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One Italian player and no Serie A stars in most valuable Champions League XI

Originally posted on Football Italia  |  By Lorenzo Bettoni  |  Last updated Sep 16, 2025 10:09 AM ET

Champions League football returns tonight, and the most valuable XI in the tournament has been unveiled with just one Italian player, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and no Serie A stars.

Juventus-Barcelona is among the Champions League games played tonight in the opening day of the 2025-26 Champions League.

Sky Sport Italia has put together the most valuable XI in Europe’s elite club competition, but there’s just one Italian star, Gianluigi Donnarumma, featuring in the line-up and no players from Italy’s Serie A.

Donnarumma the most valuable goalkeeper in 2025-26 Champions League

Sky Sport posted the Champions League’s most valuable XI on Instagram using data from Transfermarkt.

Donnarumma is the most valuable goalkeeper in the competition with a transfer value of €40m.

The Italy captain joined Manchester City from PSG on deadline day.

Yamal the most valuable player in 2025-26 Champions League

His teammate, Erling Haaland, is the most valuable centre-forward at €180m, the same value as Real Madrid stars Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is the most valuable player in Europe right now as he’s worth €200m.

The overall transfer value of the team you see below is €1.36 billion.

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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