Which city is the football capital of Earth? There are many ways to answer this question and, as a result, many possible replies. This is our attempt to come up with one.
To do that, we have compiled the lineups based on the best players representing clubs from the same city (or, in some cases, a region). We have also calculated the estimated value of these teams.
For the sake of the experiment, we’ve decided to leave out cities that are represented by one top club. Otherwise, Munich or Paris might have featured highly in our rankings.
6. Riyadh
The Saudi Pro League made the first splash last January by signing Cristiano Ronaldo — but they burst onto the scene the following summer when they spent around €846m during the summer transfer window.
Among the biggest spenders were two clubs from Riyadh, the country’s capital. Al Hilal’s biggest purchase was Neymar who unfortunately did his ACL and might not return as the player that we used to know. They have also got star names like Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in midfield, with ex-Barcelona winger Malcom and Fulham hero Aleksandar Mitrovic spearheading the attack.
Meanwhile, Al Nassr have Sadio Mane up front and Aymeric Laporte at the back — arguably the best defender in the league. Even Al Shabab, a relatively lowly team from the same city, got their hands on Yannick Ferreira Carrasco.
Two giants from Saudi Arabia’s second city, Jeddah, also made eye-catching signings. Roberto Firmino, Riyadh Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin and Gabri Veiga have joined Al Ahly, while Al Ittihad have procured the services of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kane and Fabinho, among others. But put the combined XIs from Riyadh and Jeddah side by side and the former squeezes it.
5. Milan
The double act of AC Milan and Inter may not be as strong as around 20 years ago, but they still have some formidable players.
Mike Maignan is arguably the best French goalkeeper right now, and Theo Hernandez should join him in the national team that will compete for Euro 2024. Fikayo Tomori may be unfairly forgotten by the English FA, while Rafael Leao is one of the most electric wingers in Europe on his day.
That’s all for AC Milan, though. Inter are a better side in the Serie A table, and it’s reflected in our team where the Nerazzurri are represented by seven players. That includes the front two of Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez who continues to shine regardless of who he is playing with.
4. Catalonia
A few months ago, this team would’ve been called Barcelona and wouldn’t compete for the same reasons Munich and Paris don’t. However, this season’s surprise package hails from the small city of Girona to the north of the Catalan capital.
The current La Liga leaders have a few emerging talents whose true level is yet to be appreciated in the long term. Yet it would feel wrong to ignore the likes of Miguel Gutierrez and Aleix Garcia, as well as the dynamic Ukrainian duo of Viktor Tsygankov and Artem Dovbyk.
Still, Barcelona still have elite players, and that includes recent Golden Boy winners Gavi and Pedri, as well as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen whose absence is felt keenly at the club. Defenders Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Joao Cancelo, as well as Frenkie de Jong in midfield, also make our team.
3. London
So many options to choose from, and yet most of this side will be assembled from Arsenal and Tottenham players. The only exception is Ivan Toney who is bound to make a step up from Brentford eventually.
Picking a No.1 is tough. Guglielmo Vicario might prove to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league, but the sample size is too small. We go with David Raya instead after he usurped Aaron Ramsdale’s spot between the posts. Bonus points for representing Brentford before this season.
William Saiba and Cristian Romero make up a very technical but also very mean duo at centre-back. Pedro Porro is shining in the new-look Tottenham side, but Oleksandr Zinchenko edges ahead of Destiny Udogie thanks to his top-level experience.
Declan Rice could be the best No.6 in the division, while James Maddison and Martin Odegaard will feed the balls to Toney, Son Heung-min and Bukayo Saka. Not bad.
2. North West England
Building a team from Manchester these days equates to showing the latest lineup from Pep Guardiola. Ditto for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp, so we decided to spice things up. Interestingly, Liverpool dominate in defence, while Man City have more attacking options in our team.
Alisson is still the better Brazilian goalkeeper than Ederson. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are still a major creative force — especially the former since he started playing in a hybrid role. Ruben Dias is in contention for being the best central defender in the league, but he will be paired with Virgil van Dijk who definitely owned that title just a few years ago and could be still holding on to it.
Mohamed Salah is non-negotiable on the right wing, but that’s all for Liverpool. Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are still better than any new Liverpool midfielder, while Jeremy Doku is an X-factor on the left. There’s also one Norwegian guy up front, you may have heard of him.
1. Madrid
Real Madrid won half of the Champions League trophies disputed in the last decade, while Atletico Madrid are the genuine third force in La Liga, winning their last title in 2020/21, so there’s little surprise the Spanish capital is on top here.
Antoine Griezmann ages like a fine wine, Mario Hermoso is a rather late bloomer who is indispensable to Diego Simeone, while Nahuel Molina was a starter for the World Cup-winning Argentina side, having progressed rapidly since his move from Udinese the previous summer.
Unsurprisingly, though, Real Madrid have a more significant representation here. More importantly, their main stars, like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo or Aurelian Tchouameni, are going to be stars for a decade, meaning they could be top of similar rankings for many years to come.
It is hard to predict which side would have come on top in an imaginary competition between them. The two English sides are evenly matched, the Catalonia XI holds a lot of promise, while the Milan team has plenty of experience in all lines. Even the Riyadh outfit could be a danger on any day.
Yet, it is hard to bet against Madrid who probably have the best collection of players who will be defining the game for at least a decade.
