UEFA.com users' "Team of the Year 2013" revealed

UEFA.com users' "Team of the Year 2013" revealed

UEFA.com users' Team of the Year 2013
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern München & Germany)
Defender: Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München & Germany)
Defender: Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain & Brazil)
Defender: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF & Spain)
Defender: David Alaba (FC Bayern München & Austria)
Midfielder: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur FC/Real Madrid CF & Wales)
Midfielder: Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund & Germany)
Midfielder: Mesut Özil (Real Madrid CF/Arsenal FC & Germany)
Midfielder: Franck Ribéry (FC Bayern München & France)
Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain & Sweden)
Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF & Portugal)

Three players have earned a debut in the 13th annual selection, picked from a shortlist of 40 chosen by UEFA.com staff writers on the basis of their performances for a European club or national side in 2013. That trio all starred in the UEFA Champions League final between Bayern and Dortmund: Neuer, Alaba – the first Austrian to figure – and Reus, BVB's maiden representative.

By contrast, Ronaldo is involved for an unprecedented seventh time in a row but, for the first time since 2007, is not partnered up front by Lionel Messi, pipped in the vote by Ibrahimović. The Sweden striker is joined by Paris colleague Silva, included for the third year running and the only non-European selected.

The other two defenders were in the 2012 XI: Ramos and Alaba's club-mate Lahm, who received the most votes. The midfield contains two men who switched clubs in the summer: Özil, who left Madrid for Arsenal, and the man who transferred to the Santiago Bernabéu from Tottenham, Bale. They link up with Reus and Ribéry, whose first appearance since 2008 comes in addition to being named 2012/13 UEFA Best Player in Europe.

Users were invited to decide their favoured formation – they opted for 4-4-2, the system used as a default for the first 11 Teams of the Year and also topping the poll in 2012. The 6,310,237 votes were cast by more than 525,000 visitors, surpassing 2012 when 5.3 million selections were made. Almost 86,000 of this year's picks were carried out directly via the official UEFA Champions League Twitter page.

Barcelona have no player for the first time since 2003 although their total of 38 all-time representatives remains unmatched; Madrid are now within nine of that particular statistic, however. The Bundesliga is the most represented league for the first time, that status having belonged to the Spanish Liga since 2007. In terms of where the votes originated, the most visitors to the Team of the Year section came from Portugal (137,521), with Germany next and then Poland.

Continuing its support for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), UEFA will, for a seventh time, set aside €100,000 for a player voted into the UEFA.com users' Team of the Year to present to the ICRC.

The UEFA.com users' Team of the Year is not intended to rival more established awards and does not bear the official UEFA imprimatur.