Former Germany international Michael Ballack has his feet firmly on the Barcelona bandwagon as he chose only three Juventus players in CNN’s Champions League Ultimate XI interactive.
Gianluigi Buffon, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba were the only three to make it into the former Chelsea midfielder’s combined XI.
Ballack opted for a back four of Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba in front of veteran Buffon, while he picked former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Vidal to accompany Andres Iniesta and Pogba in midfield.
The 100+ goal trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were unsurprisingly chosen to lead the line.
There was no place for departing Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez, while Andrea Pirlo was also omitted.
“Buffon is fantastic and has huge experience and success in the past — he’s a great keeper,” Ballack told CNN.
“On the other side you have young keeper [Marc-Andre ter] Stegen… he does not have that experience to play on that level.
“So I would say Buffon as nervousness comes in the final.”
“In general I would say that Barcelona has the better team. I would not pick a lot of Juventus players in my favorite XI,” explained the two-time Champions League finalist.
“I would pick Pogba, the way he is playing in midfield — he is physical, playing box to box.
“Another player is Vidal — he’s a great player, we played together at Leverkusen. He has good personality on the pitch and brings the Juventus players alive.”
“Juventus is defending well as a team but individually I am not convinced that [Giorgio] Chilleni or [Leonardo] Bonucci are better than Pique or Mascherano.”
“Pirlo is a great player but he cannot reach [that level], but he is an important player for Juventus and that’s why he is playing.”
Michael Ballack’s Ultimate XI in full:
Buffon; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Iniesta, Pogba, Vidal; Messi, Neymar, Suarez.