Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both feature in Michael Owen’s greatest Champions League squad of all time.
Winning the UEFA Champions League is every player’s dream. It is the pinnacle of club football in Europe as well as the world in soccer. As coach Pep Guardiola said: “Man City needs to win the C1 Cup to become a big club.”
Only a few “chosen” players are lucky enough to get their hands on the elephant ear trophy during their career. Typically, legends like Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Vieira, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo Nazario (R9) hung up their boots without being able to have a Champions League medal in their precious wardrobe.
Michael Owen – the legend who played for Real Madrid, Liverpool and Man United, the same person who won the Golden Ball and did not have the honor of lifting the championship trophy once, recently expressed his opinion about the Team. The best image of all time of the UEFA Champions League, as if to recognize the great contributions that the players have contributed to the king sport.
Goalkeeper – Gianluigi Buffon: Number of appearances in Champions League: 124
“To be honest, Casillas hasn’t impressed me in training, but in every game that’s obviously the most important thing, he’s been working on it throughout his career. But I think Buffon, in terms of pure ability, is the best.”
Right back – Cafu: Champions League appearances: 55
“I grew up watching him play, he almost redefined the right-back position. You feel tired looking at him, he has been running so much! He’s amazing.”
Center back – Paolo Maldini: Number of appearances in the Champions League: 116
“You have to go back in your memories to remember what a great player he was, what a good player he was. His ability to read the game, his unbelievable left foot is what helped him. wins everything and he is also very handsome!”
Center back – Sergio Ramos: Number of appearances in the Champions League: 142
“He’s a great player, but people don’t give him as much credit as he should. It’s because of many factors: he gets sent off a lot when he injures one or two players, things like that. He is the defender who scores the most goals in the Champions League, you have to point that out.”
Left back – Roberto Carlos: Champions League appearances: 120
“He is the best left-back I have ever played with. He can defend, he can attack, he has great energy, passes the ball well, reads the game well and scores some unbelievable goals. I thought about Ashley Cole but I think Carlos deserves it.”
Central midfielder – Xavi: Number of appearances in Champions League: 151
“He’s just poetry in motion. Good passer of the ball, finds space, creates everything – he orchestrates the whole of Barcelona. Simply an unbelievable talent.”
Central midfielder: Andres Iniesta: Champions League appearances: 130
“Iniesta is a bit different to Xavi, he will play a bit closer to the front. When you look at some of his performances… his touch, his awareness, his balance, his creativity, he scores big goals – everything about him. That duo set the standard.”
Central midfielder: Steven Gerrard: Champions League appearances: 73
“He was always a great passer, great vision, great awareness, a sharp tackler… he was great in every way. As he grows up, he gets bigger and bigger and becomes an animal. He can overcome everyone with strength, can score goals, create assists, tackle, hit heads, left foot, right foot , plays in every position… he’s a weirdo, an absolute weirdo.”
Attacking midfielder: Zinedine Zidane: Champions League appearances: 80
“Zidane and Gerrard are the two best players I have ever played with. You know when you were a kid and you had one of those balls on the end of a string and the ball never went more than a meter and a half? He has that string and it’s invisible. Everything he does shows class: the way he runs, the way he touches the ball. Zidane can do everything with just one touch.”
Striker: Lionel Messi: Champions League appearances: 163
“Messi is the most naturally gifted player we have ever seen. He was born to play football.”
Striker: Cristiano Ronaldo: Champions League appearances: 183
“Emilio Butragueno, who I toured with, said: ‘This is normal – you can’t take him out of this place!'” That just shows why he was so great for a while. long time. He devoted his perfect abilities to football.”
