Mesut Ozil Names 3 City Players And 1 Arsenal Star In His Champions League “Dream Team”

Mesut Ozil Names 3 City Players And 1 Arsenal Star In His Champions League “Dream Team”

Ex-Arsenal player Mesut Ozil has selected Manchester City trio Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland in his 2023/24 Champions League ‘Dream Team’.

The 34-year-old took to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday afternoon to name his eleven, which also included his former Gunners teammate Bukayo Saka:

Ozil chose Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer in goal, with ex-Chelsea player Antonio Rudiger and Sevilla’s Sergio Ramos joining Dias in the centre of defence.

The likes of Ivan Rakitic and Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga were included alongside Rodri in the middle of the park while, up front, Haaland and Saka were selected with Bayern’s Leroy Sane and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.

Ozil could have named even more City players

The inclusion of Rakitic in Ozil’s ‘Dream Team’ may raise a few eyebrows, especially as at 35 years of age, the Croatian international is now way past his best.

Kevin De Bruyne would surely have been a better choice, although the Belgian is expected to miss the Champions League group stage due to injury, which may have influenced Ozil not to pick him.

City will be hoping to repeat last season’s success

After winning the Champions League for the first time back in June, Pep Guardiola’s side will be aiming for back-to-back wins in the competition this campaign.

The Citizens are favourites to finish top of their group, having been drawn against RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade. They kick off their defence against Red Star tomorrow evening.

As Ozil suggests, the likes of Dias, Rodri and Haaland are likely to be extremely influential figures if they do make it all the way to the final again.

Watch this video on Shots! TV reviewing Manchester City and Manchester United’s  transfer window

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.