkeeper in the Premier League last season, didn’t.
Maybe he has something to do with playing in the Europa League.
How the hell has Joe Hart made the shortlist for UEFA team of the year, yet De Gea isn't even on the list?!? #Staggering!
— Tom (@TallTom16) November 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/Gazz_G/status/669183453422841856
https://twitter.com/_ThrillCollins/status/669168113334644737
Joe Hart is in the nomination for the Team of The Year but De Gea isn't, has the world gone mad?
— Jack (@jack_smitty101) November 24, 2015
Five out of 40 players in total isn’t all bad, but when you consider the money spent in the Premier League and the fact four teams every year reach at least the opening stages of the Champions League, it’s not overwhelming positive and reflects the poor performance of English sides in the Champions League over the past few years.
The dominance of Spanish and German teams seems to hold sway with Uefa, though it does not extend to a place on the 40-man list for Sergio Busquets.
Where is the best defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets? Why is he always overlooked? https://t.co/i8B8cV54Bg
— ⚡️ (@FCBiEman) November 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/ElAficionadofcb/status/669171805693812736
https://twitter.com/NamanAniruddh/status/669192282982125568
The complete nominees are
Goalkeepers (4): Joe Hart (Manchester City), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Denys Boyko (Dnipro)
Defenders (12): Gerard Pique, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano (FC Barcelona), David Alaba, Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), David Luiz, Thiago Silva (PSG), Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Midfielders (12): Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic (FC Barcelona), Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Yevhen Konoplyanka, Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla), Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich), Marco Verratti (PSG)
Forwards (12): Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona), Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Alvaro Morata (Juventus)
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