Most Decorated Players XI In Europe Revealed

Cristiano Ronaldo missed from the most decorated XI across Europe's top five leagues despite his incredible career. So who did make the cut?

The 35-year-old has lifted 31 titles throughout his career, but did not make William Hill's most decorated XI, which is based on the three players with most trophies in each of Europe's top five leagues in the last 30 years.

As a result, Ronaldo didn't make the cut because his titles are spread over three of Europe's major leagues, namely the Premier League (10), LaLiga (16) and Serie A (3).

"The very best starting XI from over time is a hotly debated topic between football supporters, so we made a decision to put this to the test and select a someone to 11 predicated on major trophies won by players who have played in the top five European leagues over the last 30 years," Tony Smith, William Hill's internet marketing director, said, as quoted by the Daily Express. 

"The starting XI includes the likes of Paolo Maldini, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Ryan Giggs - legends of the game - and with the rest of the talent in this team, the first XI have a complete of 367 medals between them.

"Many might gasp in horror at Cristiano Ronaldo missing out, but there's no space for the Juventus goal machine due to his medals being spread out across three leagues. Despite winning the Ballon d'Or a exceptional five times, the Portuguese attacker still trails Messi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in Spain, together with Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville in England - teammates of his at Manchester United."

We added Dani Alves to the choice in comparison to William Hill's XI, for the reason that former Sevilla and FC Barcelona right-back trumps Gary Neville, who was simply in the original selection - Alves won 28 trophies in Spain compared to Neville's 20 in England.