sportbible homepage
sportbible homepage
  • Home
  • Football
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • World Cup
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Manchester United
    • Liverpool
    • Arsenal
    • Real Madrid
    • Barcelona
  • Formula 1
    • Red Bull
    • Ferrari
    • McLaren
    • Mercedes
    • Max Verstappen
    • Lewis Hamilton
    • Lando Norris
    • George Russell
    • Charles Leclerc
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • More Sport
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • NBA
    • NFL
    • Darts
    • Athletics
    • Rugby
    • Wrestling
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Snapchat
TikTok
Threads
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • LADbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Exclusive: Roberto Carlos Picks Incredible All-Time Champions League XI
Home>Football
Published 09:23 28 May 2022 GMT+1

Exclusive: Roberto Carlos Picks Incredible All-Time Champions League XI

Real Madrid legend Roberto Carlos has put together his ultimate Champions League XI.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Football legend Roberto Carlos has picked his ultimate Champions League XI ahead of this weekend's final between former club Real Madrid and Liverpool.

The pair of European giants lock horns at the Stade de France in Paris, in a repeat of the showpiece which took place four years ago in Kiev.

Brazilian icon Carlos, widely deemed to be the greatest left-back of all-time, won the Champions League three times with Real in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

Advert

And so SPORTbible tasked the former Inter Milan and Fenerbahce defender with assembling his ultimate XI from players who have dominated European football's premier club competition.

Image: JustEat
Image: JustEat

Here is the star-studded side he went for, lining up in a 4-3-3 formation:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - "You always had a lot of trust in him and his experience. Every great team starts with a good goalkeeper. You could see how calm and collected he was."

Right-back: Cafu - "He’s fast, he’s intelligent and very important for the team. He was like a true captain."

Centre-backs: "Fernando Hierro and Fabio Cannavaro – "They used to get along very well. Hierro was like my father at Real Madrid and Cannavaro was considered to be the best in the world. One was very fast, in Cannavaro, and the other very strong, in Hierro."

Image: PA
Image: PA


Left-back: Marcelo – "He has been the best in the last 20 years. I told Marcelo to not leave Real Madrid because I believed in him and knew had the potential to be great."

Defensive midfielders: Fernando Redondo and Casemiro – "They are two players that help off the ball, stopping the ball from getting through to the defence."

Attacking midfielder: Zinedine Zidane – "He was just magical. The world stopped to see Zidane play."

Image: PA
Image: PA


Right forward: Francesco Totti – "Nowadays it’s very hard to have players stay at just one club for that long. That’s how he made his legacy. He was more comfortable playing at Roma and the Italian national team."

Centre-forward: Karim Benzema – "Everything points towards him winning the Ballon d’Or. Last year I think the Ballon d’Or was a bit weird with the results, hopefully this year Benzema is going to be the best in the world."

Left forward: Cristiano Ronaldo – "Cristiano represents exactly what the Champions League is and modern football. We will only have one Cristiano."

Image: PA
Image: PA

Summarising his side, Carlos said: "It’s very hard to do the XI because there are so many amazing players I’ve had to leave out - [Lionel] Messi, Neymar and Vinicius Jr.

“I think we would lose because nobody in my team really defends! I like football with a lot of goals!"

Image: Build Lineup
Image: Build Lineup

Carlos was speaking through Champions League sponsor Just Eat. Fans in the French capital just need to look out for a giant Just Eat doorbell located in the city centre, and simply ring to win. Eight lucky people will be surprised by the Real Madrid legend and win tickets to Saturday night’s UEFA Champions League final.”

Featured Image Credit: Image: PA

Topics: Roberto Carlos, Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Francesco Totti, Iker Casillas, Real Madrid

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Recommended reads

Thierry Henry picks player who will surprise everyone at World Cup – ‘There’s a guy people don’t know about...’GettyRonnie O’Sullivan says snooker star can win 'multiple world titles' and gives update on futureGetty'The only thing he can do is now is tar his career...' - Arnold Allen gives damning verdict on Conor McGregor's comebackGetty ImagesGareth Barry on Thomas Tuchel advice, England squad picks and World Cup: 'He’ll be fighting'Getty

Advert

  • Brazil Icon Roberto Carlos Rushed to Hospital for Emergency Surgery
  • Champions League matches could soon be broadcast for FREE with talks 'very close to being finalised'
  • Champions League legend who played with Messi and Ronaldo backtracks on greatest of all time answer
  • Real Madrid Set New Champions League Record With Marseille Victory

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta 'personally leading' push to sign £100 million England star

    Mikel Arteta has identified his top Arsenal transfer target after winning the Premier League.

    Football
  • Getty
    2 hours ago

    Chelsea and Newcastle hold talks over five players in major transfer merry-go round

    Chelsea and Newcastle are in discussions over a series of player transfers, which could take place this summer.

    Football
  • Getty
    2 hours ago

    Premier League clubs are supposed to do one thing before relegation that never happens

    Every relegated Premier League club is theoretically supposed to do this but nobody ever does...

    Football
  • Getty Images
    4 hours ago

    First player targeted after West Ham's relegation as clubs 'circle' for cut-price deals

    The club will need to raise up to £150 million in player sales to cover for expected financial losses in the Championship.

    Football