Europe's Best XI of 2016/17 - According to statistics
The 2016/17 season is nearing its end and while some leagues have already witnessed the crowning of their champions – circa Bayern Munich, Chelsea – there are a few, including La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1, which are going down to the wire.
In Serie A, Juventus hold the advantage and need just a win from their remaining two games to ensure that they win the title for the 5th successive season. Almost a similar scenario is in place back in France, where Monaco need one point from their remaining two games to win the league or the Stade Louis II outfit need Paris Saint-Germain to drop points in their game against Caen.need Paris Saint-Germain to drop points in their game against Caen.
The scenario is slightly more complex in Spain but Real Madrid still hold the advantage. Los Blancos need 4 points from their two remaining games to win the title, however, should the Santiago Bernabeu outfit lose even one of the games, then Barcelona will walk away with the title - if they win their game against Eibar on Sunday.
Anyways, with all the leagues set to be decided by the end of this week, or the next at most, CIES Football Observatory have ranked the players of Europe’s big-5 leagues to form a combined XI of the best players of the 2016-17 season.
CIES (Centre international d'étude du sport), which is based out of Switzerland, have measured the performance of players based on ‘an objective and comparable basis’, with footballers who have played over 2000 minutes of football in the domestic league only included in the study.
So without much further ado, we take a look at the 10 best footballers in each position, along with the Best XI of Europe.
#1 Goalkeepers
Once again, Bayern Munich shot-stopper Manuel Neuer has emerged as the best goalkeeper in all of Europe, and he leads the ratings by a long margin. The German international has helped his side win their 5th successive Bundesliga title, however, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid in the quarter-final as Neuer’s heroics went in vain.
Surprisingly, Sergio Asenjo of Villarreal, who are set to finish 5th in La Liga is the second highest rated goalkeeper of the season, which is down to the fact that the Yellow Submarine have the second best defensive record in La Liga, only after Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, Hugo Lloris is the only representative of the Premier League, while Gianluigi Buffon is ranked as low as 8th, despite having conceded the least no. of goals in Serie A.
Goalkeeper of Europe’s Best XI: Manuel Neuer