After running a series of polls to find out the WhoScored Followers Ultimate XI for 2020 earlier this week, the results are finally in!
Nearly 34,000 votes were cast in that time to create a punchy XI with some notable names failing to make the cut.
Apologises in advance for anyone that voted in favour of Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo or Erling Haaland! The long-list of players voted on can be found at the end of this article.
Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez (Arsenal / Aston Villa) - 53% of votes
Emiliano Martinez come from nowhere to establish himself as one of the Premier League's best goalkeepers in 2020. He made a name for himself at the back end of last season for Arsenal and has continued that form for new club Aston Villa. Only Ederson (0.54) had a better clean sheet ratio (0.5) than Martinez in the Premier League last year, while he also ranked second in the division for save success rate (77.5%).
Right-back: Achraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund / Inter) - 55% of votes
Achraf Hakimi's summer move to Inter was billed as one of the most exciting across Europe but it's fair to say he is still feeling his way into life in Inter after dazzling for Borussia Dortmund. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old ended 2020 with 14 goals and assists in 30 league appearances across spells in Germany and Italy. Hakimi has become superb at driving towards the byline before cutting back to find a team-mate. In fact, only one player made more accurate pull-backs than Hakimi on the continent in 2020.
Centre-back: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) - 44% of votes
Perhaps controversially getting in ahead of Sergio Ramos, there is no doubt Kurt Zouma improved significantly last year. While all eyes have been on the Blues new recruits this season, Kurt Zouma has been one of the team's most improved and consistent performers, establishing himself as the undeniable first choice to partner Thiago Silva at the back. The Frenchman has been a huge threat from set pieces this season in particular, scoring four times, and like Van Dijk has been very effective both in the air and on the deck, completing 90.6 per cent of his passes in 2020 and winning 70.8 per cent of his aerial duels, whilst also earning 10 clean sheets.
Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) - 50% of votes
While many might expect Van Dijk to be nearer the top of this list, the Dutchman's form this season prior to the injury he sustained in the Merseyside derby was some way short of his best. That, however, just goes to show that a slightly out of sorts Van Dijk remains among the very best centre-backs on the continent. The 29-year-old scored three league goals in 24 appearances in 2020, whilst averaging just under 80 accurate passes per game and an overall accuracy of 90.1 per cent. He won 74.1 per cent of his aerial duels and helped to keep ten clean sheets.
Left-back: Theo Hernandez (AC Milan) - 54% of votes
One of many that got away from Real Madrid, Los Blancos' loss has been AC Milan's monumental gain, with Hernandez emerging as a hugely important player for the awoken Serie A giant. The 23-year-old is seemingly improving with every game for the Rossoneri and has had a direct hand in seven goals this season alone, stretching to 11 in 33 appearances over the previous calendar year. Superb across the board, the Frenchman averaged 1.7 tackles, 1.7 dribbles and 1.4 key passes per game in 2020.
Central midfield: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - 71% of votes
The most one-sided of polls fell in favour of Kevin De Bruyne, who fetched 71% of the votes in competition with Rodrigo de Paul and Leon Goretzka. The runaway leader in the central midfield category, starting 16 of 29 appearances in a midfield trio as opposed to the number 10 role he has adopted more often of late, wherever De Bruyne plays, he runs the show. Across said league outings in 2020 the Belgian scored eight times and registered more assists than any other player in Europe's top five leagues (15). An average of 3.7 key passes per game was another record, whilst averaging a further 1.5 dribbles and 1.2 tackles per game.
Central midfield: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - 66% of votes
Joshua Kimmich returned to his favoured midfield role last season having spent some time as Bayern's first choice right-back and was instrumental in both regaining and retaining possession. In just 23 league appearances the 25-year-old registered nine assists and scored four for himself, averaging 2 key passes and 1.5 tackles per game, whilst completing 90.3 per cent of his passes.
Right wing: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 64% of votes
Lionel Messi may not have been in his usual otherworldly form in 2020 but the Barcelona superstar was still one of the best in the world. In fact, only two players were directly involved in more goals than Messi (35 goals in 34 appearances) in Europe's top five leagues last season. Messi claimed both double the amount of WhoScored Man of the Match awards (20) and perfect WhoScored 10 ratings (6) as any other player, while ranking top for both accurate through balls (15) and passes per game in the opposition half (46.3). Moreover, only one player registered more assists than Messi (16).
Attacking midfield: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 55% of votes
You really cannot understate the impact made by Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United following his move last January. Not just a constant source of goals and assists but a serial winner, as shown whether United win, draw or lose. The 26-year-old remarkably played a direct hand in 32 goals in 29 appearances for United in 2020. In fact, only three strikers and Leo Messi managed more than the United star. Moreover, Fernandes registered the second most accurate through balls (10) in Europe's top five leagues in 2020.
Left wing: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) - 54% of votes
Captaining your boyhood club to Premier League survival, scoring the goal that assured safety and completed a miraculous escape, before going on to end 2020 as the highest rated Premier League player of the current season, earning a first international call up in the process, 2020 was some year for Grealish. And now he has comfortable beaten Cristiano Ronaldo to this ultimate XI! In truth he wasn't at his sensational best at the end of last season but the Villa skipper's performances this season have been outstanding. Of a eight goals and seven assists over the year, five and six respectively came in this season, whilst averaging 2.9 key passes (2.4 from open play), 2.5 dribbles, 2.3 shots and winning 4.6 fouls per game.
Striker: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) - 52% of votes
Harry Kane and Erling Haaland can feel hard done by but in truth there was never any way of looking beyond Robert Lewandowski given his remarkable goal feats in 2020. A worthy winner of Fifa's The Best Men's Player gong, Robert Lewandowski takes top spot in the striker's standings after a superb 2020 that saw him secure Bundesliga and Champions League glory. Lewandowski ended the year with a conversion rate of 29.1%, the the third best in Europe's top five leagues, while only Cristiano Ronaldo (33) scored more goals than the prolific Bayern star (32), while of those 32 goals, 26 were deemed to be clear-cut chances; no player scored more. In all, Lewandowski did more than enough to warrant a fine WhoScored rating of 8.17 for his goalscoring exploits in 2020.
Players of 2020 in Full: GKs, RBs, LBs, CBs, CMs, AMs, RWs, LWs, STs
