Football Daily - Euro Leagues: Greatest Champions League XIs

Episode Date: August 21, 2020

Steve Crossman and guests select their Greatest Champions League XIs

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. The Euroleagues on the Football Daily Podcast. Hello and welcome to the Euroleagues on the Football Daily. We are doing the all-time Champions League Final 11. Joining me are Guillaume Balaguet, Raphael Honnickstein and Christophe Theroux. So, here are the rules. It has to be a 4-3-3. It's got to be a real team. What are you... Raphael Honnickstein is already waving his hands.

I knew this was a mistake. Nothing about finals. Where did you get this from? They've got to have played in the finals. It says on the BBC website, you're picking the best all-time team from the tournament. And then it says the only criteria is that they have to have 60 or more Champions League games and to have played in at least one final. Yeah, but the final is this weekend.

This is the point. No, but it doesn't mean that they have to have some kind of special impact in a final or something. Okay, fine. But I still get to pick the winning team. So, you know, you're selling to me. It's a fair point, Raph. It's a fair point, but but i still get to pick the winning team so you know you're selling to me it's a fair point raf it's a fair point but you're still selling to me that's all i'm saying i'm just reading you the rules of your own competition christopher we've got a chance

here you know yeah it's not a competition between you and me i think i know it's not a competition because there's no winners and there's only one loser and that's clearly me i want to win i take it as a competition. Okay, good. So we'll start with the goalkeeper. So before we debate, let's just go bang, bang, bang. So Raphael Honigstein, who is your goalkeeper? Edwin van der Sar.

Edwin van der Sar. Christophe Theriot. Edwin van der Sar. Brilliant, it's going to be a good debate. Guillem Balague. Casillas. Thank goodness for that. Of course.

Now, okay, 177 appearances in the Champions League. Nobody's played more games, so more times to get it wrong, but still, you look at him and you think, no, no, he actually has been, since that appearance in the Champions League final in 1999, when he was 19, and saved Real Madrid that day when Cesar got injured.

Since then on, he's just become the best player in the competition, one of two Champions League, and establishing, yeah, in that period, as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I think, from the side, he's done it with at least two different clubs. And I think he's more the, he was not like one of the new modern keepers. So more than Casillas was, he's influenced a generation. I know lots of keepers who say, yeah, Casillas was one of my examples

because he was like a little bit spectacular. But we all looked up to van der Sar because he could play with his feet, he had everything. And that's why I picked him, for instance, also because I grew up close to a Dutch border and was looking a lot of Dutch football, to be fair, so as a youngster. So that plays into my first real Champions League memories.

He was the goalkeeper, to be fair. So, maybe H. I'll be honest with you. Geography is not going to convince me. So unless you've got something more, Raf, Guillaume's going to win this one. I mean, when I think of the iconic goalkeeper that dominated an era, I think more van der Sar in the relationship. I think of Casillas for Spain, of course, for all the titles there.

Yes, 2002, he was outstanding when he came on against Leverkusen. But I just don't think he had that impact in history that Van der Sar had for all the reasons that Christoph made. Kieran in Brighton says, should be Buffon. And Kevin, who's tweeted us, says, must be Peter Schmeichel. Buffon's a difficult one because the Champions League is just the competition that's always escaped him. So a greater goalkeeper as he is, I'm not sure he can get the nod.

It might escape him again if it stayed at PSG. He could have maybe won it because Navas got injured. So yeah, it's always that. It's not meant for him. He extended his contract to the year so he can try another time at the age of... How old is he now? 43, 44? He can try another time as a substitute to win it.

I'll put it easy for you, Steve. I mean, this is Real Madrid competition, isn't it? The ones who won it the most. And this is the goalkeeper that's had 177 games with the most important and most iconic, talking about iconic, club in the competition, so it has to be Casillas, no? Ika Casillas will be our goalkeeper.

That's been decided. Sorry, Raph and Christophe Theroux, you made a good case for Edwin van der Sar, but I'm going with Casillas. What have we got next? You have a chance to redeem yourself, Steve. Okay, go on then. You can go first, Raph, with the back four. have a chance to redeem yourself Steve okay go on then you can go first Raph with the back four

better write these down yeah so I need to check actually who I picked I mean my right back I remember is Dani Alves

left back is Maldini and then Guillaume would be very happy that I picked the iconic centre backs from Spain yes

Pique and Ramos don't feel sorry about it they have absolutely been fantastic I'm actually happy that you want to be happy yes, Pique and Ramos. Don't feel sorry about it. They have absolutely been fantastic. I've actually picked a German as right back. Yes, yes. Oh, Philipp.

