This isn’t a surprise.
After a poor showing in the Champions League, in which no English team made it to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive season, no-one would expect a competition squad of the season to feature English based players.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all went out in the round of 16, while Liverpool exited in the group stages.
So while the competition’s official team of the season is damning on Premier League teams, it does highlight how good Branislav Ivanovic was last season.
The Chelsea right-back is included in a team dominated, unsurprisingly, by Barcelona and Juventus players. Ronaldo and Toni Kroos of Real Madrid are the only other players in the team not to play for the finalists. Dani Alves is the only Barcelona starter to be omitted.
The squad, because UEFA seemingly don’t want to annoy anyone by naming the XI best players is:
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Pirlo, Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).
Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Alvaro Morata (Juventus).
Introducing the #UCL squad of the season … pic.twitter.com/KbddwDfyrS
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 9, 2015
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