UEFA Champions League: Ranking the Top 32 Players Left in the Tournament

To celebrate the round 16 UEFA Champions League draw, let's take a look at the top 32 players left in the tournament. 

There will be a quota of two players for all 16 qualified teams. 

Why?

You already know about the likes of Cesc Fàbregas and Gonzalo Higuaín, so there's no point if this article replicates Barcelona and Real Madrid's squad sheet. 

That's right, you're going to be educated about players like Bernd Leno, Mathieu Valbuena, and many more.

This article will inform you on who the in-form players in European football are. 

APOEL: Costas Charalambides

Position: Right winger
Age: 30
Nationality: Cypriot 

Costas Charalambides is a good player for APOEL even though he never made it for Panathinaikos. 

Boasting a solid cross and smart wing play, he has accumulated four assists and made Aílton look a better player than he really is. 

Napoli: Hugo Campagnaro

Position: Centre back
Age: 31
Nationality: Argentine

Depending on how you want to look at it, luck or divine intervention saved Hugo Campagnaro's life when he survived a tragic automobile accident that claimed the lives of three others. 

Six months later he's playing every game as if it were his last, putting his body on the line week in, week out. 

For someone who loves tackling and intercepting the ball, he's only collected one yellow card. This surprises me, because I've seen him commit his fair share of fouls. In all, he's committed 22 fouls but earned only two yellow cards. 

Campagnaro must be sucking up to the referee before the game. 

APOEL: Paulo Jorge

Position: Centre back
Age: 31
Nationality: Portuguese

If you've been following the APOEL fairy tale, it's hard not to notice Paulo Jorge. Not only is he bald, but he defensive play is courageous. 

He played excellently in a losing effort (APOEL's only loss) to Shakhtar Donetsk's alarmingly talented Brazilian attacking combination of Luiz Adriano, Willian, and Douglas Costa.

Jorge blocked at least four shots, made some good interceptions, and led the defense well even with Shakhtar manopolizing possession. 

Basel: Alexander Frei

Position: 32
Age: Centre forward
Nationality: Swiss

Alexander Frei may have quit the Swiss national team due to being a target of the boo-boys, but he's been in superlative form for Basel, scoring 18 goals in 22 games. 

Bayer Leverkusen: Lars Bender

Position: Defensive midfielder
Age: 22
Nationality: German

Both Bender brothers have the intangibles to succeed at the highest level—hunger, determination, and the mentality of a champion. 

Sven is playing at Borussia Dortmund, so he'll get more coverage. 

Though Lars is still in the UEFA Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen, he's just as good as his brother and may become a better player in the future. 

Benfica: Óscar Cardozo

Position: Centre forward
Age: 28
Nationality: Paraguayan

I've never rated Óscar Cardozo because he has no pace, he can't turn defenders (Jonny Evans is an exception), he's greedy, and he doesn't track back.

Yet he still scores in abundance—16 goals in 18 games this season. 

The video is a a minor blip. If you give him an opportunity to shoot, he will often score.  

Zenit St. Petersburg: Nicolas Lombaerts

Position: Centre back
Age: 26
Nationality: Belgian  

Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Daniel Van Buyten, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and Nicolas Lombaerts.

Goodness gracious the Belgians are loaded at centre back. 

Is it any surprise that Lombaerts studied law and is a quadrilingual? 

He's as smart on the pitch as he is off it. 

High football IQ, solid defender, good physical presence, and distributes well. 

CSKA Moscow: Alan Dzagoev

Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 22
Nationality: Russian  

Wait... so Chelsea take a chance with Yuri Zhirkov, but they don't take a chance with Alan Dzagoev?

Zhirkov was never going to make the transition to star in the Premier League. 

Dzagoev has so much upside that it's perplexing as to why Chelsea didn't snatch him when he was younger. 

It's similar to Josip Iličić. In several years both players will command a substantial transfer fee. 

Bayer Leverkusen: Bernd Leno

Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 19
Nationality: German

This was Bayer Leverkusen's goalkeeping situation at the start of the season. 

Undisputed first choice goalkeeper and German international René Adler was out for the foreseeable future. Newly bought reserve goalkeeper David Yelldell went down with injury. Young goalkeeper Fabian Giefer played one game before suffering a concussion. 

So Leverkusen were granted an emergency loan and took Stuggart's 19-year-old goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Leno has been outstanding.

So outstanding that Leverkusen signed him to a five year contract, and Adler, who has been at the club since he was 15, is set to leave. 

