Madrid, Liverpool dominate UEFA’s Team, Player, Young Player of the Season

UEFA on Tuesday announced its Team, Player, and Young Player of the Season and expectedly, Champions League winners Real Madrid and finalists Liverpool dominated the awards.

Selected by the Technical Observer panel of the governing body of European football, these awards are announced at the end of each season to honour the best in European football.

Here’s the full list of players named in this year’s awards.

Also read | UEFA commissions ‘comprehensive review’ of Champions League final fiasco

Team of the Season:

UEFA’s combined playing XI for the season comprised four players from UCL-winning side Real Madrid, four from finalists Liverpool, and one each from Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

Expectedly, Thibaut Courtois was named in goal: not only did the big Belgian make a record nine saves in the UCL final to help Madrid lift the trophy, but was phenomenal throughout the tournament, averaging 4.79 saves per game.

Liverpool players dominated the defence, with Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Roberston, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all making the cut. The only non-Red named in defence was Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, who is set to join winners Madrid next season.

Also read | Bayern strong contender for Mane with Lewandowski poised to depart

UEFA’s midfield selection honoured some of the best players in their respective position: while the industrious Luka Modric made the cut, presumably for his unshakeable hold over games, Manchester City’s creative genius Kevin De Bruyne was named as the right midfielder. Liverpool’s Fabinho, perhaps one of the most underrated CDMs in world football, also made the cut.

The team’s attacking line-up was dominated by Real Madrid players, with Brazilian wonder Vinicius Jr and French maestro Karim Benzema making the cut. PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, who dramatically snubbed Madrid a couple of weeks earlier, also made the cut.

Also read | Lionel Messi: ‘No doubt’ that Karim Benzema deserves to win the Ballon d’Or

Young Player of the Season:

Madrid’s Vinicius was named the Young Player of the Season in what can only be described as a no-brainer. Prolific throughout the season in terms of goal contributions, Vinicius scored four goals and created six in his 13 UCL matches, and also put his name on the scoresheet in the final, scoring the decisive goal that sealed Madrid’s 14th UCL title.

Player of the Season:

Another no-brainer, Benzema was named as UEFA’s Player of the Season. Having scored a whopping 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions this season, the Frenchman also lit up the UCL, netting two hattricks in the knock-out stages. In the UCL alone, Benzema netted 15 times and created one goal in 13 matches, and was instrumental in taking Madrid to the finals.