It was Real Madrid 3 Barcelona 0 today as UEFA announced their official team of the year for 2013. The dream team is voted for by ordinary football fans through social media and via the UEFA website, but they failed a recognise a single Barcelona player, despite their runaway success in La Liga last year.
There was another snub for Lionel Messi, who finished 13th in the votes, after losing out to Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or on Tuesday. Even with his injury problems it seems absurd to leave him out of a European league 11.
Ronaldo himself made, the squad, of course and it marked the 7th consecutive year that he has featured, and unparalleled achievement. He was joined by Madrid team-mates Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale – the player who usurped Ronaldo’s position as the world’s most expensive player.
Mesut Ozil also featured in the team. Having spent half of the season as a Madrid player, Los Blancos could be claiming that one as well. Here is the 11 in full, Barcelona fans look away now:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG), Phillip Lahm (Bayern Munich), Dabid Alaba (Bayern Munich); Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Marcos Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG).