Benfica: Nicolás Gaitán

Position: Right winger 
Age: 23
Nationality: Argentine 

Nicolás Gaitán is a precocious talent who has played well in the UEFA Champions League this season. 

He leads the league in assists. 

Pace, quick feet, technical excellence and vision—what you expect from an Argentine. 

Zenit St. Petersburg: Danny

Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 28
Nationality: Portuguese

Danny likes to play centrally, yet in the UEFA Champions League games I've seen he's been deployed on the left. 

Whilst he continues to dance past defenders, it restricts his creativity. 

Nonetheless, he has continued to be a spark for Zenit St. Petersburg. 

Lyon: Bafétimbi Gomis

Position: Centre forward
Age: 26
Nationality: French 

This was one of  Bafétimbi Gomis' two goals against Ecuador in 2008 when he beat out Djibril Cissé to be included in the Euro 2008 squad. 

He hasn't scored for the French team since.

It's taken a few seasons for Gomis to become lethal and this season he's playing perhaps his best football of his life. 

13 goals in 24 games at 0.54 goals per game is 0.24 higher than his career average. 

Basel: Xherdan Shaqiri

Position: Right winger
Age: 20
Nationality: Swiss  

Watching Xherdan Shaqiri at the UEFA U-21 Championship was a pleasure because he toyed with the defenders. 

He's transitioned well from a hyped prodigy into a solid professional. 

Now he needs to consistently put on world class performances in a better league. 

His contract runs out in three years, so Basel should be contemplating selling him sooner rather than later. 

CSKA Moscow: Seydou Doumbia

Position: Centre forward
Age: 23
Nationality: Ivorian 

I came across Seydou Doumbia's name several seasons ago when he was scoring goals for fun in the Swiss Super League. 

Since then, he has continued that streak for CSKA Moscow.

He is a beast of a forward. He's not as strong as Hulk, but he's slick and he's a good finisher. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in Moscow for the money. 

Obviously, it would be easier to gauge how good he really is if he played in a better league. 

Inter Milan: Wesley Sneijder

Position: Attacking midfielder 
Age: 27
Nationality: Dutch 

Inter Milan will continue to play without Wesley Sneijder for the foreseeable future as the Dutch international recovers from a rectus femoris muscle strain. From what I understand, it's a short term injury. 

What I do know is that this season Sneijder has suffered two abductor strains, a calf injury, and a biceps femoris muscle strain. He collapsed in the dressing room last year against Brescia. He supposedly had anemia.

If I was Manchester United, I would steer clear from Sneijder.

Injuries aside, he is still playing good football, but he's not the same player that thrived under José Mourinho.

Lyon: Michel Bastos

Position: Left winger
Age: 28
Nationality: Brazilian  

What's not to like about Michel Bastos? 

Cool celebrations, dynamic wing play, and unbelievable goals. The video doesn't show you his cunning vision or silky dribbling. 

He's one of my favourite players to watch, and I was a bit disappointed that he decided to stay at Lyon.

Dunga was so enamored with Bastos that he played him at left back during the 2010 FIFA World Cup even though he had been playing as a right winger for Lyon. 

Chelsea: Ramires

Position: Centre midfielder
Age: 24
Nationality: Brazilian

Ramires has been Chelsea's most consistent player. 

You know what you're going to get from the Blue Kenyan: endless running, tackles, lung bursting runs, and perhaps a goal. 

He would have at least five more goals if his finishing was better. 

Marseille: André Ayew

Position: Left winger
Age: 21
Nationality: Ghanaian 

Since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, André Ayew has improved in leaps and bounds. He finally doesn't need to be known as Abedi Pele's son. 

Ayew has scored six headed goals this year. Not only is that somewhat unusual because he is playing out wide, but he isn't particularly tall. 

Perhaps Loïc Rémy's heading prowess is rubbing off on Ayew. 

Marseille: Mathieu Valbuena

Position: 27
Age: Attacking midfielder
Nationality: French

Olé!

Truth be told, İlkay Gündoğan needs to work on his defending. 

Like Stéphane Sessègnon playing for Paris Saint-Germain, I'm overjoyed to watch Mathieu Valbuena play. It's a pity people outside of Ligue 1 don't know who he is. 

Sessègnon has since moved to the Premier League. It would be great if Valbuena moved to a better league. 

So far, he's having a tremendous season. 

Inter Milan: Lúcio

Position: Centre back
Age: 33
Nationality: Brazilian 

Lúcio is the only starter from the 2010 UEFA Champions League winning team that is still playing roughly at the same level. 

He's been exceptional even during Gian Piero Gasperini's forgettable 3-4-3 experiment. 

