14 Bayern Munich Players make FourFourTwo's Best 100 Players of 2014

For the first time in the eight year history of the FourFourTwo Best 100 Players, Bayern Munich has the greatest representation of all the clubs in Europe. The publication placed 14 Bayern players on their list – half of which are in the top 25 – which is more than perennial domestic powers Real Madrid (11), Barcelona (10), Juventus (9), Chelsea (8), and Manchester United (7).

Cristiano Ronaldo once again topped the list, both he and Philipp Lahm burying Lionel Messi all the way down to third. Manuel Neuer jumped 24 spots from the 2013 list to 2014, bounding all the way to No. 4. The top five rounded out to be:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal/Real Madrid

2. Philipp Lahm, Germany/Bayern Munich

3. Lionel Messi, Argentina/Barcelona

4. Manuel Neuer, Germany/Bayern Munich

5. Gareth Bale, Wales/Real Madrid

Arjen Robben rounded out at 10 to put three Bayern players in the top 10, one more than a year ago. Injuries to Franck Ribéry saw him fall all the way to 31 after ranking third a year ago. A similar problem that happened with Javi Martínez, the Spaniard falling from 31 to 74.

Where Bayern really shined was in the defensive category. They and Juventus were they only two teams who had three natural center backs in the to 100, and Lahm and David Alaba were far and away the highest ranked fullbacks on the list. The ranks for the Bayern players were:

2. Philipp Lahm

4. Manuel Neuer

10. Arjen Robben

13. Thomas Müller

21. Robert Lewandowski

22. Bastian Schweinsteiger

25. Mario Götze

31. Franck Ribéry

41. Jérôme Boateng

43. Xabi Alonso

46. David Alaba

74. Javi Martínez

77. Dante

91. Mehdi Benatia

If someone were to extrapolate this list to the FIFA awards, FourFourTwo would be predicting that only Lahm, Alaba, and Neuer would make the FIFA/FIFPro World XI, and that Neuer would finish third to Ronaldo and Messi for the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Their XI would be:

Manuel Neuer

Philipp Lahm – Diego Godín – Sergio Ramos – David Alaba

Andres Iniesta – Toni Kroos – Angel Di María

Gareth Bale – Lionel Messi – Cristiano Ronaldo

What do you think of the rankings? Who was left off that deserves a spot?