UEFA maned their squad of the season on Wednesday, and Chelsea were one of just four clubs represented in that squad. The Blues only had a single player honored for their performance this season, as Branislav Ivanovic was named as one of the five best defenders in the competition by the five 'technical observers'. The full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre ter Stegan (Barca), Gianluigi Buffon (Juve)
Defenders: Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano (Barca), Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Georgio Chiellini (Juve)
Midfielders: Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets (Barca), Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio (Juve), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
Forwards: Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Neymar (Barca), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Alvaro Morata (Juve)
It's nice to see Ivanovic recognized for his fine work during the competition, but it's hard to really get too excited about this particular award, as the main criteria seems to be club success, as opposed to being a standout individual. There are certainly quite a few players that had better showings during their limited Champions League run this season than many of the Barca or Juve players named, yet all but three of the members of this group were players in the final.
On that note, I actually feel a little bad for Dani Alves, who was the only Barcelona starter not recognized by UEFA. I suppose I'd have held that awful haircut against him as well, though.