Bayern Munich: Mario Gómez

Position: Centre forward
Age: 26
Nationality: German

An outcast during Louis van Gaal's reign, Mario Gómez has become an untouchable player at Bayern Munich.

Give him the ball in the box and he's bound to score. 

That's how good of a poacher he is. 

Arsenal: Thomas Vermaelen

Position: Centre back
Age: 26
Nationality: Belgian  

Thomas Vermaelen is a much better left back than André Santos and Kieran Gibbs combined. 

Vermaelen is Arsenal's second most important player. Without him, Arsenal's defense is shambolic. 

Chelsea: Juan Mata

Position: Left forward
Age: 23
Nationality: Spaniard 

Not since Gianfranco Zola have Chelsea had a player that could rival the Italian's genius, vision, or ability to change the makeup of the team. 

Enter Juan Mata. 

What I still do not understand is André Villas-Boas playing two wide forwards who yearn to play centrally. 

Real Madrid: Ángel Di María

Position: Right winger
Age: 23
Nationality: Argentine 

Ángel Di María is a complete player. 

His goal against Sporting Gijón illustrates good football IQ. He is also fast, one of the best dribblers in the world, he tracks back, and he wins a lot of free kicks with his diving. 

In the top European leagues Di María has the most league assists.

Napoli: Edinson Cavani

Position: Centre forward
Age: 24
Nationality: Uruguayan

Whenever you talk about Edinson Cavani from a Napoli perspective, you must talk about the much vaunted triumvirate: Cavani, Marek Hamšík, and Ezequiel Lavezzi. 

It's the best triumvirate at Napoli since MaGiCa: Diego Maradona, Bruno Giordano, and Careca. 

The current Napoli triumvirate could be broken up due to being targets of Neapolitan criminals. 

If Liverpool could take back that decision to waste £35 million on Andy Carroll, they should have bought Cavani. 

A.C. Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimović

Position: Centre forward 
Age: 30
Nationality: Swedish

Zlatan Ibrahimović is dominating the Serie A and he even has the luxury of winning penalties through diving. 

No referee expects a 6'5" tall forward to just fall down and can only expect someone nefarious to cause him falling down. I'm referring to his comical dive against Bologna. 

Bayern Munich: Franck Ribéry

Position: Left winger
Age: 28
Nationality: French  

Sometimes it seems Franck Ribéry isn't even in top gear when he's playing in the Bundesliga. 

He has a monopoly over scoring goals and providing assists in the league. 

A mention to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has been playing at a level that I haven't seen him play at in quite some time. 

A.C. Milan: Thiago Silva

Position: Centre back
Age: 27
Nationality: Brazilian 

God bless Tiziano Crudeli. 

Now talking about Thiago Silva, I recall José Mourinho wanting to buy the defender when he was still playing for Fluminense.

Since failing at Porto and Dynamo Moscow he has become one of the best centre backs in the world. 

Arsenal: Robin Van Persie

Position: Centre forward
Age: 28
Nationality: Dutch 

40 goals in 44 games during the calendar year and counting. 

For Arsenal's sake, if Robin Van Persie goes down with injury there goes their season. 

Barcelona: Xavi

Position: Centre midfielder
Age: 31
Nationality: Spaniard

Xavi is one of the best players of his generation and will go down in history as one of the best players ever.

Enough said.

Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo

Position: Left forward
Age: 26
Nationality: Portuguese  

Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player in the world when Lionel Messi isn't playing. 

When Messi is on the same field as Ronaldo the Portuguese forward loses his swagger, his confidence, and is obviously half the player Messi is. 

He shrinks against Barcelona. 

Dani Alves, whose defending is atrocious, was so pumped for the game that he put on a masterpiece and had Ronaldo in his pocket in last season's El Clásicos. 

In the last El Clásico, Ronaldo missed two gilt-edged opportunities, opportunities that he'd score in any game except when against Barcelona. 

Barcelona: Lionel Messi

Position: Deep lying forward
Age: 24
Nationality: Argentine

The first few moments of the video shows Lassana Diarra marking Lionel Messi tightly. 

The only time I've seen Messi looked disheveled for Barcelona was when Pepe man marked Messi. 

With Diarra, Messi can match him physically, but the Argentine cannot get anything out of Pepe.

I'm convinced Messi's kryptonite is Pepe.

Seemingly Real Madrid's only hope of winning is Messi going down with an injury (God forbid that happening). 

Your Opinion

Of the 32 players on the list, who do you think is number one?

Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?

Please also read World Football's Best Games of 2011.