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The midfield is the spine of any football team. It's not enough for teams to have two or three dependable midfielders these days. They have to plan for eventualities and contingencies and have a strategy in place for when one or two of them are unavailable to play.
Top teams these days focus on having depth in midfield
Thanks to the sheer amount of data and analytics involved in modern football, the game has evolved in a very holistic manner. Teams focus on having a great level of depth in their squad. This is so that their form doesn't tail off or their results don't suffer because one or two of their players got injured.
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We have no shortage of world-class midfielders in Europe these days. But which team has the most complete and diverse midfield on the continent?
Without further ado, let's take a look at fives squads with the best midfield depth in Europe.
#5 Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain have one of the most star-studded squads in all of Europe. In Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, they have three of the best forwards in the business leading their attack. But PSG have quality all over the pitch. Their midfield is stacked to the brim with efficient footballers.
PSG have incredible depth in defensive midfield. They have Leandro Paredes, Danilo Pereira and Idrissa Gueye who can all play in defensive midfield. PSG also have a world-class central midfielder in Marco Verratti.
They roped in Georginio Wijnaldum as a free agent last summer and added him to a midfield that already had Ander Herrera and Julian Draxler. Suffice to say, PSG are rich when it comes to defensive options.
#4 Liverpool
Liverpool are one of the best teams in Europe right now. Their frontline, which features players like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, is absolutely menacing. Jurgen Klopp's side also has some efficient workers and creative masterminds in midfield.
Thiago Alcantara is perhaps the most high-profile of the lot. Naby Keita is another excellent deep-lying playmaker whose injury issues have impeded him from maximizing his potential. Jordan Henderson has proved over the course of the last few seasons that there is way more to his game than his tenacity and doggedness.
They also have one of the best midfield destroyers in Fabinho. Liverpool have several more quality options in the centre of the pitch like Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Harvey Elliott (doubles up as an attacker) and the veteran James Milner.
#3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid have one of the best midfield trios of the 21st century on their payroll. Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro dominated the midfield realms for Los Blancos as they picked up three back-to-back Champions League titles from 2016-2018.
They signed 19-year-old Eduardo Camavinga from Rennes last summer and he is a very efficient defensive midfielder. Real Madrid also have Uruguayan international Federico Valverde, who is one of the most promising box-to-box midfielders in the game right now.
They also have additional options in Dani Ceballos and Isco but owing to the quality of their first-choice midfielders, they are sparingly used.
#2 Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel led Chelsea to Champions League glory last season. As good as their defenders and attackers were during their triumphant run, it wouldn't have been possible without their well-balanced midfield.
Chelsea have one of the best midfield departments in all of Europe. The 2021 'UEFA Men's Player of the Year' Jorginho is one of the best holding midfielders of his generation. The same goes for N'Golo Kante, who brings a combative edge to the center of the pitch.
Mateo Kovacic is one of the most technically gifted and tidy midfielders around. The Blues also roped in Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid last summer on loan for the 2021-22 season. Their attacking midfield department is also stocked to the brim with talented players.
Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech are all creative players who can win games on their own. In addition to these high-profile players, Chelsea also have the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ross Barkley, Kenedy and Charly Musonda.
#1 Manchester City
Pep Guardiola always assembles players with impeccable technique when he is building his teams. Guardiola wants his side to keep possession with ease and his teams have never had any shortage of midfielders with excellent ball-retention abilities.
Manchester City have Rodri and Fernandinho in the defensive midfield department. Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are some of the best midfielders in the game right now. They also have a young Cole Palmer biding his time waiting to break onto the senior setup.
Jack Grealish is a player who can play as an attacker or as an attacking midfielder. As you can see, no other team has as many world-class players in midfield as Manchester City.
