Lionel Messi Left Out Of Former Real Madrid Star Winger’s Dream Starting Lineup

Composing a dream lineup of football stars would usually include the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But for Arsenal star and former Real Madrid standout Mesut Ozil, his starting roster leaves out the Argentinean legend.

The Arsenal playmaker was participating in a question and answer segment on Twitter with his fans. These would pertain to general life inquiries and also specific football-related questions where the star was kind enough to entertain. When asked on who his dream starting eleven would be, he listed several former teammates who played with him in Real Madrid, per Goal.

The lineup includes Iker Casillas as the goalkeeper, coupled with Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, and Sergio Ramos and Marcelo as the defenders. To add to these, Xabi Alonso, Santi Cazorla, Angel Di Maria, Kaka, Ronaldo and Karim Benzema compose the rest of the squad. This team is a formidable squad filled with elite players who have attained great success as football professionals.

With Ozil sharing that his greatest moments in Real Madrid include the championships they’ve won, his dream lineup is mostly filled with stars from Los Blancos. The 31-year-old spent the years 2010 to 2013 with Real Madrid before moving to Arsenal. Throughout this stint, he appeared in 159 appearances, netted 27 goals and tallied 80 assists.

Now playing as a key piece for Arsenal, Ozil has facilitated the squad’s offense with his leadership and experience on the field. The veteran, however, also missed out on several games in the latest Premier League and FA Cup with back problems.

As someone who has a lot of expertise with the game, the starting lineup Ozil composed lacks Messi who is usually perceived as one of the greatest players of all time. The Barcelona star was in the center of the attention when news broke that he wanted to leave his club for almost two decades. These reports have now slowly faded with Messi now seen training with Barcelona.

With Ozil’s hypothetical lineup consisting of mostly former teammates, it’s not far off that Messi was not given a slot in his answer. Having so many choices, Ozil’s former colleagues were already enough to build a strong starting roster. Despite the availability of the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ozil was direct to the point with his answer to the fans.