Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had a glittering career in European football but one trophy continues to elude him.
The Swede has won ten league titles during his career (or eight if you don’t count Juventus’ ‘revoked’ wins), but has yet to lift the Champions League, so far.
So here at talkSPORT we asked our listeners on our Facebook page to create a team of players who had failed to win the competition, either in its present guise as the Champions League, or when it was purely the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.
Sadly, there was no space for Titus Bramble…
1. Gianluigi Buffon (Goalkeeper) – Click right for more players you won't believe have never won the Champions League! – The legendary Italian goalkeeper has plenty of trophies in his cabinet but the one piece of silverware that has eluded him so far is Ol Big Ears. At 36-years-old there is still time left for him though.2. Sergio Ramos (Defender) – Click right for more – When the defender joined Real Madrid back in 2003 its doubtful he thought hed possibly never win the Champions League with the nine-times winners but, 11 years later, the Spaniard is still waiting to lift the cup.3. Fabio Cannavaro (Defender) – Click right for more – The 2006 Balon dOr winner completes the defence as he failed to win the tournament, despite starring for Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid. We suspect winning the World Cup with Italy means he isnt too bothered though.4. Sol Campbell (Defender) – Click right for more – The centre-back, who won 73 caps for England, only made it to one final with Arsenal during his five-season spell at the club, but the former Tottenham man was on the losing side as the Gunners were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in Paris. Campbell had opened the scoring in the match, heading home a Thierry Henry free-kick.5. Lothar Matthaus (Midfielder) – Click right for more – Out of all the players in our team, Matthaus probably came closest to winning the Champions League. The legendary German was two minutes away from lifting the trophy in 1999 but late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer snatched glory away from him as Man United beat Bayern Munich 2-1 at the Nou Camp.6. Patrick Vieira (Midfielder) – Click right for more – The French World Cup winner won numerous titles during his career as he starred for Arsenal, Juventus and Inter Milan but the combative box-to-box midfielder failed to lift the Champions League with any of the clubs.7. Michael Ballack (Midfielder) – Click right for more – Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Ballack reached two finals in his career but failed to win either with Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea respectively. In 2002 the German sider were down by Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane struck THAT winner at Hampden Park. While, in 2008, he and his Blues team-mates were defeated by Manchester United on penalties in Moscow.8. Pavel Nedved (Midfielder) – Click right for more – Juventus Czech hero was one of the classiest players to grace the pitch in the 90s but his gracefully demeanour on the ball, eye for a pass and canon of a shot couldnt help the Old Lady land the Champions League during his eight years in Turin.9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Forward) – Click right for more – The Swedish strike star has won ten league titles across Europe with Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain but, until now, he has been unable to lift the Champions League. Ibrahimovic is still only 32, mind you, and with his current form it is likely hell have a couple more nibbles at the cherry.10. Diego Maradona (Forward) – Click right for more – Admittedly the Argentinian didnt have much of a chance to win the Champions League but the World Cup winner in 1986 did play in the European Cup twice with Napoli. Unfortunately they crashed out in the first and then second round.11. Ronaldo (Forward) – The Phenomenon was one of the greatest strikers ever to have played the game. His speed and skill on the ball coupled with his deadly finishing saw him score goals wherever he went, even when injuries and weight problem were getting the better of him. Sadly, though, despite spells with PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan he was never able to win the Champions League.
