On Thursday, UEFA announced its teams of the year as voted by more than seven million worldwide users of its official website. And there are no fewer than three players from FC Barcelona in the XI, one in defence, one in midfield and one in attack: Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi.
Gerard Piqué took 39% of the votes (253,437) in his position. Andrés Iniesta got an even larger share of the votes, 51%, in midfield (332,914), while a ginormous 64& of users picked Leo Messi in the forward line (418,449).
It’s fair reflection of an amazing year in which the trio helped their club to victories in the Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, while the Argentinian also helped his team to the Copa America final. He was also the leading goalscorer of the year with 52 in all competitions, just ahead of his team-mate Luis Suárez with 47.
Suárez and fellow trident member Neymar Jr were also among the names shortlisted for inclusion but did not make the final cut.
The definitive UEFA line-up goes as follows: Buffon (Juventus); Ramos (Real Madrid), Bonucci (Juventus), Boateng (Bayern Munich) & Piqué (FC Barcelona); Modric (Real Madrid), Kroos (Real Madrid) & Iniesta (FC Barcelona); Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Messi (FC Barcelona) & Griezmann (Atlético Madrid).
