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Champions League Team of the Season: Declan Rice and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in

30 May 2026 20:02 BST | 6 min read

Declan Rice, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Champions League

Tom Weber

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

The 2025/26 Champions League campaign is in the books, with PSG beating Arsenal in the final in Budapest to retain the European Cup.

The Parisians have become the dominant force in European football under Luis Enrique and are the first team to win successive Champions Leagues since Real Madrid's incredible hat-trick between 2016 and 2018.

Arsenal were worthy finalists, but with nothing to separate the two sides after 120 minutes, the Gunners were defeated in a penalty shootout. It was nevertheless a season to be proud of for the Premier League champions.

The 2025/26 Champions League season had plenty of drama and intrigue, producing some absolutely sensational games both in the league phase and in the knockout stages. Below, FootballTransfers runs through the best players of this year's competition...

GK: David Raya (Arsenal)

Spain international David Raya has become arguably the best goalkeeper in the world over the past 12 or so months, although his clean sheet numbers are, of course, boosted by Arsenal's stout defence.

Nevertheless, that shouldn't take anything away from how incredible Raya was in Arsenal's unstoppable march to the final. He kept nine clean sheets to go along with his 19 in the Premier League.

David Raya

RB: Achraf Hakimi (PSG)

Despite dealing with two injuries over the course of the campaign, Achraf Hakimi was the standout right-back in the 2025/26 Champions League. The relentless Morocco international produced an impressive six assists.

When fit, he was a shoo-in for Enrique and only enhanced his reputation as the best right-back in world football right now.

CB: Marquinhos (PSG)

Squad rotation has been a hotly debated topic this year, with PSG effectively fielding two separate lineups in the Champions League and Ligue 1 in order to keep their best players fresh and fit.

This is best illustrated by Enrique's use of captain Marquinhos. The Brazilian centre-back made more appearances in Europe than in the league in 2025/26, which allowed him to be at the peak of his powers in the biggest games.

CB: Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)

Over the past couple of seasons, William Saliba was the Arsenal defender who won most of the plaudits due to being such a classy operator, but this perception has somewhat shifted over the past year. Gabriel Magalhaes was simply incredible in 2025/26.

A rock at the back and dangerous on set-pieces, the Brazilian matched his outstanding Premier League performances in the Champions League as Arsenal stormed to the final.

Gabriel

LB: Nuno Mendes (PSG)

Nuno Mendes became widely regarded as the best left-back in the world when PSG won their first Champions League in 2024/25, and he did nothing in 2025/26 to suggest that this is no longer the case.

Mostly sound defensively and dangerous going forward, the Portugal international contributed to PSG's European campaign with two goals and two assists from left-back.

CM: Vitinha (PSG)

We mentioned squad rotation earlier when writing about Marquinhos. Well, PSG midfielder Vitinha has had quite a different season. Instead of being rested in Ligue 1, the Portuguese maestro was almost ever-present for the Parisians in all competitions.

The relentless, energetic midfield dynamo is so important to how PSG play that Enrique is reluctant to take him out of his team. The 26-year-old paid back that faith with an impressive six Champions League goals.

CM: Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Declan Rice isn't the most eye-catching player in the world, but he is perhaps the most consistently good midfielder in the game right now. He had a good chance to be named Premier League Player of the Season, but ultimately the more flashy Bruno Fernandes won out.

It's been a similar story in the Champions League, with Rice's devastating consistency often going unnoticed. However, he is one of the most important pieces in Arsenal's well-oiled machine.

RW: Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

Michael Olise

Michael Olise showed that he has the potential to be the best player in the world in Bayern's tie with Real Madrid and also the first leg against PSG. He enjoyed a remarkable season both in the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

The France international terrorised defences with his dribbling, netting five goals and producing six assists for the Bavarians as they reached the semi-finals.

LW: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG)

PSG superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is on the left what Olise is on the right: the best player in the world in his position. The tricky Georgian is simply unstoppable when he gets going. Unlike most wingers, he is also not afraid to put in the hard yards defensively.

The 25-year-old notched a very impressive 10 goals and set up his teammates six times over the course of PSG's Champions League campaign. Kvaratskhelia and Olise put on a show in that first leg between PSG and Bayern.

ST: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

Harry Kane enjoyed an utterly outrageous season at Bayern Munich that saw him score 61 goals in 51 appearances across all competitions. He scored five hat-tricks and an eye-watering 12 braces.

In the Champions League, Kane bagged 14 goals, the second-most in the competition in 2025/26. A big-game player, the England captain scored six goals in five knockout games.

Harry Kane

ST: Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)

It was a dire season for Real Madrid both in LaLiga and the Champions League, even if they did surprisingly knock Man City out of the latter competition. The win over the Cityzens was achieved without Kylian Mbappe, which is remarkable considering his offensive output.

The France international finished as the Champions League's top scorer, with a whopping 15 goals - despite playing less than 1,000 minutes in the competition. He scored four against Olympiacos, three against Almaty and two against Marseille, Benfica and Monaco. He also scored in both legs against Bayern as Real Madrid crashed out in the quarter-finals.