Sergio Ramos: Champions League Defender of the Season
Thursday, August 30, 2018
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Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has been voted UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season.
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Sergio Ramos has been named UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season for the second year running.
Ramos enjoyed yet another exceptional season with Real Madrid, missing just two games of their triumphant UEFA Champions League campaign. The 32-year-old centre-back picked up his best defender gong during the 2018/19 group stage draw in Monaco.
Defender of the Season top ten
1 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) – 184 points
2 Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid) – 167 points
3 Marcelo (Real Madrid) – 145 points
4 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) – 40 points
5 Dejan Lovren (Liverpool) – 37 points
6 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 24 points
7 Diego Godín (Atlético) – 15 points
8 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern) – 14 points
9 Mats Hummels (Bayern) – 13 points
10 Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) – 10 points
Ramos's season in numbers
Honours: UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup
Individual accolades: UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season, UEFA.com Fans' Team of the Year 2017, UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season
Champions League
Appearances: 11
Minutes: 990
Clean sheets: 2
Goals conceded: 13
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Ramos testimonials
"I'll never have the technical quality or explosiveness of Sergio Ramos. He's the best centre-back in the world and knows how to perform in games that really matter."
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini
"We could be here for an hour talking about him. He's our captain, our leader. What I'd highlight from him isn't as a footballer – in that respect he has everything – but as a person. He's very noble. I played with him for a year and he's not changed a bit."
Former Madrid coach Zinédine Zidane
How Ramos was chosen
These accolades were introduced last year to recognise the season's best player in each position in Europe's premier club competition. The jury comprised the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.
Jury members chose their top three players per position, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The three players who got the most points in each category made up the final shortlist.