Yeah, Philipp Lahm is my right back. Ramos and Puyol are my centre backs, so that's a bit of a difference. But I will have Maldini, and I think I'm cheating a little bit here here the right-footed left back of AC Milan as left back in my back four yeah Christophe I've Daniel Vezna the right back Sergio Gomez the greatest defender of Spain of all times in Spain as a centre-back I've put Maldini as a centre-back and I've cheated a little bit too with my left back. As I had to have a player from Bayern Munich,

I put Lahm as a right-footed left back because he's played in that position too. That's fair. I mean, Rathken confirmed this, but I think that's fair because Lahm has played there. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely fair. I mean, not that much, I think,

over the course of his Champions League career but yeah absolutely. He's only won one Champions League no Lam? Yeah 2013. You are going against your own team here Guillaume. I just remembered but I'm gonna help you Steve. Ramos is four Champions League wins and Puyol absolutely crucial to the best team in the world ever, perhaps, or close to it anyway. Three Champions League, they both have to be there and the rest is up to you guys. Maldini has to be there.

Why is it Puyol? Why do you pick Puyol ahead of Pique? Because Pique is a better player with Puyol next to him. Puyol has always been, even though not the most plastic and elegant, but the harpoon of that defence of Barcelona at a time when he was asked to change himself as a player.

So he was like, you know, this thing you've been doing of heading the ball away and kicking it away? Forget about that. You have to build from the back. You have to be high up. And that transition he did very well. So if you defended that Van der Sar was the man to put goalkeepers into the modern world, in a way puyola was forced to go from right back to center back to modern center back and he did that very well and winning a lot of things in the process

why haven't you got alves guillem daniel is uh i have respect lamb a lot uh i met him a couple of times i see, his progression. Pep Guardiola says the most intelligent player he's ever had or said that at the time he was at Bayern. Those are, you know, marks that you have to quantify. And even though the Champions League has not been fair to him, he's played 112 times in the competition and captain of one of the big clubs in the history of the competition too. Okay, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Raph.

Because Lahm has popped up a couple of times, but interestingly not in your team. Do you want Lahm in? You can have Lahm in at right back instead of Alves. You can change your own team. You can go with your countrymen. You can go with your initial thought. No, I'm going to stick with Dani Alves.

He's going to stick with Dani Alves. Okay, so Dani Alves is right back. Has to be Ramos Ramos Guillaume I think you've made a very good point Puyol is in ahead of Pique and left back well we haven't really talked about him but it's got to be Paolo Maldini hasn't it yeah why not why not on the same reason I think Maldini has had also a long career in the competition ahead in 16 games he as I said he was a left back but he was right footed and he was very very intelligent playing both as a center back and as a as a left back um perhaps the best play on the field in the 2003 champions league final win over over juventus at the time and uh and then there is that thing about lifting the cup 40 years to the day that his father, Cesare, have lifted in 1963.

So he's part of the history of the European Cup as well as the Champions League. And not really remembering what he did during his last Champions League final when he won it because he was full of painkillers. He got surgery a few, like 24 hours. He was in Antwerp undergoing surgery to his knee, I think. So he was completely wasted too when he played his last final and won his last final. So great player.

I always looked up to him. Is it three European Cups and two Champions Leagues that he won and runners-up three times? I mean, I don't think many would have that kind of CV. We've picked five players so far and four of them were either Barcelona or Real Madrid. I think you're in my head, Guillaume. Well,

we have believed that an era of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Champions League is finished, is over, but that's what we believed and wait until you get to the midfield. Alright, well let's do that now. I mean, unfortunately there's no way past the Catalans and the Spaniards.

Unfortunately? Celebrated? Yeah, I tried to bring other players in from other countries, but it's just too difficult. I mean, I went for Xavi, Busquets and one of them, Toni Kroos. No, he's not. Was it the Bayern Toni Kroos or the Real Toni Kroos? Or both of them, Rafa? I mean, how many Champions League has he won?

Four. Four? Yeah. That's good enough for me. Go on, Christoph. I think, Christoph, you've pretty much agreed with almost Rafa's whole team so far.

So are we going to see some moving apart? It would be helpful if we did. I just noticed that on social media they have changed one player in my midfield. So I will go with that one it was not the one I

selected but I have Xavi and Iniesta because you can't ignore them and they've added Seedorf instead of Zidane but Seedorf has won three Champions League with three different clubs so get them in so what are your three then?

confirm the three that you actually want. Xavi, Iniesta, Zizou. Xavi, Iniesta, Zizou. Okay, Guillaume. Iniesta won it four times. Xavi won it four times. And Sidov, which is my third midfielder, won it four times with three different clubs.

