Unhappy Champions League finalist, whom he lost only by one goal, Paris Saint-Germain already knew that their coach Thomas Tuchel was not among the nominees for The Best FIFA trophies. But this Thursday evening, during the ceremony in Zurich, the capital club also saw that it had no player in the eleven of the year, chosen by players around the world. More generally, it is the whole of French football (men) that has fallen by the wayside.
The eleven of the year is: A. Becker – Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Ramos, Davies – T. Alcantara, Kimmich, De Bruyne – Messi, Lewandowski, Ronaldo. No place therefore for Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, who are respectively only 7th and 9th in the ranking of the player of the year award.
Navas at the foot of the goalkeepers podium
The competition was undoubtedly too stiff. Lionel Messi, without achieving the season of his life and without winning any title during the past season, still scored 31 goals and delivered 25 assists in 44 games with FC Barcelona. Italian champion with Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 37 goals in 46 games. As for Robert Lewandowski, winner of the player of the year, his 55 goals largely contributed to the quintuplet of Bayern Munich.
Marquinhos or even Thiago Silva, in view of their final tournament of the Champions League, could have claimed to integrate this eleven of the year. But Virgil van Dijk and Sergio Ramos, without reaching the final in Lisbon, still performed well. The former has largely contributed to Liverpool’s first Premier League coronation in 30 years, when the latter demonstrates week after week that he is essential for Real Madrid. As for Keylor Navas, despite the remarkable vote of Lionel Messi, he finished at the foot of the podium in the ranking of goalkeepers of the year (behind Neuer, Alisson and Oblak).
Benzema forgotten?
Finally, the absence of Paris Saint-Germain players on the The Best FIFA honor roll confirms that the team has not been flamboyant during the past season and that no player has really been able to come out of the lot to wear it. At least in the eyes of their peers, even if it is true that they have the easy vote for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
As for the rest of French football, apart from Paris Saint-Germain, Karim Benzema is the only player to really have convinced. However, he did not even finish in the top eleven in the ranking of player of the year. As for formerly radiant players like Raphaël Varane, N’Golo Kanté or Antoine Griezmann, they were generally disappointed, when they were not sometimes irrelevant.
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