THE Champions League group stage best XI has been revealed – with only one Premier League star making the cut.
Despite the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah starring for Liverpool en route to topping their group, not a single Reds player made the team.
Harry Kane is the only Prem player in the CL group stage best XI
Cristiano Ronaldo is another high-profile star to miss out.
With the draw for the last-16 now nearly upon us, we take a look at who makes the group stage best XI, based on their average rating on WhoScored.
GOALKEEPER
Keylor Navas has been named the CL group stage best goalkeeperCredit: AFP
Keylor Navas
Paris Saint-Germain topped their group with five wins and a draw through their six games.
And Navas played a huge role, conceding just twice in that run, earning an average rating of 7.5 per game.
DEFENDERS
Kalidou Koulibaly makes the back four in the best XICredit: AP:Associated Press
Juan Cuadrado, Kalidou Koulibaly, Jose Luis Palomino, Alphonso Davies
Former winger-turned-full-back Cuadrado has starred for Juventus, with a 7.7 rating, as Juve shipped just four goals in a strong group.
Two more Serie A stars, Koulibaly (7.4) and Palomino (7.5), take the centre-back spots.
Bayern Munich’s Canadian hotshot Davies takes the left-back position with an average score a staggering 8.2.
MIDFIELDERS
Toni Kroos, Thiago
In an attacking line-up, just two central midfielder make the cut – Kroos and Thiago.
The German star averaged 8.1 per game as Real Madrid finished second behind PSG in their group.
Bayern ace Thiago racked up a mean rating of 8 as the Germans edged Tottenham to the top spot in Group B.
Toni Kroos is part of a midfield duo alongside Thiago
FORWARDS
Lewandowski scored ten goals in an outrageous group stage campaign
Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe
In an already strong team, the forward line reads like a who’s who of star footballing talent.
Messi accumulated an astonishing rating of 8.7 per game as Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund to the top of the group.
But even that wasn’t good enough for the best rating in the team as ten-goal star Robert Lewandowski earned that honour at 9.2.
Harry Kane is the Premier League’s only representative with an 8.1 thanks to his six goals.
Kylian Mbappe – who scored his 100th club goal on Wednesday against Galatasaray – completes the XI thanks to his five goals helping him to a 7.9 rating.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
