50-Man Shortlist For The UEFA Team Of The Year Confirmed

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, European champions Real Madrid dominate the UEFA Team of the Year shortlist with 11 nominees, as the Premier League continues to lag behind their Spanish rivals.

Keylor Navas, Dani Carvajal , Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Casemiro , Isco, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo deservedly make the list after an incredible campaign in the Champions League.

But there is no room for Gareth Bale, who has struggled for minutes after a number of injury problems.

Bale

Barcelona and Italian champions Juventus have a total of 5 nominees, while Atletico Madrid and Manchester United have 4 players in the Team of the Year shortlist.

In terms of players under the age of 23, Joshua Kimmich, Marco Asensio, Dele Alli, Kylian Mbappe, Saul Niguez, Benjamin Mendy and Davinson Sanchez are named respectively.

Mbappe

To the surprise of many Chelsea supporters, N'Golo Kante and César Azpilicueta don't make the final 50.

Liverpool's Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah also missed out.

Here's the final 50:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), David de Gea (Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid).

GK

Defenders: Dani Alves (Juventus/PSG), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Milan), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chellini (Juventus), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Benjamin Mendy (Monaco/Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (PSG), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Davinson Sánchez (Ajax/Tottenham), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United).

Defenders

Image: UEFA

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Fabinho (Monaco), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético Madrid).

Midfielders

Image: UEFA

Forwards: Sergio Agüero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappé (Monaco/PSG), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Neymar (Barcelona/PSG), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Luis Suárez (Barcelona).

Forwards

Image: UEFA

Do you agree with the above nominees? Have UEFA missed a key player out in the shortlist?

Let us know in the comments below.

Topics: Manchester United, Barcelona, Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo, UEFA, Pogba, Team Of The Year, Real Madrid

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_