As the curtain falls on a thrilling 2018-2019 football season in almost all the European premier leagues, several Muslim players’ names continue to vibrate in the mind of fans across Europe and beyond, as they contributed a lot to the glory of their teams during the season.
Please find below a snapshot of information on some of these Muslim players in different European football leagues.
Italian Calcio’s Champions: Juventus
Juventus has emerged as the champions of the 117th season of the Serie A league for the 35th time, thus becoming the first team in the major European leagues to win eight consecutive league titles.
The squad includes some Muslims players such as:
Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanić
Pjanić was born in 1990 and won three Italian leagues, 2 Italian cups, and one Supercoppa Italiana. He played for the French clubs Metz and Lyon, as well as the Italian clubs Roma and Juventus.
Pjanić played for Luxembourg and the national team of his homeland Bosnia. After representing Bosnia in its first FIFA World Cup appearance in 2014, Pjanić was ranked 55th in The Guardian’s 2015 list of The 100 best footballers in the world.
Sami Khedira
Tunisian German Muslim central midfielder Sami Khedira was born in 1987, played for his mother’s side the German national team as well as the German club VfB Stuttgart, and the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Khedira won one German Bundesliga, one La Liga, two Spanish cups, one Supercopa de España, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to four Italian league titles, three Coppa Italia, one Supercoppa Italiana.
On the international level with Germany, he won the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the UEFA U–21 Championship in 2009.
Emre Can
Born in 1994, the Muslim central midfielder Emre Can plays for Juventus. Before Jeventus, he played for Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen as well as the English giant Liverpool.
Can won one Bundesliga, one German cup, one German DFL-Supercup, one Italian league and one Supercoppa Italiana in 2018. With the German national team, Can achieved the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Catalan Champions of Spanish La Liga: Barcelona
Ousmane Dembélé
The 88th La Liga edition has been claimed by Barcelona for the 26th time, being also the defending champions.
The squad included the Muslim Forward player Masour Ousmane Dembélé who was born in 1997.
Dembélé plays for the French national team but his African parents hail from Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania, Muslim West African countries. He played for the French club Rennes then Dortmund of Germany where he won the 2016 DFB-Pokal German Cup.
In 2017, he moved to the Catalan giants Barcelona for an initial fee of €105 million, becoming at the time the joint-second most expensive footballer ever alongside the Muslim compatriot Paul Pogba who moved to Man.United with £89 million.
With Barça, he has won two La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa de España. Most importantly, Dembélé is a world champion as he was part of the French national team that won 2018 World Cup.
But Ousmane Dembélé hasn’t really got going, and with many disappointing performances and injury woes, many are beginning to question whether he ever will remain in a Barcelona shirt.
UK’s EPL Champions: Manchester City
After a fierce race with England’s top club Liverpool, the defending champions Manchester City succeeded in winning the 131st edition of the English Premier League to claim their 6th title.
The squad of the ‘Citizens’, as they’re nicknamed, includes several Muslims players.
Turkish midfielder İlkay Gündoğan
Born in Germany in 1990, Gündoğan played for VfL Bochum, FC Nürnberg, and Borussia Dortmund where he won the double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. He won one German DFL-Supercup, two English Premier Leagues, one FA Cup, one EFL Cup, and one FA Community Shield.
Benjamin Mendy
Benjamin Mendy was born in 1994 to Senegalese parents. The left-back star plays for the French national team where he won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He used to play for the French clubs Le Havre, Marseille, and Monaco where he won the national championship in 2016–17.
In 2017, Mendy moved to Manchester City on a then world-record transfer fee for a defender and he contributed to the City’s winning the FA Community Shield in 2018.
The Algerian Riyad Karim Mahrez
Born in 1991, Karim Mahrez plays for Manchester City and the Algerian national team. He previously played for the French clubs AAS Sarcelles, Quimper, and Le Havre, before moving to the English side Leicester City, helping them win the Championship and promotion to the Premier League then eventually winning it in 2015-16.
In 2018, Mahrez won the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and the FA Community Shield. Also in the 2015–16 season, Mahrez was chosen as the Algerian Footballer of the Year, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year
Arijanet Anan Samir Muriqi
Hailing from the Albania, Arijanet Anan Samir Muriqi was born in 1998. He plays as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and Kosovo national team. The Swiss-born Muslim won the English FA and EFL cups for the season 2018–19.
Three junior players from Nigeria play as well with the ‘Citizens’. The players are Abdel Nasser Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami Adarabioyo, 21, Felix Kalu Nmecha, 18, and Ayotomiwa Sherif Dele-Bashiru, 19.
AFC Ajax Wins Dutch Eredivisie:
AFC Ajax won their 34th title of the Dutch league Eredivisie in its 63rd season. The team, known for playing ‘Total Football’ tactical philosophy, is served by several Muslim players.
Noussair Mazraoui
Born in 1997, Noussair Mazraoui is a Dutch-born Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a right back for Dutch club Ajax and the Morocco national team.
Zakaria Labyad and Hakim Ziyech
Both Moroccan players are 26-year-old attacking midfielders who were born in the Netherlands like Mazraoui.
Labyad played for the Dutch clubs Philips Sport Vereniging Eindhoven, Vitesse, and Utrecht, as well as the Portuguese side Sporting Clube Lisbon, and Fulham of the UK. He won the 2018 Dutch KNVB Cup and plays for the Moroccan national team.
Ziyech on the other side played at the Dutch clubs Heerenveen and Twente. He achieved one Dutch KNVB Cup in 2018 and plays for the Moroccan national team with several individual awards and honors.
Boureima Hassane Bandé
Bandé, 20, plays for the national team of Burkina Faso. He started playing at the Belgian side Mechelen before moving to Amsterdamsche Ajax where he won the 2018 Dutch KNVB Cup.
7th Consecutive German Bundesliga Title:
The 56th Bundesliga season has ended with Germany’s top club, Bayern Munich, achieving its 28th league.
Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry
Ribéry, a French Muslim winger midfielder who plays for the German club Bayern Munich, is a former France national team player. He was nominated alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the three-man shortlist for the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
Ribéry is a three-time winner of the French Player of the Year award and the German Footballer of the Year becoming the first player to hold both honors.
Though Frank Ribéry has said goodbye to the German team, he has done so with style, as the Munich giants have once again won the double titles for the 2018-2019 season; and his great contributions to the success of the Bundesliga champions will forever be remembered.
France’s Ligue Un Winners:
The defending champions of the 81st season of France’s Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain, has achieved their second consecutive and 8th overall title.
Moussa Diaby
Born in 1999, Muslim Malian player Moussa Diaby played for the Italian club Crotone before moving to Paris Saint-Germain. He won the 2018’s Trophée des Champions and was named in the tournament team of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2018.