So I think they should be ahead of Steven Gerrard. Surprised that Rafi doesn't have Iniesta on the side. He's lifting his hand, so let's him talk. I mean, I wanted Iniesta on my side, but I remind you once more about the rules. Yes, I am German. The rules are very important to me. Steve said this has to be a real team.

Yes, it does have to be a real team. I don't think you can play football with Christoph's team. I have Philipp Lahm to cover defensive midfield as an inverted left back. How many positions is Philipp Lahm playing in your team? That's why I put him in, to get that discussion going. Pep would have done it. Also, Raphael, you should realise modern football

has been about how you attack, and attacking and defending high up. And then Iniesta and Xavi and whoever was it, Zizou, could actually recover possession if everybody's high up the pitch. And then you don't need

a defensive midfielder that's called like that because he actually tackles in the midfield. No more Makaleles. Instead, the Xavis and Iniestas of this world. That's where we move to.

No, no, no. I feel that sometimes Zizou's whole coaching is one long letter to Del Bosque accusing him of not getting more support for the midfield at this time and all the other champions that they should have won if only they would have had Makalele or a type like him after after he left um I have to say I'm disappointed that Clarence Seedorf only appears in one team. I think you've got to have him in,

Christoph, I've got to be honest. He has to be in the side. It was him or Zidane for me. Oh my God. It's a really difficult one to pick. He's going to be Iniesta Chavin Seedorf, isn't it?

Busquets has to be in there. Raph's right. It has to be a real team. Your team, Guillaume, you would concede too many goals with Iniesta, Xavi and Seedorf. Who's talking about winning?

Entertaining. Entertaining. It would be lovely to watch. I'd sell out the stadiums as soon as we can get fans back. It'd be great. They'd be booing when you're 4-0 down

on 10 minutes. And then I'll say say but you know who these guys are do you know what they've won what have you won yeah i'll be i'll be kicked out as director of football or whatever i was at the time right all right bigglesway too when you uh when you go into discussions with your fans uh yeah yes yes your fans you have to keep them close, but not too close. Anyway, we beat Bigglesroy Town. We actually,

the town is red at the moment. We just beat Nadawi. I think that gives me the opportunity to say that. Oh, El Clasico, yeah. Well done,

well done. Congratulations. Right, okay, so I'm going with a bit of an amalgamation here. Our midfield three will be Sergio Busquets

because Raph is completely right. We need a holding midfielder. You can shake your head all you want, Christoph. I've decided. Philipp Lahm. He's going to be centre forward in a minute. And then we are going to have Zidane and Seedorf. That is our midfield three.

No Xabi, no Iniesta. They're great players, Guillaume. They're great players and maybe they should be in, but I'm going for Zidane and Sego. You won't be the manager next season. Ronald Koeman will be in to replace me in the short term. I love this message that we've just had just because it's going to wind up rough and that's fine.

We're on to the forwards. Our team so far is Ika Casillas in goal, Dani Alves at right back Sergio Ramos and Carlos Puyol the centre-halves Maldini at left back three central midfielders Busquets holding with Zidane and Seedorf just doing what they do so we need three forwards now Sadiq Raf says if Lewandowski is picked it is clearly only out of recency bias. I mean, when does recency start? In 2012? I mean, the guy is the fourth highest goal scorer in the Champions League and the only two out of three guys ahead of him I have obviously picked in my team. I don't think anyone found a way not to pick them. And the

only guy that has a realistic claim to be ahead of him as a centre-forward is Benzema. But I just prefer Lewandowski. There's something about his style that I just prefer. Anyway, we have too many Madrid and Barcelona players already. Yeah, well, we have two more now, I guess. Yeah, Lewandowski, and you can guess the others. We don't even have to talk about that. Yeah, this is a good point.

So can I just check? Our wide forwards are Messi and Ronaldo yes no question marks wide Ronaldo's a nine yeah wide yeah yeah Ronaldo's played as a nine

and he's played he's played left and right he can play wide that's fine stop being a troll when you get him as well of course if you get him at

when he arrived to Manchester United yes he's a wide player then at Madrid in the last three years at Madrid already this is five years ago for five years he's a wide player. Then at Madrid in the last three years, at Madrid already, this is five years ago, for five years he's been a nine. Five years of his career.

Yeah, but he played wide for Real Madrid as well. He was not always a nine. At the beginning, yeah, perhaps the first two seasons, but that's it. After that, he was just the perfect... Anyway, you need to embed someone next to him. So what position is he for you then, Guillaume? Is he a wide forward or is he your number nine?

