As Europe's clubs take a break from competitive action, much like the players on international duty, WhoScored.com never rests! Having analysed the best available England and Spain XIs ahead of their mouthwatering showdown on Saturday from the squads selected, we compare the likes of France, Italy and Germany, with the latter looking strong for the years to come.
While Spain have dominated European and indeed World football in recent years, we evaluate the chances of the European powerhouses hoping to play catch-up. One thing is for certain; there is a significant bridge to gap if any side is to match-up to Spain's high standards, with their best XI picking up an average rating of 7.53. England fared markedly worse than their weekend opponents, not helped by absences of a number of key stars, with an average rating of just 7.16 in comparison.
France Rebuilding Under Blanc
It is fair to say that the France national team was nothing short of a shambles under Raymond Domenech at the end of his tenure, culminating in a disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign. Steady progress since has seen the squad go through a major overhaul under former World Cup winner Blanc, with a number of regulars now emerging in his plans.
The likes of Evra and Anelka remain on the outskirts of the set-up while injuries have kept former Arsenal trio Clichy, Sagna and Nasri out of the squad this time around. The Gunners' Laurent Koscielny did however make the squad and indeed pips Mamadou Sakho to a centre-half berth alongside Adil Rami according to WhoScored ratings. Mathieu Debuchy and Eric Abidal complete the back-four in front of Marseille keeper Steve Manadanda.
In midfield the emergence of Maxime Gonalons earned the 22-year-old a call-up in place of the aforementioned Nasri, and he scores higher than regular duo Yann M'Vila and Alou Diarra. Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye has caught the eye for the unbeaten English club and also makes the line-up, though it is in attacking areas where France really flourish.
Jeremy Menez takes his place on the right, while on the opposite flank, Franck Ribery is in the form of his life for Bayern having scored 6 goals and picked up 6 assists in 11 starts. Karim Benzema has 6 goals for Real Madrid in just 5 starts in La Liga, while his strike partner in our line-up has burst onto the scene and could make an international debut this week. Olivier Giroud has 8 goals in 12 Ligue 1 games for Montpellier, and could pip Gameiro and Remy to start after Blanc admitted the side doesn’t have a regular goalscorer other than Benzema.
Interestingly over half of the WhoScored best rated line-up ply their trade outside of France, which proves that the Ligue 1 clubs have not had enough lure up to now, with star players preferring the brighter lights of the Premier League and La Liga. The line-up matches the average rating of England's under-strength XI at 7.16, suggesting there is still a long way to go to return to Les Blues' former glory.
Italy Recovering from World Cup Woes
Another national side that were arguably as poor if not poorer than France in South Africa last year were Italy, who failed to win a game in the 2010 World Cup. In comparison to the best-rated France XI, only one player plays outside of the Serie A in WhoScored's line-up, with the newly reformed Juventus making up the bulk of the side.
In defence both Barzagli and Chiellini make our XI, with very little competition from elsewhere after Andrea Ranocchia's disrupted start to the campaign with a languishing Inter side. The competition is far more intense at right-back, with Ignazio Abate just beaten to the line-up by Napoli's Christian Maggio (7.03 to 7.04). The left-back is another potential weakness in the side, though Zenit's Domenico Criscito is available to compete with Balzaretti's modest 6.7 rating.
The midfield, however, is very strong, with Pirlo proving Milan wrong to let him go to league leaders Juve and the veteran's teammate Marchisio shining since his arrival. Daniele De Rossi has always been key to Roma but is perhaps even more so under Luis Enrique as the anchorman in his club and national team's line-ups.
However, one of the form players in Italy right now is Alberto Aquilani; putting the dismal spell at Liverpool behind him to thrive at reigning champions AC Milan, with a WhoScored rating of 7.54 so far the best of any player in the squad.
Up front, due to injury to Guiseppe Rossi and illness to Antonio Cassano, Alessandro Matri partners our only non-Serie A based player Mario Balotelli. The Juve forward has a decent rating of 7.03, while Balotelli has progressed in the Premier League this season, scoring 5 goals in just 4 starts. The average rating of the side is slightly better than France and England at 7.18, though they also have a lot to do to catch up with the likes of Spain, and indeed Germany.
Germany's Future Looking Bright
Supported by a Bayern Munich influence through the spine of the side, Germany's best-rated line-up not only looks strong, but shows plenty of promise. With Manuel Neuer in goal, they arguably have one of the world's best keepers, and he is just 25. Dennis Aogo takes his place at left-back with captain Phillip Lahm rested, though the Hamburg defender is someway off the Bayern man's standards with a meagre average rating of just 6.61 so far.
At right-back, Benedikt Howedes just beats Jerome Boateng's 6.99 rating, while the latter's Bayern teammate Holger Badstuber is partnered by Mats Hummels, with both only 22. In the absence of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Joachim low is likely to play just one holding midfielder in behind an extremely attacking front 5, and Lars Bender has pipped his twin Sven to the squad and also ousts Sami Khedira according to WhoScored ratings.
An indication of the supreme talent in Germany right now sees the likes of Ozil, Podolski and Muller fail to make our starting XI. In attacking midfield Toni Kroos and Mario Gotze take the central spots, with Andre Schurrle on the left, as Podolski has not played for his club in his usual international position. It is on the right where they may possess the next big thing if form is to go by, with Gladbach's Marco Reus starting the season in sensational form and leading the Bundesliga ratings with 8.09.
Up front, Mario Gomez is in his best ever form for Bayern Munich, netting 13 league goals in just 11 games this season, proving the perfect poacher to a creative midfield in behind him. With an average team rating of 7.30, the German's are arguably the closest team that could dethrone the Spaniards, with age on their side.
Amazingly, 7 of the best-rated 11 according to WhoScored are under the age of 23, and all excluding the likes of Muller and Ozil. Importantly for the DFB, every player in the line-up is currently playing in the Bundesliga, which can only be a good thing for German football, and indeed it's emerging national side.
