The curtain is about to come down on another European football season, with just Saturday's Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter in Munich left to go. It's been a campaign full of twists and turns, shocks and surprises, with a number of clubs ending long waits for silverware while others have regained titles after missing out last season.
From the perspective of the players, the race for Ballon d'Or has been wide open, with a number of superstars showing exactly why are considered among the best to every play the game. But who were the absolute best, and who were some of the unsung heroes who deserve greater recognition?
To mark the end of the campaign, nine GOAL writers and editors (Stephen Darwin, Krishan Davis, Mark Doyle, Thomas Hindle, Richard Martin, Tom Maston, Joe Strange, Sean Walsh and James Westwood) have each ranked their best players from the European season to produce this Top 50 list – let us know who is too high, too low or who we missed in the comments:
Getty Images Sport50David de Gea (Fiorentina)
David de Gea has had a pretty unique couple of years. Released by Manchester United at the end of the 2022-23 season after the Red Devils performed a U-turn in offering him a new contract, De Gea then spent a year out of the game as it looked increasingly likely that he would be forced into retirement before reaching his mid-30s.
That was until Fiorentina offered the Spain international the chance to resume his career in Florence last summer, and De Gea has grasped the opportunity with both hands. The 34-year-old kept 11 clean sheets in Serie A and conceded just 38 goals in 35 league games as he routinely pulled off magnificent saves for Raffaele Palladino's side. Perhaps United are regretting letting him leave after all…
AdvertisementGetty Images Sport49Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)
Pau Cubarsi won't turn 19 until January, and yet he is already a veteran of 80 appearances for the Barcelona first team after a season in which he locked down a place at the heart of the Blaugrana's backline following his emergence from La Masia midway through the previous campaign.
One of Europe's best ball-playing centre-backs, Cubarsi has had to get to grips with Hansi Flick's high line in Catalunya, but has showed few signs of being uncomfortable during a series of displays that bely is relative lack of experience. Surely a cornerstone for both Barca and Spain over the next decade or so, the winners' medals he picked up in La Liga and the Copa del Rey will be the first of many.
Getty Images48Moises Caicedo (Chelsea)
Moises Caicedo may have struggled to live up to his £115 million ($147m) price tag during his first year at Chelsea, but the Ecuadorian has shown exactly why the Blues were willing pay Brighton such a fee during his sophomore season in west London.
No player won possession back more times over the course of the Premier League season than Caicedo, while he also provided some key goals and assists along the way as Enzo Maresca's side secured a return to the Champions League after two seasons away. Him being voted Chelsea's Player and Player's Player of the Season was a perfect illustration of Caicedo's impact in 2024-25.
Getty Images Sport47Yann Sommer (Inter)
One of the most underrated signings of the past two seasons, Yann Sommer has again shown himself to be one of the world's best goalkeepers over the course of his second season at Inter. The former Switzerland shot-stopper has kept 21 clean sheets in 48 games across all competitions, leading to him conceding less than a goal each game, on average.
Sommer saved his best performance of the season for the second leg of Inter's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, when despite conceding three goals, he was arguably the difference between the two teams as he produced a series of fine saves at San Siro, including a remarkable stop to deny Lamine Yamal an almost-certain goal in extra-time.
