IN PICS: FIFPro World XI

Sport360 staff 22:21 09/01/2017
Players on stage at the gala event.

This year’s FIFPro World XI was dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid players, the two La Liga giants contributing a combined nine players in the team.

Announced at a gala event in Zurich on Monday evening, only former Barcelona man Dani Alves – now at Juventus – and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer were from teams outside of Spain’s two biggest clubs.

Barcelona players in the XI included; Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Meanwhile, current Champions League holders Real Madrid saw five of their players inducted into the XI with Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo featuring.

Organised by FIFPro, the body that represents players’ associations from 69 countries, the team is decided by professional footballers, with 26,516 voting this year.

No Premier League-based players were selected despite English and Welsh clubs providing the most votes, a record 1,884.

Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, however, missed out on one of the three midfield berths by an agonising two votes, the smallest margin in the award’s 12-year history – a count FIFPro verified with a Dutch-based public notary.

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