Messi in, Ronaldo out - The 'Big Five' European leagues team of the season so far

Keylor Navas has never hidden his disappointment at how he was offloaded by Real Madrid after helping the Blancos win three consecutive Champions League titles and the Costa Rican is now showing at Paris Saint-Germain just why he felt so hard done by.

No goalkeeper across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues has kept more clean sheets in all competitions than the 33-year-old (12), while of the shot-stoppers to have played at least 10 games this term, Navas has the best save percentage (83.02).

Despite stiff competition from Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich, Trent Alexander-Arnold gets the nod at right-back for the remarkably influential role he's played in Liverpool establishing themselves as the best team in the world.

The England international's cross-field passes, deadly crosses and pin-point set-piece deliveries have made him one of the Premier League leaders' most potent attacking weapons, as illustrated by the fact that he has already racked up 10 assists in all competitions this season.

A strong contender for the signing of the season so far, Chris Smalling has settled seamlessly into the Roma backline since joining from Manchester United during the summer for a loan fee of just €3 million (£2.7m).

The English centre-half has formed a formidable partnership with Gianluca Mancini at the heart of the Giallorossi defence, even popping up at the other end of the field with a couple of goals.

Roma's only issue now is trying to seal a permanent transfer for a player who has completely rebuilt his reputation and is likely to attract interest from several other clubs at the end of the season.

Virgil van Dijk may have narrowly missed out on becoming the first defender to win the Ballon d'Or since 2006 but the classy Dutchman won't mind too much, given Liverpool are on course to end their Premier League drought, having already been crowned Club World Cup champions.

The centre-half has been well supported this season by Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren but Van Dijk is the man who binds the whole Reds defence together, the calm colossus who has won more aerial challenges (126) than any other defender in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues this season.

Andy Robertson may have fallen behind Liverpool team-mate Alexander-Arnold in their own private assists battle but the Scot still has a more than respectable five at the halfway point of the campaign.

However, as well as being a rampaging force down the left flank, Robertson is also a highly-accomplished defender, renowned for his sound positioning, tough tackling and tenacious personality.

It feels like Angel Di Maria has been around forever yet the Argentine is still only 31 and arguably playing as well as he ever has.

The versatile attacking midfielder has certainly played a pivotal role in Paris Saint-Germain's excellent form both in France and Europe, with 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 appearances in all competitions.

Casemiro's importance to Real Madrid was underlined by the fact that Zinedine Zidane elected to leave the Brazilian on the bench for the recent Liga meeting with Valencia at Mestalla rather than run the risk of the midfielder picking up a booking that would have ruled him out of the Clasico clash with Barcelona four days later.

The 27-year-old was excellent as Los Blancos bossed the game at Camp Nou but that came as no surprise, as a man that Zidane once compared to Claude Makelele has been the capital club's most consistent performer this term.

Manchester City's bid for a third Premier League title in a row may not be going according to plan but that's hardly the fault of Kevin De Bruyne, one of the few members of Pep Guardiola's star-studded squad playing at the peak of his powers.

The Belgian has been showcasing his outrageous range of passing in each and every game he's played, so it won't come as a surprise to learn that no player in Europe has created more chances (82) or goals (12) than De Bruyne, who has also netted six times himself.

There were some fears that time might be catching up with the 32-year-old Lionel Messi after the most injury-affected start to a season he's ever endured.

However, the Argentine magician, who continues to make the extraordinary look routine, has recovered brilliantly from his fitness issues, with 15 goals and nine assists in just 18 appearances in all competitions, while he also collected a record sixth Ballon d'Or in recognition of his enduring excellence.

Timo Werner, Ciro Immobile, Kylian Mbappe and Jamie Vardy have all been in sensational form but our central striking berth was never going to be taken by anyone other than Robert Lewandowski, who is arguably in the best form of his career.

The Poland international has scored a ridiculous 30 times in just 25 appearances in all competitions, with four of those goals coming during a stunning 15-minute spell against Red Star Belgrade.

Jadon Sancho may have had his disciplinary issues at Borussia Dortmund this season but there is no doubting the England international's incredible talent.

The versatile winger, who has been playing on the left-hand side of late, has played 24 games in all competitions and been involved in 24 goals, netting 12 himself, including one against Barcelona – one of the many sides now said to be tracking the 19-year-old sensation.

In defence, Bayern Munich duo Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies and Leicester City pair Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell were all in contention for full-back berths, while Paris Saint-German centre-half Thiago Silva, Dayot Upamecano and Martin Hinteregger could have claimed centre-half spots.

Any one of Suat Serdar, Marcel Sabitzer, Filip Kostic, Martin Odegaard and Luis Alberto could have featured in the midfield three.

Up front, it was desperately tough to omit outstanding performers such as Atalanta attackers Papu Gomez and Josip Ilicic, Liverpool wingers Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, and PSG ace Kylian Mbappe.

As for the No.9 role, Jamie Vardy, Ciro Immobile, Timo Werner and Karim Benzema all had strong cases for inclusion.