On Monday, UEFA revealed their 40-man shortlist for the Team of the Year for 2016
Spanish side Real Madrid had the most inclusions in the shortlist as a total of eight players made their cut. To the amusement of few, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were named among the forty players, and were joined by defenders Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos and Pepe and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
In Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique, Barcelona had five players that made the list while Real’s local rivals Atletico Madrid also had the same number of members included in the shortlist.
English side Arsenal saw the most number of inclusions from the Premier League as three players made the cut from the Gunners. Defender Laurent Koscielny was in excellent form for Arsenal last season and joined midfielder Aaron Ramsey and attacker Alexis Sanchez in the list.
Take a look at the entire shortlist:
Goalies: Rui Patricio (Sporting), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Gigi Buffon (Juventus)
Defenders: Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Pep (Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Paul Pogba (Man United), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Joe Allen (Stoke), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Toni Kroos, (Real Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Grzegorz Krychowiak (PSG)
Strikers: Leo Messi (Barcelona), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man United), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Neymar (Barcelona), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Sergio Aguero (Man City)
