Aribo and 4 other big omissions from the Europa League team of the season

UEFA has released the official Europa League team of the season following the completion of the tournament and it is more notable for who isn’t there rather than who did make it.

The 11 players are all from teams who made this year’s Europa League semifinals with eventual champions, Frankfurt boasting four representatives.

Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey is one of three Rangers players listed while West Ham and RB Leipzig have two representatives each despite not making it past the semis.

Here are five players who could have made the team of the season based on their Europa League performances this season but didn’t in no particular order.

ALSO READ

How Aaron Ramsey’s Arsenal genes interfered to cost Rangers the final

Calvin Bassey's UEL masterclass a humbling lesson for Super Eagles fans

 'I wouldn't have survived' - Rangers fans hail Leon Balogun for providing water in Europa League final

Joe Aribo

Europa League runners up Rangers have three players in the team of the season but Joe Aribo isn’t one of them which is a surprise.

Although Aribo only scored once in the tournament which was in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt, he was still a pivotal part of Rangers’ run.

The Nigerian played all 15 Europa League games this season, only failing to start twice and returning three assists.

Karl Toko Ekambi

Cameroonian striker Karl Toko Ekambi scored six goals in this season’s Europa League campaign for Lyon before getting ousted in the quarter-final by West Ham.

Toko Ekambi was only outscored in the whole tournament by Rangers’ James Tavernier who scored one more goal despite playing five more games.

Six goals in 10 games should have been enough to earn the Cameroon international a spot ahead of Frankfurt’s Rafael Borre.

Pedri

Pedri only played six games in this Europa League campaign because Barcelona came in by finishing third in the Champions League group stages but he still made an impact.

The Spanish teenager only scored once and didn’t assist but put up classic performances until Barcelona got ousted by eventual winners, Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals.

Daichi Kamada

Four Eintracht Frankfurt players made the team of the season but Daichi Kamada, the midfielder who was instrumental to their run was omitted.

The Japanese midfielder scored more goals than any other Frankfurt player and was only outscored by three players in the entire tournament.

Kamada recorded clutch goals in the knockout rounds against Real Betis and West Ham, it is a real head-scratcher that he is not here.

Jarrod Bowen

Having been nominated for Premier League player of the season, Jarrod Bowen would have been expected to stroll into the Europa League team of the tournament as well.

But it appears his three goals and an assist in this campaign have been overlooked by UEFA which is a shame as Bowen was one of the reasons West Ham even made it as far as the semis.