Despite what has been the longest football season possibly ever, the 19/20 campaign has drawn to a close across Europe. For some, it has been a year of breaking record, bagging trophies and success. For others, they’d have been wishing the break never ended as their team stuttered to a meagre league finish or cup defeat.

Whatever your personal team managed in this crazy season, it’s hard to deny that there has been some outstanding football on show across the continent. In the major competitions, Bayern have been unbelievably strong and consistent, whilst further down the league system, the likes of Leeds, Harrogate, FC Lorient, Huesca and Benevento all had superb seasons.

To mark the end of this year-long season, I’ve put together my PERSONAL team of the season. Now, before we begin, I must again emphasise, this is my personal selection of players, and I understand it’ completely up for debate. Additionally, I physically can’t watch every game and every league in Europe, meaning some fantastic players who have had superb seasons may not be included purely because of my lack of knowledge. Instead, to decide on the 11, I am combining personal opinion and knowledge with the statistical side of things. For some positions, I may choose a player who although not statistically the best in their position, they have impacted massively, and likewise, some positions may just come down to the facts and stats.

If you do think I’ve missed off any player that deserves credit or a mention, drop me a tweet @NextGoalWinBlog and I’ll be sure to look into it.

Enjoy!

Midfielder – Thiago Alcântara

Thiago has had such an underrated career to date, however 2019/2020 really brought him to the worlds attention. With a high profile move to Liverpool edging ever-closer, viewers of English football are in for a real treat with the Spanish international.

In 2019/2020, Thiago picked up his 2nd Champions League winners medal, after being part of Peps incredible Barcelona setup (2010/2011). Alongside adding several more medals and trophies to his C.V. the midfielder averaged a 7.47 Bundesliga rating, and a 7.76/10 Champions League score. A truly fantastic rating. Although he isn’t perhaps the most successful player in terms of the statistics, in the performances I watched of the midfielder, he was a fantastic player and deserves the recognition in this squad.

Additional considerations would go to the likes of Kimmich, Henderson, Grealish and Muller, all of whom had incredible seasons. Thiago’s Champions League performances simply pushed him ahead.

Midfielder – Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgian midfielder again showed his brilliance in this campaign, being one of 3 players to create over 100 goal scoring chances, making 136 key passes. Only Lionel Messi created more clear-cut opportunities.

The way De Bruyne lifts the team around him, and provides so many chances from nothing is remarkable. He is one of the true underrated players, and in my opinion should have been talked about more in terms of the big awards such as the Ballon d’Or. Admittedly it’s hard to overshadow the main goalscorers when you’re the one providing the chances, however the Manchester City and Belgian front line would be quite exposed without the support of the assist king (20 for the season).

Midfielder – Lionel Messi

After mentioning his record for creating the most clear-cut goal scoring chances, it’s only fair that the G.O.A.T makes it onto this team of the season, after yet another fantastic season, despite the circumstances for Barcelona.

Despite missing out on La Liga to rivals Real Madrid, and of course the famous defeat to Bayern in the Champions League, it’s easy to consider the entire season a write-off for Barcelona. Their dominance appears to be waning, and the off-field dilemma of Messi’s future further adds to the speculation of the end of the Catalan legacy. That being said, on an individual level, Messi was still outstanding. A truly remarkable season, given that for many pundits it was a disappointing one, yet Messi provided stats that most players would only dream of.

With 25 goals and 22 assists from 33 games, and being crowned European player of the year for the 9th time in his career, Messi just broke record after record this season (as usual). With an average rating of 8.7/10 for the season, he was the highest rated player in Europe’s top-5 leagues according to WhoScored. He ranked first also in assists with 21, key dribbles with 5.5 per game and came in 2nd for shots per game.

Quite frankly, if this is a disappointing season by Messi’s standards, then his opposition players need to hope and pray he doesn’t return back to his best, as even this years’ performances will strike more fear into defenders.

Midfielder – Bruno Fernandes

Although Bruno Fernandes only really arrived on the scene for many football fans in January of 2020 with his arrival at Manchester United, fans of Portuguese football would have been well-aware of the midfielders ability and talents, having captained Sporting in the earlier part of the season.

In all honesty however, I didn’t see tonnes of Bruno in a Sporting shirt, however purely based on the few months in England, he still has earnt a place in this XI for me. He has led the side into the Champions League places, something that many fans and pundits would never have expected earlier in the season, whilst his entire aura and presence lifts the squad around him. In United’s midfield. the likes of Pogba, Fred and McTominay are putting in great performances and upping their game around him.

As with some other entries in this list, Bruno’s stats may not necessarily have put him on this list, however it is down to his style of play, influence and performances that puts him into this midfield. With a full season under his belt in 2020/21, I think he might just make everybody’s list next time round.

Midfielder – Cristiano Ronaldo

As with the inclusion of Messi, Ronaldo makes an obvious appearance on this list of top-players, after ANOTHER remarkable season. His 31 goals helped Juve to another Scudetto, and they were crucial goals as Inter were breathing down their neck for the entire season.

Like many, I questioned Ronaldo’s decision to move to Italy at the now age of 35, however he is just tearing their defences apart in the same manner as he did in Portugal, England and Spain before. Managing the most shots of any player with 208, he achieved an average rating of 7.8/10.

Whatever is happening with Juventus in terms of management, European challenge and future plans, it’s fair to say they shouldn’t be looking past Ronaldo just yet, as he has plenty more left in the tank before he moves on from Juventus. Given his track record, they may have to win the Champions League before he will truly say his work with Juventus is complete, so as a message to his teammates, pull your fingers out.

Striker – Robert Lewandowski

The last, yet easiest player to place on the list, is the man who was entirely robbed of his first every Ballon d’Or, Robert Lewandowski. Whilst there are obvious respects paid to the other strikers who had amazing seasons, none really come close to the Lewan’GOAL’ski.

His 19/20 campaign was superb, picking up the aforementioned Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. The goals he scored were a massive driving force behind those 3 trophy wins, with 34 league goals from 31 games, and 11 in 6 Champions League matches.

What a season and what a player. Truly robbed of the accolades this season. But now he’s won the big one… the no.9 role in NextGoalWinner’s Team of the Season!