By David Owen
December 13 – Atlético Madrid and Sevilla may have disappointed in this season’s Champions League, but their players are doing the business at Qatar 2022.
In the four remaining World Cup squads, German giants Bayern Munich have the biggest contingent with six, including Dayot Upamecano of France and Josip Stanisić of Croatia. But the two Spanish clubs are next on the list with five each, including some of the present tournament’s top performers such as Antoine Griezmann, still pulling the strings for the world champions, and Bono the outstanding Morocco goalkeeper.
Real Madrid and Dinamo Zagreb fill out the top five clubs with players still active at the World Cup, with four each. The top Premier League club, perhaps surprisingly, is the North London outfit Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs have three survivors, along with Paris Saint-Germain – employers of both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé – Juventus and Wydad Casablanca.
In terms of leagues, the wealthy West European competitions are far ahead of everywhere else, supplying no less than 75% of remaining players.
Spain’s La Liga is in the lead with 23 survivors. Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1 and the Premier League chip in with 14 players each, while the Bundesliga accounts for one fewer with 13.
The football on display in Qatar has for the most part appeared much slower and more deliberate than the fare typically served up in the Premier League, the world’s richest week-in, week-out national club football competition. This might help to explain why the most influential performers in the Gulf have not necessarily been those one might have anticipated.
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