Roberto Carlos has named his ultimate Champions League XI

Roberto Carlos is one of the greatest players in Champions League history.

When you’re arguably the finest male left-back of all time, it’s probably a given that you thrived in UEFA’s flagship competition, but you really got the impression that Carlos rose to the big occasion in Europe.

The iconic Brazilian got his hands on ‘Big Ears’ no less than three times with Real Madrid in 1998, 2000 and 2002, even assisting Zinedine Zidane’s iconic Hampden Park volley along the way.

So, it would be fair to say that Carlos is a pretty good authority on showing world-class brilliance on the Champions League stage, right?

Damn right, and Carlos revealed his personal picks for the ultimate Champions League XI using said knowledge as his beloved Los Blancos prepared to do battle with Liverpool in the 2022 climax.

In an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, the 49-year-old walked through a star-studded XI featuring a whole host of former Real teammates who turned the Champions League into their playground.

It’s not an XI that everybody will agree with – note the absence of a certain Lionel Messi – but there aren’t many teams who would stand a chance if they played against the line-up in its prime.

So, without further ado, be sure to check out Carlos’ ultimate Champions League XI and his justification for each selection down below:

“You always had a lot of trust in him and his experience. Every great team starts with a good goalkeeper. You could see how calm and collected he was.”

“He’s fast, he’s intelligent and very important for the team. He was like a true captain.”

“They used to get along very well. Hierro was like my father at Real Madrid and Cannavaro was considered to be the best in the world. One was very fast, in Cannavaro, and