Bundesliga XI
With the vast majority of the players coming from league leaders Bayern Munich, you could argue that this is the most balanced side of the bunch as there are no gaping weaknesses in any area.
There are seven German internationals in the side and you’d expect the possession play of the midfield trio of Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Gotze to wear out opponents before the pace and creativity of Robben, De Bruyne and Reus punishes tired defences.
We tried to figure out a way of putting a target man like Robert Lewandowski or Bas Dost into the side but Lewandowski is performing nowhere near to the best of his abilities and the ridiculous top three of Robben, De Bruyne and Reus just looked sexier to us.
Subs bench: Bernd Leno (GK), Medhi Benatia, Rafinha, Xabi Alonso, Thomas Muller, Franck Ribery, Bas Dost.
Ligue 1 XI
Even more than Bayern Munich dominate the Bundesliga team, the Ligue 1 XI is very PSG-heavy but for good reason.
They are top of the table and have the most talented strike partnership to go along with the centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Marquinhos.
We had to have Ligue 1 top scorer Alex Lacazette in the side but couldn’t bring ourselves to get rid of Ibra or Cavani so have gone for a 4-2-2-2 look. (The way Man City played three years ago).
The midfield of Matuidi and Moutinho is strong but is nowhere near the level of the Bundesliga so you’d think this XI could fall down in this area.
The full-backs are nothing to write home about either and would be torn apart by de Bruyne/Reus or Ronaldo/Messi.
Subs bench: Salvatore Sirigu (GK), Gregory van der Wiel, David Luiz, Thiago Motta, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Pastore, Andre-Pierre Gignac.
La Liga
By far the most difficult team of the five to pick just based on the attacking talents at our disposal.
Poor old James Rodriguez didn’t even make the bench as we had to find room for Bale, Neymar and Benzema and the legendary Barca duo of Iniesta and Xavi can also feel hard done by but we just don’t fancy their legs nowadays.
But the XI itself is as solid as it gets although you wouldn’t fancy the team to finish every game with the full contingent with Alves, Ramos and Suarez all fond of a yellow card or two.
The front three speaks for itself and you’d need a back six of disciplined defenders to cope with Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez.
The midfield is surprisingly not as exciting as it would have been a few years back when Iniesta and Xavi were at their best.
It was a coin toss between Kroos and Modric for the starting place but we went for the German just because Rakitic and Modric are so similar that we wanted a bit more of a marauder in our team and Kroos fit the bill there.
We weren’t too confident at right back and Atletico’s Juanfran nearly got the shout but we went with the tried and (almost) trusted Alves.
In the squad, there are only three players from clubs other than Real Madrid and Barcelona and that comes with Koke, Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves who has been in sensational form, and Atletico centre-back Diego Godin.
You’d have to say it’s a toss up between the Bundesliga XI and the La Liga XI for top spot here.
Subs bench: Diego Alves (GK), Diego Godin, Jordi Alba, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Neymar, Karim Benzema.
Serie A XI
This team is a lot more on the level of the Ligue 1 XI than the Bundesliga or La Liga sides.
One thing that is all but absent from Italian football at the minute is the old fashioned wide man. The concept of pacy wingers whipping in crosses for a big target man is close to non-existent among the elite teams in Serie A.
For our Serie A XI, we had to include the stalwart of Buffon who has been keeping clean sheets for fun all season.
Juventus have scored the fewest goals in the league so it will be of little surprise that our back four consists of three players from The Old Lady with Roma’s Manolas thrown in for good measure.
Pogba was the first name on our team sheet and it would be hard to dismiss the argument that the Frenchman is the best player in the league.
We’ve gone for a formidable front three of Inter’s Xherdan Shaquiri and Mauro Icardi who are joined by current top goalscorer Carlos Tevez.
Subs bench: Morgan De Sanctis (GK), Maicon, Davide Astori, Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, Mohamed Salah, Gonzalo Higuain.
Premier League XI
I’m sure the vast majority have scrolled right down just to see who made the Premier League XI so welcome! Please keep your “there should be more Liverpool/United/Leeds players” talk to an absolute minimum.
There are three world-class goalkeepers in the league this season and we could only start one. It’s David de Gea who’s gotten our number one shirt just because his performances alone have pretty much kept United afloat this season. You’d be hard done by to find a bad game from the Spaniard and the same can’t be said for the other two ‘keepers in contention, Thibaut Courtois and Joe Hart.
In defence, we’ve opted for two of the least popular lads in the Premier League in Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry. They may not be on your Christmas card list but they’ve been Chelsea’s stand-out performers all season.
Partnering Terry in central defence is Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny. The Frenchman is good in the air and with his feet, plus he’s got surprising pace for a big fella.
The left-back position is one that everyone involved with SportsJOE disagreed on. We’ve had Clichy, Kolarov and Bertrand in there but low and behold, it’s Leighton Baines who’s made the cut. He’s struggled with fitness this season but when he’s injury-free, he’s the best left-back in the league.
We’ve ignored the potential defensive frailties of our midfield in favour of the flair and impact that David Silva and Philippe Coutinho bring to any side. They are the best players in the PL with the ball at their feet and we’re entrusting them to keep the wide men and forwards well fed.
In the next line of attack, we’ve got Eden Hazard on the left with Alexis Sanchez on the right. Hazard has future Ballon d’Or written all over him and there’s a case to be made for him being the top man in the league.
On the opposite flank, Alexis Sanchez is unstoppable on his day and is almost impossible to knock off the ball.
There will undoubtedly be controversy based on the inclusion of Rooney but he’s essentially been United’s only source of goals this season so we had to give him the nod because, at 29, he’s still unplayable when on-form.
And partnering Rooney is Sergio Aguero. He’s one of few forwards in world football that, when he gets the ball out of his feet to strike, you can almost guarantee seeing the net ripple.
Subs bench: Thibaut Courtois (GK), Nathaniel Clyne, Toby Alderweireld, Yaya Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Raheem Sterling, Diego Costa.
