5 players who could achieve the Champions League - Euro double | UEFA Euro 2020 Final
Euro 2020 is set for a thrilling conclusion when arguably the tournament's two best teams, England and Italy, will lock horns at Wembley on Sunday. While England will look to become the 11th different Euro winners, Italy will hope to join the trio of Germany, Spain and France as the only teams to win multiple Euro titles.
Both teams feature a plethora of stars in their ranks who have arrived at Euro 2020 after successful seasons with their respective clubs. Five of them won the Champions League with Chelsea last season and are now one win away from joining a select group of players to do the Champions League-Euro double in the same year.
The feat is so rare that only six players have won the Champions League and the European Championship in the same year. Nicolas Anelka and Christian Karembeu (Real Madrid/France) were the first to achieve it in 2000. The then Chelsea duo of Fernando Torres and Juan Mata emulated Anelka and Karembeu's feat when they won Euro 2012 with Spain.
Four years later, it was the turn of Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, who won the 2016 Champions League with Real Madrid and triumphed at the Euros with Portugal a few weeks later.
Without further ado, here's a look at five players who could join the six aforementioned players on Sunday by doing the Champions League-Euro double:
#5 Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea/Italy)
Emerson Palmieri featured sparingly for Chelsea in the Premier League last season. But he played six games for the Blues in their triumphant Champions League campaign, providing an assist in the 2-0 Round-of-16 second-leg win at Atletico Madrid.
At Euro 2020, the 26-year-old left-back started in Italy's 1-0 win over Wales and came off the bench in the Azzurri's two knockout-stage wins over Belgium and Spain.
#4 Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy)
Unlike his compatriot Palmieri, Jorginho was a key player in Chelsea winning their second Champions League title last season.
The 29-year-old defensive midfielder played 12 Champions League games in 2020-21, scoring in Chelsea's 1-1 group-stage draw at home to Krasnodar. Jorginho also provided an assist in the Blues' 2-0 win at Porto in their quarter-final Round-of-16 first leg.
At Euro 2020, it was Jorginho's nonchalant chipped penalty in the semi-final shootout against Spain that sealed Italy's progress to the final. He has played all but 15 minutes in Italy's Euro 2020 campaign thus far and is likely to start against England in the final as well.