Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaves out Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi from his best XI

What’s the story?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in the world and is at the top of his game with Borussia Dortmund. But he also has a lot of respect for other great players who currently share the world stage with him.

It was surprising to see that the Gabonese international left out two of the best players in the world when it came to picking his best club XI. In a promotional video by Pro Evolution Soccer the forward named the best XI in the world right now

There was a strong showing from the Premier League as well with the likes of Hazard and Pogba making his list. But there seemed to be no room for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

In case you didn’t know...

Aubameyang is currently among the top 5 scorers in Europe. He has managed 21 goals this season but is still ranked only third in the European Golden Shoe race. Ahead of him on 22 goals in Andrea Belotti. There’s no surprise as to who currently leads the race

The heart of the matter

Normally it’s not surprising to see either of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo not included in a club XI. But to see both of them miss out is not something that happens too often regardless of who the player is that is doing the picking.

This was the world XI Aubameyang went with:

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer

Defense: Kurt Zouma, Sokratis, Raphael Varane

Midfield: Marco Verratti, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eden Hazard

Attack: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marco Reus.

There were a few of Aubamyang’s former teammates in the XI but there were also a few from the Premier League. But he also included himself in the XI. Aubameyang also admitted that some of these players were chosen because they were his friends.

Parallels of History

Surprisingly another world beater who plays in the Bundesliga, Arjen Robben also decided to omit Messi and Ronaldo from his world XI, once again preferring to go with players he knows pretty well including many of his Bayern teammates.

Here is his world XI:

Author’s take

It’s not a big surprise when players don’t choose an XI considering the general public consensus. Most of us who enjoy the game would without hesitation go for both Messi and Ronaldo in a best XI but every player is entitled to their own opinion.