UEFA Champions League 2012-13: Team of the Tournament
Football came home to London and the Wembley stadium as the Germans invaded the British capital in hordes. The all-German final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich did not disappoint and after a very exciting game of football, it was Bayern who walked out winners.
With the championship now concluded, we look at the players that performed best through the course of it. Adopting the strategy of the 2 finalists, we have chosen to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
GK: Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund)
The captain of the Dortmund side, Weidenfeller made many crucial saves through the course of the tournament for the Black and Yellow. At 32, the German veteran is into his eleventh season with Dortmund, but showed great agility and reflexes to keep out their opponents on numerous occasions. He was spectacular in the second-leg semi-final against a Real Madrid onslaught; if not for him they’d probably not be in the final. His best though was to come in Saturday’s final, where he made no less than 5 key saves.
RB: Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Lahm is arguably one of the best right-backs in the world, let alone Europe. He has been a model of consistency over the years. This year’s Champions League was no different; Lahm played all but 1 game in the tournament and his tracking back and reading of the game were exemplary. In partnership with Arjen Robben, the duo posed a nightmare for opponents down that right flank. He didn’t play that well in the final, but that was a blip in what has been a wonderful tournament for the Bayern captain. He had 4 assists to his name.
CB: Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund)
This season has not been one of the best defensively for Dortmund, both in the league and in Europe. However, Subotic has been the best performer in that backline. While Mats Hummels has had a ragged season and has also missed a few games in the competition with injury, Subotic has been rock-solid for Dortmund. One of his best performances came against Madrid at the Bernabeu.
CB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Ramos has been one of the defenders of the tournament. Aerially superb, with pace to burn to catch up to the forwards, the Madrid defender was one of the prime driving forces for his team this season. After being benched for a few games, following a spat with Jose Mourinho, the Spaniard has come back ever so strongly, with some vintage performances, highlighted in the Old Trafford tie against Manchester United. Going forward, he was always a threat from set pieces. In the first leg of the semi-finals, Real missed his presence at centre-back as he was forced to play at right-back while Pepe got bullied by Robert Lewandowski.
LB: David Alaba (Bayern Munich)
This young Austrian star has come on by leaps and bounds. Alaba’s emergence has meant Lahm can switch back to his preferred right-back role. Alaba is a midfielder who plays at left-back simply because he’s too good to be left out. He had 2 goals and 2 assists in this year’s tournament and in full flight, he was unstoppable. Alaba has pace and also an exceptional shot from distance. Even in the final, once Alaba got going in the 2nd half, Dortmund began to have a tough time.
DM: Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich)
The enforcer-in-chief that made Bayern Munich click this season. His signing has been paramount to Bayern’s success as he has bossed that midfield area and made it his own. He was often given the job of marking the opponent’s most dangerous player and he did that with aplomb. He took care of Jack Wilshere, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi along the way and his proficiency enabled Bastian Schweinsteiger to link up the attacks. He has been relentless always snapping at the opponents’ heels while denying them time and space with the ball at their feet. Martinez made 39 interceptions in the tournament, the most by any player.
DM: Ilkay Gündogan (Borussia Dortmund)
The dynamo in the centre of Dortmund’s midfield, Gündogan has had a stellar tournament. Gündogan’s exquisite passing and tireless running from that deep lying midfield role, was central to orchestrating most of Dortmund’s attacks while intercepting opponent forays. In the semi-finals, he nullified Sami Khedira in Real’s midfield and along with Weidenfeller, was Dortmund’s best performer in the final. Controlled the midfield with Bayern sitting unnaturally deep and outshone his more illustrious counterpart Bastian Schweinsteiger on the night.
AML: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Top scorer in the tournament with 12 goals in as many games, Ronaldo was simply supreme this season. The most consistent player in the Real Madrid team, he did not have a single bad game. Ronaldo racked up a staggering 53 shots on target, unmatched; Messi was a distant second with 28. And Ronaldo’s goals kept Madrid in the hunt in an otherwise unconvincing season for the Los Blancos. He single-handedly carried an identity starved team struggling with internal strife to the semi-finals.
AMC: Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich)
Müller must have thought his goal in last year’s final had clinched the trophy for Bayern. It wasn’t to be, but both Müller and Munich have come back with a bang. He was their top scorer in the tournament with 8 goals along with 2 assists, while being joint third overall with Lionel Messi and Burak Yilmaz. Playing behind the striker, Müller was impetuous in his movement as his pace and technique helped Bayern stretch the play. He also made those ghosting runs into the box which he’s famous for to score crucial goals for Bayern.
AMR: Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
The man who redeemed himself….finally! Robben could well be on his way out in the summer with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, but he has produced a season and a Champions League tournament performance that will be long remembered. 4 goals and 2 assists to his name, but more crucially, 3 of those goals came when they mattered most, in the semi’s and final. The wings were Bayern’s main areas of attack and Robben and Franck Ribery excelled in their roles. We also got to see some vast improvements in his game; he shared the ball more and even got back to defend. His play brought got Bayern going in the attacking third in the first half as Dortmund initially dominated.
CF: Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
The Polish striker became the first ever player to score 4 goals in a single game against the mighty Real Madrid. That tells you something about the quality of this guy – 10 goals and 2 assists including that memorable semi-final first leg performance where he hit four past Real. Lewandowski is a complete forward – good in the air, pacy and physically well-built to keep off defenders and shield the ball. Operating at the head of Dortmund’s feared trio that included Götze and Reus, the Pole established to the watching world that he is amongst the best strikers in the world and is believed to soon be following Götze to Munich.
Subs: Diego Lopez (Real Madrid), Dante (Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Burak Yilmaz (Galatasaray)
A NOTE ON THE TEAM
As expected, a lot of Dortmund and Bayern players make the final XI while the other 2 semi-finalists make up the missing spots. Well, they were the 4 best teams in Europe! As for no Barca players in the line-up, the Catalans did not really have one of their best seasons. They managed to progress till the final 4, but had to come back against Milan and got past PSG only on goal difference. Messi and Alba were their 2 standout performers, but there were others in the same position who played even better.