Liverpool pair named in UEFA Fans’ Mens’ Team of the Year | OneFootball

Liverpool pair Virgil van Dijk and Thiago Alcantara have been voted into the UEFA Fans’ Men’s Team of the Year for 2020.

The club have confirmed the news as UEFA have announced the full XI, voted for by the fans, including both van Dijk and Thiago.

Alisson, Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah were all nominated for the side, but were unable to make it into the XI. Neuer, Kimmich, Ramos, Van Dijk, Davies, Thiago, De Bruyne, Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Lewandowski is the full team.

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ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

It is not quite as special as Liverpool having five players in the 2019 edition of this team, but for Thiago and van Dijk it is an exceptional accomplishment. Thiago is in the XI for the first time in his career and van Dijk has made it for the third year running, further highlighting just how big of a miss he currently is through injury.

In terms of the Liverpool players who missed out, it is difficult to argue with any of them. The fullbacks, for example, have been ousted by Kimmich and Davies after the Bayern pair won the treble last season, impressing in the Bundesliga, cup and Champions League. Mane and Salah missed out to the likes of Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo and Lewandowski, with the latter two the top two scorers in Europe throughout 2020.

Henderson and Alisson missed out to Kevin de Bruyne and Neuer, which is also hard to argue with. De Bruyne won PFA Player of the Year ahead of Henderson in the Premier League, whilst Neuer produced a stunning performance in the Champions League final to help Bayern win Europe’s prestigious competition.