Pogba and many surprising names alongside Messi, Ronaldo in Europe's best squad

Paul Pogba did not have a valuable season since joining Man United in the summer but he still has a place in the best team in Europe.

According toCIES Football Observatory, the Man United midfielder was included in the squad because his performance statistics are “valuable and comparable” to those of other midfielders.

Pogba is highly rated in many important indicators.

The squad is rated based on compactness, ball-winning ability, distribution, chance creation and dribbling, Pogba is rated as one of the three best defensive midfielders in the top 5 European leagues.

He scored 89 points out of 100, earning him a place alongside Thiago Alcantara (90 points) and RB Leipzig's Naby Keita (88.5 points) in midfield.

Messi is not a surprising name.

There aren't many surprising names in this squad. A typical example is Lionel Messi with 93.5 points, occupying the right attacking position.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA World Player of the Year, was chosen for the left-sided attacking position with 90 points.

The center-back position was reserved for Bayern Munich duo Javi Martinez (87 points) and Mats Hummels (86.5 points). Manuel Neuer was also not a surprising choice when with 88 points, he surpassed Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to enter the typical lineup.

Alex Sandro was a surprise but well deserved.

Same goes for Dries Mertens.

The surprises in the CIES squad include Alex Sandro, who beat Marcelo and David Alaba to take the left-back spot. There is also AS Roma's Bruno Peres, who beat many big names to take the right-back spot.

The biggest surprise was certainly Dries Mertens as he was chosen as the centre-forward after a brilliant season for Napoli with 31 goals in 43 games in all competitions.

There is no place for Kevin de Bruyne despite his high score because CIES has chosen a 4-3-3 formation to announce.

CIES Europe's best squad.

According to Thethaovanhoa