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Every year, hundreds of players proudly wear the shirts of the best teams in each country with those unique stars on their sleeves. It's a special moment for those players and the fans - which is why it's considered the most important tournament in the sport.
Every year, there is even a hand full of players who change teams to participate in the tournament. That's not so funny to some fans though, but it's the harsh reality and the power of the Champions League.
We wanted to address a very interesting topic: the perfect lineup for the Champions League 22/23. With the group stage already in full swing and
UEFA Champions League betting being red hot right now, it’s interesting to see who would make the perfect team.
The Goalkeeper: The One & Only
As soon as we start our lineup, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool, and Manchester City get into a fight – as usual.
Brazilians Ederson and Alisson, Italy's Donnarumma, and Belgium's Courtois are all at the peak of their careers. Together, they have an estimated market value of almost 200 million euros, which is impressive for goalkeepers.
Well, even though the choice is incredibly difficult, the winning margin goes to Thibaut Courtois - having also been crowned as champion with Real Madrid in the previous season. On the bench would be Donnarumma, given the impact he has had at Saint-Germain.
An Impenetrable Wall
To protect Courtois, we have chosen the powers of two players from Bayern Munich and, again, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The quartet would consist of Trent Alexander-Arnold, the most valuable defender on the market, occupying the right-back position.
In the center, we would have both Rúben Dias from Manchester City and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern München. The Portuguese and the Dutchman would bring the energy and confidence needed to make Courtois' area a desert to the other team.
Ligt's teammate Alphonso Davies would close out the back four to complete a dream defense for any team in the world.
A Devil's Trio for the Middle
To command the center, we have chosen the talents and magic of Pedri and Jude Bellingham. The nineteen-year-olds from FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund would create the perfect duo - although only with the help of an excellent defensive midfielder to provide balance.
For this position, we have chosen Aurélien Tchouameni, having scripted Real Madrid's new winning streak to perfection.
Admittedly, it wasn't easy to choose the three since Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Jamal Musiala, Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva, Mason Mount, Gavi, or Florian Wirtz - to name but a few - could very well have appeared as well.
But, with only three midfielders in our lineup, having those players just mentioned on the bench would make the most sense.
And just as a fun fact, the two most senior players in this midfield are Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva. All the other players are between 19 and 24 years old - impressive, isn't it?
A Goal-Scoring Machine
Although we're talking about four strikers here, it's brutally hard to pick them. You could make a whole other team out of these positions alone, as the current top 4 alone are worth a total of 520 million euros,
according to transfermarkt.
But to be fair, and since we are talking about the Champions League 22/23, we have to pick the quartet that has shone brightly so far.
We would start with the two most potent and famous names of the moment, Erling Haaland, who would again represent Man City, and then Kylian Mbappé doing the same for Paris Saint-Germain.
Both would be our choice as center-forwards since, together, they have reached 9 goals so far in the group stage. However, if it were not for this year’s Champions League, we would perhaps put the ballon d’Or
Karim Benzema.
On the left wing, we would count on Benzema's Real Madrid battle partner, Vinicius Junior. Leroy Sané would indeed be another heavyweight option, but we cannot downplay that Vinicius was very important last season for Real Madrid to win the cup.
Despite the controversy that this last decision will create, we believe Leo Messi would be a perfect fit for this dream lineup of the Champions League 22/23. His prestige and still spectacular physical condition this year make it impossible to do without him.
On the bench, we would immediately count on Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski as illustrious minds. To accompany them, Mohamed Salah, Gabriel Jesus, Christopher Nkunku, Rodrygo, Serge Gnabry, Neymar, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mané, Giacomo Raspadori, and Victor Osimhen would round up a not-too-shabby team here.