The 2021 calendar year is coming to an end in a couple of days, and there’s plenty of reflection on the performances by footballers this past 12 months.
French media outlet L’Equipe (via Paris Fans) has put its best XI for 2021, and perhaps this might come as a surprise, but Paris Saint-Germain has only three players. Marquinhos, Marco Verratti, and Kylian Mbappé were in featured in the starting XI for the publication.
Some of the players on the PSG squad who didn’t feature in the list were Keylor Navas, who had a good year helping the Ligue 1 giants reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
Then there’s Lionel Messi, who has shown flashes of his Barcelona self but had some bumps in adjusting to French football. Also, Neymar Jr. was another name that might surprise some that didn’t make the starting XI.
Jonathan David, Téji Tedy Savanier, Lucas Paquetá, Dimitri Payet, Reinildo Mandava, Sven Botman, Jonathan Clauss, and Mike Maignan were the other players in the lineup for L’Equipe.