BTL’s best footballers & managers of 2018

Breaking The Lines asked a panel of 21 football journalists and experts all over Europe to choose their best players and managers of 2018. Each expert was given a choice of 30+ players per position, as well as 30 managers, and placed his 10 best in their respective positions, ranking them from 1 to 10.

The votes of all experts were aggregated to create the final ranking: BTL’s best footballers & managers of 2018.

The 21 journalists and experts of the BTL panel:

Raphael Honigstein – @honigstein

Ben Hayward – @bghayward

Jonathan Johnson – @Jon_LeGossip

David Cartlidge – @davidjaca

Ronan Murphy – @swearimnotpaul

Sam Marsden – @samuelmarsden

Andrew Gaffney – @GaffneyVLC

Rik Sharma – @riksharma_

Alex Truica – @AlexTruica

Euan McTear – @emctear

Constantin Eckner – @cc_eckner

Zach Lowy – @ZachLowy

Karl Matchett – @karlmatchett

Tobias Escher – @TobiasEscher

James Nalton – @JDNalton

Nima Tavalley – @NimaTavRood

Luis Mateus – @luismateus

Colin Millar – @Millar_Colin

Emanuel Rosu – @emishor

Lars Pollmann – @LarsPollmann

Max-Jacob Ost – @GNetzer

Idea & concept by Alex Truica & Zach Lowy, Artwork by Fredrik @F_Edits.

©Breaking The Lines

Here are BTL’s top 10 footballers and coaches per position:

Goalkeeper:

1. Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
2. Marc-André Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
3. Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
4. David de Gea (Manchester United)
5. Ederson Moraes (Manchester City)
6. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
7. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur)
8. Keylor Navas (Real Madrid)
9. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
10. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea)

Left Back:

1. Marcelo Vieira (Real Madrid)
2. Jordi Alba (Barcelona)
3. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)
4. Alex Sandro (Juventus)
5. Lucas Hernandez (Atlético Madrid)
6. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
7. Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City)
8. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)
9. Filipe Luís (Atlético Madrid)
10. Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli)

Center Back:

1. Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
2. Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid)
3. Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona)
4. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
5. Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
6. Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid)
7. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
8. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
9. Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City)
10. Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)

Right Back:

1. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
2. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
3. João Cancelo (Juventus)
4. Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain)
5. Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
6. César Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
7. Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)
8. Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur)
9. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
10. Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart)

Defensive Midfield:

1. N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
2. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
3. Casemiro (Real Madrid)
4. Jorginho (Chelsea)
5. Miralem Pjanić (Juventus)
6. Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund)
7. Fernandinho (Manchester City)
8. Lucas Torreira (Arsenal)
9. Rodri (Atlético Madrid)
10. Marcelo Brozović (Inter Milan)

Central Midfield:

1. Luka Modrić (Real Madrid)
2. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
3. Ivan Rakitić (Barcelona)
4. Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
5. Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético Madrid)
6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
7. Sergej Milinković-Savić (Lazio)
8. Koke (Atlético Madrid)
9. Éver Banega (Sevilla)
10. Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Attacking Midfield:

1. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
2. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)
3. David Silva (Manchester City)
4. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur)
5. Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
6. Isco (Real Madrid)
7. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
8. Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
9. James Rodríguez (Real Madrid)
10. Nabil Fekir (Lyon)

Winger: 

1. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
2. Leroy Sané (Manchester City)
3. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
4. Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona)
5. Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
6. Ivan Perisić (Inter Milan)
7. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)
8. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
9. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
10. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

Forward:

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
3. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)
4. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
5. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
6. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)
7. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
8. Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
9. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
10. Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)

Centre Forward:

1. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
2. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)
3. Luis Suárez (Barcelona)
4. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
5. Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan)
6. Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain)
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
8. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
9. Mario Mandžukić (Juventus)
10. Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

Manager:

1. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
2. Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)
3. Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspur)
4. Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus)
5. Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid)
6. Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea)
7. Zinedine Zidane (unattached)
8. Lucien Favre (Borussia Dortmund)
9. Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain)
10. Ernesto Valverde (Barcelona)