European Team of the Season: DL - Alex Sandro (Juventus)

There’s little wonder why Alex Sandro is believed to be the target of numerous interested parties this summer, though it would take a huge fee to convince Juventus to sell.

The left-back has been a standout performer for the Old Lady all season long, with his consistency marking the Brazilian out as one of the finest players of his position on the continent. Well suited to the Serie A champions’ wing-back system as well as being able to adapt to a back four when necessary, Sandro has been an invaluable asset to Allegri since his arrival.

The 26-year old excels going forwards, weighing in with 3 goals and 4 assists in Serie A this season, as well as setting up both goals as Juventus secured a domestic double in the Coppa Italia final over Lazio. Only set piece specialist Miralem Pjanic (2) averaged more key passes per game for the Italian champions for the sixth successive season than Sandro (1.9), which was enough to rank third of all left-backs in Europe’s top 5 leagues.

Much of his creative threat came from balls into the box, with the former Porto man’s exceptional delivery leading to an average of 1.3 accurate crosses per game, all of which came from open play. That was again enough to place among the top 5 in his position on the continent, as too was an average of 1.8 successful dribbles per game.

It’s the South American’s ability to impress at both ends that is seemingly becoming increasingly rare Europe though, highlighted by the fact that he led the way for Juve for total tackles (62), whilst being bettered only by Bonucci for interceptions (57). As a result, Sandro’s WhoScored.com rating of 7.63 was not only the best for the club in the league but far and away the strongest score of any left-back across Europe’s leading divisions.