Worst Champions League Team of the Season: Onana and Osimhen get in

Tom Weber

Updated: 31 May 2024 20:45 BST
6 min read

The 2023/24 Champions League season proved to be a stunning one.

Borussia Dortmund went on a fairytale run to the final, England star Jude Bellingham hit like a bomb at Real Madrid, Inter went from finalists to round of 16 losers and Bayern Munich made the semis despite enduring an atrocious domestic campaign.

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It was a season to remember, but for some, it was a season to forget. Man Utd, for example, suffered an embarrassing group-stage exit after losing to Bayern, Copenhagen and Galatasaray. Napoli, too, will not look back fondly on their 2023/24 season, both domestically and continentally.

Below FootballTransfers runs through the worst players to have featured in the 2023/24 Champions League...

GK: Andre Onana (Man Utd)

Andre Onana is a good goalkeeper. There is no denying it. However, his start to life at Man Utd was an absolute nightmare for him, coach Erik ten Hag and the club at large.

Onana could not stop making simple errors and even towards the end of the campaign, he still occasionally had the odd howler. The Cameroon international had to shoulder a lot of the blame for the Red Devils' group-stage departure.

RB: Diogo Dalot (Man Utd)

To be honest, we could mention pretty much every Man Utd player in this list, but we feel as though Diogo Dalot deserves a mention here. Not because he was much worse than the rest of the squad in the Champions League, but because he actually went on to have a solid season after Man Utd's exit.

Therefore, one has to wonder why the Portuguese was unable to perform in Europe. Especially against Galatasaray, Dalot, who is usually pretty reliable, was simply unwilling to carry out his defensive duties, hence why he features here.

CB: Ronald Araujo (Barcelona)

It is perhaps unfair to judge a player on one game, but Ronald Araujo single-handedly ruined Barcelona's Champions League hopes. The Blaugrana were cruising against PSG in the quarter-finals until the Uruguayan got himself sent off, leading to a stunning collapse from his team.

It is hard to look past this when compiling this list, but it also has to be mentioned that Araujo is quite error-prone for a centre-back who is usually categorised as elite.

Milan Skriniar (PSG)

Milan Skriniar went from hero to zero in the space of just a few months. A regular for Inter in 22/23 until an injury stopped him, Skriniar could not recapture that form after swapping Milan for Paris.

The PSG endured a dire season and there has been talk of the club already wanting to cut their losses. Newcastle striker Alexander Isak gave the Slovakia international absolute nightmares during their group-stage clashes.

LB: Mario Rui (Napoli)

Ageing Napoli left-back Mario Rui was hooked off in every Champions League game he played in and he did not cover himself in glory. Napoli were unimpressive in the group stage and crashed out to Barcelona in the round of 16.

Rui didn't offer much in the four games he played and his time at the highest level might be coming to an end.

DM: Sofyan Amrabat (Man Utd)

The third and final Man Utd player on this list is Sofyan Amrabat. The defensive midfielder, who had to occasionally deputise at left-back, will not look back fondly on the bygone campaign.

Though the Morrocan redeemed himself a little bit with a good performance in the FA Cup final against Man City, his performances before that and particularly in the Champions League left a lot to be desired and convinced Man Utd not to make his loan permanent.

DM: Sandro Tonali (Newcastle)

Sandro Tonali has been a disastrous signing for Newcastle. Fairly unimpressive in the early stages of the campaign, the Italian is currently banned for several months after illicit gambling activities came to light.

In the Champions League, Tonali did not look like the heir to Andrea Pirlo, as he was sometimes described at Milan, but rather like a pretty big waste of €60m. He did not carry out his defensive duties particularly well and failed to offer much going forward.

AM: Kevin Volland (Union Berlin)

We're playing a 4-2-2-2 and the first of our two attacking midfielders is Kevin Volland. The versatile former German international was one of Union Berlin's marquee signings ahead of their first-ever season in the Champions League, but he has proved to be a pretty big flop.

Union endured a dire season and had to battle against relegation domestically, while their results in the Champions League weren't much better. Volland only found the back once in five appearances in Europe, with Union losing all but two of their six games in the competition.

AM: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

Our second nominal attacking midfielder is Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian had a disappointing 23/24 season after a stunning previous campaign and his lack of effectiveness was particularly evident in Europe.

Kvaratskhelia notched one measly assist across eight games in the Champions League and failed to perform when facing the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

ST: Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

'Kvaradona' is joined in this team by his Napoli partner in crime Victor Osimhen. It was a similar story for the striker who endured a significant drop-off from his brilliant 22/23 campaign.

Osimhen managed two goals and an assist in six Champions League outings and many were underwhelmed by his overall contribution. Much more was expected of a €130 million striker on the biggest stage.

ST: Lautaro Martinez (Inter)

The same can be said for Inter's Lautaro Martinez. In terms of his domestic exploits, the Argentine is one of the best in the business, but he still needs to prove himself at the highest level.

The sharpshooter was unimpressive at the 2022 World Cup and he has failed to score consistently in the Champions League for Inter since 19/20 when he hit five goals in six games. In the four seasons since then, he has only netted seven times in 35 outings. In 23/24, he scored twice in eight.