This is the list of 40 candidates for the UEFA team of the 2016:
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Oblak, Buffon, Rui Patricio.
Defenders: Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Godin, Juanfran, Gerard Pique, Kimmich, Alderweireld, Boateng, Bonucci, Guerreiro, Koscielny.
Midfielders: Toni Kroos, Modric, Andres Iniesta, Carrasco, Pogba, Ramsey, Kante, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Krychowiak, Allen, Payet.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Griezmann, Gonzalo Higuain, Lewandowski, Aubameyang, Agüero, Ibrahimovic, Alexis.
The list is dominated by players who practice their profession in Spanish Football Clubs & in La Liga. Real Madrid has the most players as candidates ahead of Atletico de Madrid & FC Barcelona.
Back from a couple of weeks of rest & with the batteries fully charged. However, Spanish Football action & news does not stop, & while away, Real Madrid sacks Rafael Benitez, the rivalry between RCD Espanyol - FC Barcelona explodes etc & etc.
To start of the 2016 Spanish Football posts, pick up this news piece from UEFA.com. The Internet Football visitors have voted their "UEFA Best XI for 2015", with 3 Spanish born players, FC Barcelona with 5 players & Real Madrid with 2. Surprised to see that Luis Suarez was not included, but the voters decide.
The Full List:
Neuer (Bayern Munich);
Gerard Pique, Dani Alves (FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) & Alaba (Bayern Munich);
Pogba (Juventus), Iniesta (FC Barcelona) & James Rodriguez (Real Madrid);
Messi, Neymar (FC Barcelona) & Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).
UEFA has made public its list of 40 players nominated for the Champions League Team XI 2015. The Spanish Liga has the most players - 16/40 - of which 4 are Spanish Nationals : Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta & Alvaro Morata.
The final Team XI will be decided by votes acummulated by website.
List of 40 nominees for UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAM XI
GOALKEEPERS:
Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Denys Boyko (Dnipro)
DEFENDERS:
David Alaba (Bayern Munchi)
David Luiz (Paris Saint-Germain
Diego Godín (Atlético de Madrid)
Ricardo Rodríguez (Wolfsburgo)
Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain)
SERGIO RAMOS (Real Madrid)
GERARD PIQUÉ (Barcelona)
Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
MIDFIELDERS:
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
James Rodríguez (Real Madrid)
Yevhen Konoplyanka (Dnipro/Sevilla)
Hakan Çalhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen)
Arturo Vidal (Juventus/Bayern Munich)
Paul Pogba (Juventus)
Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla),
ANDRÉS INIESTA (Barcelona)
Claudio Marchisio (Juventus)
Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
FORWARDS:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
Neymar (Barcelona)
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid)
Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal)
ALVARO MORATA (Juventus)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
