UEFA Champions League 2019-20: The best XI of the Group Stage
The group stage of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League is now in the books, with 16 awesome teams qualifying for what should be a hugely entertaining knockout tournament. Over the past four months, we’ve seen some outstanding matches, some shocking scorelines and some truly amazing goals on Europe’s biggest stage.
Some players have been more impressive than others, though – and often the most outstanding performers haven’t necessarily been ones that fans might’ve expected.
Here is an XI of the best performing players from the group stage of the 2019-20 edition of the Champions League, playing in a 4-3-3 formation.
Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain)
Paris Saint-Germain’s Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas might not get as many plaudits as some of Europe’s other top keepers like Alisson or Manuel Neuer, but he’s enjoyed a brilliant Champions League group stage this season. PSG have established themselves as the tightest defence in the competition – conceding just two goals across their six games, and Navas has certainly played a part in that.
The former Real Madrid man has kept 4 clean sheets in his 5 Champions League appearances, with the two goals that he conceded both coming against his old club. Interestingly though, that game saw Navas put in a Man of the Match-level performance, as he was able to prevent Los Blancos from finding a winner despite facing a total of 27 shots. Another Man of the Match award was given to him by WhoScored.com for his showing against Club Brugge.
Full-Backs: Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain) and Marcelo (Real Madrid)
The Champions League has been packed with quality full-backs this season, from Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson to Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard and Alphonso Davies, but the picks for this team come from the top two sides in Group A in the form of PSG’s Thomas Meunier and Real Madrid’s Marcelo.
Meunier made 4 appearances for the French champions during the group stage, scoring a goal against Real Madrid in PSG’s 3-0 victory over them, and it was notable that the Belgian was one of their better performers in the lone match that saw them concede. As part of the tournament’s tightest defence, he earns a spot here.
Brazil’s Marcelo meanwhile was a key performer for Los Blancos, and while their defence wasn’t watertight – they conceded 8 goals in their 6 games – the left-back’s performances were consistently excellent. He made 4 appearances, most notably providing two assists for Rodrygo in a 6-0 win over Galatasaray before being withdrawn due to injury after 42 minutes.
Also check out: Champions League Schedule Champions League table Champions league top scorers