More Croatians than English & Italians in UEFA Champions League this Season

More Croatians than English and Italian in this year’s UEFA Champions League (Getty)

The 2016-17 UEFA Champions League kicks off tonight and there will be plenty for fans of Croatian football to follow…

Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, who will be the second youngest team in this year’s competition, open their campaign up on Wednesday night away to Lyon. Whilst it will take an incredible performance for Dinamo Zagreb to advance further in the competition in a group that features also Juventus and Atletico Madrid, there plenty of Croatians players in action throughout the tournament.

Based on players club’s have registered to play in this year’s competition, Croatia has 35 players involved in this year’s competition. With Dinamo Zagreb providing a number of those 35, there are still a number of Croatians who will be involved for the other clubs, such as Mario Mandžukić and Marko Pjaca at Juventus, Ivan Rakitić at Barcelona, Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić at Real Madrid and Danijel Subašić at Monaco.

Rakitić scoring in the Champions League final (photo: AFP/Olvier Morin)

Croatian players Alen Bokšić, Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker, Dario Šimić, Igor Bišćan, Mandžukić, Modrić, Kovačić and Rakitić have all lifted the famous trophy.

This year players from 70 countries will be taking part in the UEFA Champions League, with France proving the most, according to Goal. Croatia will provide more players than Italy and England and is 6th on the list.

Top 10 Players Origin in 2016-17 UEFA Champions League

1. 122 – France
2. 83 – Portugal
3. 74 – Spain
4. 72 – Germany
5. 60 – Brazil
6. 35 – Croatia
7. 30 – Argentina
8. 29 – Holland, Ukraine
9. 27 – Belgium
10. 25 – England, Italy