Kane and Mbappe head GOAL's 2025-26 Champions League league-phase XI
After a mammoth 144 games, the league phase of the 2025-26 Champions League concluded and GOAL published its Team of the League Phase on Jan 29, 2026, headlined by Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. Arsenal finished top with a perfect record, Manchester City secured automatic qualification to the round of 16, and Napoli, Marseille and Ajax were already eliminated.
GOAL noted that the controversial 'Swiss Model' introduced last season now appears more widely accepted, producing more elite match-ups and a rise in standout individual performances during the eight matchdays. The selection includes David Raya in goal after Arsenal conceded just four times and Raya kept five clean sheets with an outstanding 90 percent save rate from 20 shots faced.
Arsenal right-back Jurrien Timber was picked for his one-vs-one defending and attacking line-breaking runs, while Virgil van Dijk, despite signs of decline, contributed five goal involvements and a stoppage-time winner against Atletico. Jonathan Tah earned a spot after an imposing start at Bayern, completing 95 percent of his passes in the 2-1 win at PSG.
On the left and in midfield, GOAL picked Nuno Mendes (four goal involvements for PSG), prodigy Lamine Yamal (72 dribbles and six goal contributions despite missing two games), Dominik Szoboszlai (eight combined goals and assists, 38 recoveries and almost 21 miles covered in 705 minutes) and Vitinha (hat-trick and a 9.9 Sofascore in PSG's 5-3 win over Spurs).
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