I put Zidane as wide left, but because we have him as midfielder, that's it. I won't battle for it, but Zidane who only won one Champions League, surprisingly, but was the best player in the world at this time, wasn't he? But we've got him already. He was my left one.

Ronaldo is nine and Messi is whatever he wants to be. Yeah, that is fair. Alright, so you've got Lewandowski. So Raphs is Messi, and Messi is whatever he wants to be. Yeah, that is fair. All right, so you've got Lewandowski. So Rafsi's Messi, Lewandowski, Ronaldo. Christoph, what's your three? It's Messi, Ronaldo, the surprising names. And then I wanted, if fans on Twitter are talking about the agency players,

I wanted to pick Divock Origi as a central striker, but he wasn't available. So I went for Lewandowski too, because we know he's going to do it in the final. He's the fourth top scorer in the Champions League. He's been there. He's been great this season. He's my forward.

It was him or Benzema for me too. And I went for, we need another player from this Bayern team that has done brilliant, put Lewandowski in it. And there was no suggestion or any rule about impact in the final. And if there was a rule about impact in the final, he will do it this final. So don't worry. This will still stand on Sunday evening,

just like my Atletico Madrid will win the Champions League prediction, I guess. Yeah, crystal. Reached the future perfectly. Rafi, is everything okay with Lewandowski? I mean, he has missed one or two seats, but nothing wrong, is there? No, I mean, he's in great shape. Had a couple of injuries this season, but Bayern benefited from this break

because they got him fit again. He would have missed otherwise quite a big spell, maybe even the rest of the Champions League. So it worked out in their favour. I just don't know about having Lewandowski in there because to me it's all about the final. Like Zidane, for example.

I mean, he's Zidane, but I essentially picked him for that volley in the final. Yeah, well, we are in agreement that even though it's not about what they did in the final, it's better if they had an impact in a final, no? Because that will put, it'd be a small selection, but it'd be a very exclusive selection

if it's about impact in the final we have to put Gareth Bale in I was about to ask that exact question he can be a candidate I was going to ask

that exact question not put it in he can be a candidate but it has to be the global thing and yes Lewandowski we haven't seen him in a final

have we so I agree with you Steve what was your team Steve what was your team, Steve? What was your team? I want to know what your team was. Oh, no, we're building my team,

which is my association, our team. You have to come up with your own team. I think that was one of the... He's doing it. He's listening to the experts. We're giving him our opinions and then he just put it together. And then he changes it

and then he mixes it up to a team that everybody said, what's this? I could never be mistaken as an expert. Yeah, because we don't want to call that line-up that you build him as ours. It's Steve Grossman's. It's your choice. We don't agree with it. Rahul says, Shevchenko, Raul, Del Piero haven't had a mention.

Shocking. Discuss. Yeah, true, true. I thought he would come up with Raul, to be fair. Yeah, Raul could have been there perfectly. But must be still top five goal scorers in the Champions League, 70-odd goals. The man that was not a 10 at anything

and was just one-footed and couldn't head the ball, but still just managed to get such a brilliant career out of it and get titles in the process as well. But yeah, we forget. I mean, 92 includes, yes, the Galantico era, includes the Piero's era, includes a bit of Milan, which we have mentioned. So we'd only had half an hour to talk about what is it since 92,

how many years is that? It's a long period. But names beyond the obvious have been mentioned already, hour to talk about what is it since 92 how many years is that it's a long period but uh names beyond the obvious have been mentioned already so i shouldn't be too harsh on ourselves okay well i've made my decision here is the full lineup for our all-time champions league final 11 ingol ika casillas back four from right to left danny alves, Sergio Ramos, Carlos Puyol, Paolo Maldini. Three central midfielders. Sergio Busquets will be holding

and then Zinedine Zidane and Clarence Seedorf will have the freedom to roam. Right and left you can pick, but it's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And seeing as you've all just taken the rules and thrown them out the window, I've decided to pull rank and our number nine will be picked

solely on his impact in a final. Diego Melito is the number nine of the all-time Champions League final team and I don't care. He scored both goals for Inter in the 2010 final and that's why I've picked him, Raf, because of the opposition.

As long as you're happy. Speechless. My decision is final. Diego Melito gets the nod. And Zinedine Zidane can be player manager, which means Gareth Bale definitely isn't getting in the team. Thank you to Guillaume Balaguet, Raphael Honigstein, and to Christophe Theroux.

That's it for this edition of the Euroleagues on the Football Daily. Thank you very much for listening. And don't forget, we've got full commentary on Five Live Sport at the Champions League final on Sunday night.