A Premier League-based Champions League XI for 2014/15.
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With Arsenal learning their Champions League fate today, CaughtOffside looks at the best players from last season’s Premier League top four and how they might look in a combined XI.
All of the top four clubs have been busy in this summer’s transfer window so far, with new signings from Arsenal and Chelsea featuring in this star-studded lineup, which looks as good as anything in Europe on paper.
The players missing out show the Premier League’s great depth of quality as much as the players who made the final grade for this side, with no room for Arsenal star Mesut Ozil, Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard or Chelsea’s new £32m signing Diego Costa, who reached the final of the Champions League with Atletico Madrid last season.
See below for a full run-through of this English Champions League clubs combined XI:
Goalkeeper and defence:
In goal, Thibaut Courtois currently looks like the best goalkeeper in the Premier League if his fine form during his three-year loan stint with last season’s finalists Atletico Madrid. The highly promising young Belgian is expected to take Petr Cech’s number one spot this season, and he takes the same spot here. Also featuring in defence are Manchester City pair Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany, who are certainly among the best defenders in Europe and will be hoping to improve the Premier League champions’ poor record in this competition this term. Chelsea dominate the defence, unsurprisingly, with Gary Cahill and new left-back signing Filipe Luis also in the back four.
Midfield:
In a four-man midfield, it’s still tricky to fit in the top four’s best talent, with Manchester City star Yaya Toure the easy first name on the team sheet here, partnering Arsenal’s surprise star of last season, Aaron Ramsey. The superbly talented all-action Welshman just beats his old team-mate Cesc Fabregas, now of Chelsea, to a place in the side, and is joined by his former Gunner Alexis Sanchez, the club’s new £35m signing from Barcelona. Chelsea star Eden Hazard completes the midfield, taking a place on the left flank, where he regularly terrorized the game’s best defenders for so much of last season.
Attack:
Although there is a strong case for Chelsea new-boy Diego Costa after his fine performances in this competition for Atletico Madrid last season, we have looked to more established Premier League stars here with a front pairing of Sergio Aguero of Manchester City and Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool, who return to the Champions League after a four-year absence. The prolific pair scored 38 goals between them in the Premier League last season, and are among the best in Europe at finding the back of the net, combining great pace and ability to make themselves the complete modern strike force.
Premier League top four best XI in full: