DEFEAT TO MANCHESTER City on Tuesday night means Zlatan Ibrahimović could still end his career without winning the Champions League, despite winning titles in Holland, Italy, Spain and France, time is running out for the 34-year-old to add European club football’s premier competition to his list of honours. Will he be a contender to join the team below?
(GK) David Seaman
Winner of 75 caps, David Seaman won three league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners but didn’t enjoy similar success in the Champions League. Seaman, however did win some European silverware when he won the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994 and was a runner-up in the UEFA Cup final of 2000 when Arsenal lost to Galatasaray on penalties.
David Seaman won three league titles with Arsenal. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(RB) Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram, won both the World Cup and European Championship in France but failed to replicate his international success with his clubs in Europe. The closest Thuram got to winning the competition was in 2003, when his Juventus side lost to AC Milan on penalties in the final.
Thuram suffered heartache in the 2003 Champions League final. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(CB) Laurent Blanc
The current PSG manager is aiming to lift the trophy he failed to win during his playing career. An international teammate of Thuram during the summers of 1998 and 2000, the much-travelled centre-back had spells with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United but spent the majority of his club career with Montpellier.
Laurent Blanc is now the manager of PSG. Tony Marshall
Tony Marshall
Advertisement
(CB) Fabio Cannavaro
It says a lot about Cannavaro that he managed to earn 136 caps for Italy, in an international career spanning nearly 15 years, including leading the Azzurri to World Cup success in 2006. Cannavaro won league titles with Juventus in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain but his only silverware in European club football came in 1999 with Parma.
Fabio Cannavaro lead Italy to the 2006 World Cup. Luca Bruno
Luca Bruno
(LB) Gianluca Zambrotta
In his peak, the versatile full-back could offer as much attacking threat as defensive solidity and was an integral part of Italy’s success in 2006. He joined Barcelona in 2006 when they were reigning European champions and was part of the Juventus side that lost to Milan in the final at Old Trafford in 2003.
Zambrotta joined reigning European champions Barcelona in 2006. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(RM) Robert Pires
Another member of France’s double winning team, the French winger enjoyed the greatest period of his career in Highbury with Arsenal including being part of the invincibles side from the 2003-04 season. The closest the tricky winger came to lifting the trophy was in 2006 when Arsenal lost to Barcelona in the Stade de France.
Pires came up against Arsenal for Villarreal in the Champions League in 2009. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(CM) Michael Ballack
Capped 98 times by Germany, the former Bayern Munich midfielder combined his supreme technical ability with the knack of being in the right place at the right time to always being a goalscoring threat for the opposition. Despite winning league titles with Kaiserslautern and Bayern in Germany and Chelsea in England, he never lifted the European Cup, having been a beaten finalist on two occasions with Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea.
Michael Ballack's Bayer Leverkusen lost to a Zinedine Zidane inspired Real Madrid in the 2002 final. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(CM) Lothar Matthäus
Matthäus won nearly all there is to win for club and country except the the Champions League including seven German titles with Bayern Munich and a UEFA Cup with Inter in 1991. It looked like the versatile German was going to get his hands on the trophy in 1999 but Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United had other plans.
Two late goals by Manchester United in the final denied Lothar Matthäus from lifting the trophy. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(LM) Pavel Nedvěd
The former European Footballer of the Year enjoyed the greatest period of his career with Lazio and Juventus, winning Serie A titles with both of these clubs at the turn of the millennium. Unfortunately for the Czech playmaker he missed out on the 2003 final after picking up a suspension in the semi-final against Real Madrid.
Pavel Nedvěd is a former European Player of the Year. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(CF) Ronaldo
Hard to believe that the Brazilian striker is still only 39, but Ronaldo, who has been named World Player of the Year on three separate occasions never won the Champions League during his time in Europe. His club haul which includes a UEFA Cup winners medal is no match to the success he enjoyed on the international stage with Brazil which includes two World Cup and Copa America wins.
Ronaldo won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
(CF) George Weah
Another former World Player of the Year, the Liberian had spells with several clubs across Europe including spells with AC Milan, PSG and Chelsea. The combative striker was also the top scorer in the Champions League in the 1994-95 season as PSG reached the semi-finals.
George Weah is considered one of the greatest African footballers of all time. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
Above list includes retired players from the Champions League era.
Is this the best XI never to win the Champions League?
DEFEAT TO MANCHESTER City on Tuesday night means Zlatan Ibrahimović could still end his career without winning the Champions League, despite winning titles in Holland, Italy, Spain and France, time is running out for the 34-year-old to add European club football’s premier competition to his list of honours. Will he be a contender to join the team below?
(GK) David Seaman
Winner of 75 caps, David Seaman won three league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners but didn’t enjoy similar success in the Champions League. Seaman, however did win some European silverware when he won the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994 and was a runner-up in the UEFA Cup final of 2000 when Arsenal lost to Galatasaray on penalties.
(RB) Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram, won both the World Cup and European Championship in France but failed to replicate his international success with his clubs in Europe. The closest Thuram got to winning the competition was in 2003, when his Juventus side lost to AC Milan on penalties in the final.
(CB) Laurent Blanc
The current PSG manager is aiming to lift the trophy he failed to win during his playing career. An international teammate of Thuram during the summers of 1998 and 2000, the much-travelled centre-back had spells with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester United but spent the majority of his club career with Montpellier.
(CB) Fabio Cannavaro
It says a lot about Cannavaro that he managed to earn 136 caps for Italy, in an international career spanning nearly 15 years, including leading the Azzurri to World Cup success in 2006. Cannavaro won league titles with Juventus in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain but his only silverware in European club football came in 1999 with Parma.
(LB) Gianluca Zambrotta
In his peak, the versatile full-back could offer as much attacking threat as defensive solidity and was an integral part of Italy’s success in 2006. He joined Barcelona in 2006 when they were reigning European champions and was part of the Juventus side that lost to Milan in the final at Old Trafford in 2003.
(RM) Robert Pires
Another member of France’s double winning team, the French winger enjoyed the greatest period of his career in Highbury with Arsenal including being part of the invincibles side from the 2003-04 season. The closest the tricky winger came to lifting the trophy was in 2006 when Arsenal lost to Barcelona in the Stade de France.
(CM) Michael Ballack
Capped 98 times by Germany, the former Bayern Munich midfielder combined his supreme technical ability with the knack of being in the right place at the right time to always being a goalscoring threat for the opposition. Despite winning league titles with Kaiserslautern and Bayern in Germany and Chelsea in England, he never lifted the European Cup, having been a beaten finalist on two occasions with Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea.
(CM) Lothar Matthäus
Matthäus won nearly all there is to win for club and country except the the Champions League including seven German titles with Bayern Munich and a UEFA Cup with Inter in 1991. It looked like the versatile German was going to get his hands on the trophy in 1999 but Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United had other plans.
(LM) Pavel Nedvěd
The former European Footballer of the Year enjoyed the greatest period of his career with Lazio and Juventus, winning Serie A titles with both of these clubs at the turn of the millennium. Unfortunately for the Czech playmaker he missed out on the 2003 final after picking up a suspension in the semi-final against Real Madrid.
(CF) Ronaldo
Hard to believe that the Brazilian striker is still only 39, but Ronaldo, who has been named World Player of the Year on three separate occasions never won the Champions League during his time in Europe. His club haul which includes a UEFA Cup winners medal is no match to the success he enjoyed on the international stage with Brazil which includes two World Cup and Copa America wins.
(CF) George Weah
Another former World Player of the Year, the Liberian had spells with several clubs across Europe including spells with AC Milan, PSG and Chelsea. The combative striker was also the top scorer in the Champions League in the 1994-95 season as PSG reached the semi-finals.
Above list includes retired players from the Champions League era.
Do you agree with our 6 alternative choices for PFA Player of the Year?
Football League: Which Irish players are fighting for promotion or battling relegation?
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Best of the Rest Best XI Champions League Soccer Zlatan Ibrahimovic