Our Combined XI for Group D is essentially the top three of La Liga

We were tempted to just put the whole Spanish team but thought twice.

Then we thought three times and decided to put the whole Spanish team again but after thinking for the third time, we found a spot for three non-Spaniards.

Here are the teams in Group D, for the more forgetful among you.

– Croatia
– Czech Republic
– Spain
– Turkey

Justification:

David De Gea (Spain) – The only real competition for a place between the sticks is between Petr Cech and David De Gea. We’ve gone for the latter just due to the fact that he’s saved the day for Manchester United on so many occasions this season. De Gea is also much better with the ball at his feet than Cech who is still a terrific shot-stopper but the Spaniard is in his prime right now.

Juanfran (Spain) – Carvajal’s injured, Bellerin just has speed and Darijo Srna is a 60-year-old man.

Sergio Ramos (Spain) – A leader, a prick when he needs to be and just as much a threat from set-pieces as he is a reliable last man at the back.

Gerard Pique (Spain) – He’s the logical partner, for both Shakira and Sergio.

Jordi Alba (Spain) – We promise that a non-Spaniard is right around the corner.

Sergio Busquets (Spain) – Because of the fondness of both full backs to bombing forward, we need a defensive midfielder to provide cover and there’s no better man in that position than Busquets.

Luka Modric (Croatia) – Welcome to the party, Croatia, now go about your defence-splitting business.

Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) – Would be a shame if Luka didn’t have someone to speak to on the hypothetical team bus.

Arda Turan (Turkey) – He couldn’t feature for the first half of the season, barely featured for the second half but, on his day, Arda Turan is unplayable.

Andres Iniesta (Spain) – We bet you thought we were planning on leaving Iniesta out but we just couldn’t do it and have had to play him just off of Alvaro Morata because there was no space for him in the centre of the park.

Alvaro Morata (Spain) – He may not be starting for Vicente Del Bosque but he’s starting under us because he simply shows up for every big game and, in our head, this hypothetical XI is up against a monstrous opponent.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10