Here is how the best 18 players in Champions League brake

8/3/2017

 82% of the best soccer players in Europe use the best brakes in the world

Some may wrinkle their noses. Some may complain about the low technical style of this article. But, it is the summertime and from under a beach umbrella, we can have a bit of fun. And so we decided to be intentionally lighthearted, writing a typical article that you can read at the beach based on soccer, dream cars, a bit of gossip and obviously Brembo braking systems.

 
 

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Gianluigi Buffon are legendary champions who are making soccer history. No one can stop them on the field, at least not without playing dirty. In their free time, they would also be unstoppable, considering the supercars they drive But precisely because they know how important it is to have a powerful and reliable braking system, they all rely on Brembo.

Because they are not the only top players who brake with Brembo, we tried to figure out which cars (and brakes) the best soccer players in the most recent Champions League edition drive, starting right from the list of the best 18 drawn up by UEFA, the European soccer confederation. In fact, on June 5th, UEFA published a list of the best players from Champions League 2016/17.

The 18 players on this phenomenal team were selected by a jury of big names such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Ryan Giggs, Mircea Lucescu, Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson. The formation is made up of 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 6 midfielders and 5 forwards.

 
 

As we looked at it, we noticed straight away that many of the 18 selected drive cars that come standard with Brembo braking systems, beginning with top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Actually, there have always been various supercars in the Portuguese player's garage fitted with Brembo brakes: from the two Ferraris purchased in 2008, the 599 GTB Fiorano and the F430, both fitted, in keeping with the Maranello-based manufacturer's tradition, entirely with Brembo braking system, all the way to the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 purchased in 2012, also with Brembo calipers.

 

Naturally, Cristiano Ronaldo is not the only one who has these systems, because as we looked through the respective garages of the 18 elect on UEFA's team of the year, we noticed that at least 14 players on this list rely on Brembo.

And then, if we consider that French player Kylian Mbappé (Monaco) is only 18 years old and still does not have his driver's license, the percentage of players who prefer the Italian brakes goes up even higher and reaches 82.4 percent.

 

Lionel Messi, the only representative from Barcelona in these rankings (don't hate us, we didn't write the list), has fun with a Ferrari 430 Spider, a Maserati Granturismo S and an Audi R8 Spyder, all with Brembo brakes. As you will notice, these are cars with incredible accelerating power, just like the Argentine usually demonstrates on the field to shake his adversaries.

On the road, however, the braking system can also make the difference, especially if it is manufactured by a company like Brembo which has won 26 Manufacturer World Championship titles and 22 Driver World Championships in Formula 1.

Twenty-three of these world titles were won by Ferrari who, having appreciated the qualities of these systems on the track, has used Brembo calipers and discs for more than 3 decades on their entire factory range. And Ferrari is the brand that is the most popular with the top 18, without any sort of distinction between the various positions they play. In fact, defenders with excellent feet (Leonardo Bonucci), quantity and quality midfielders (Toni Kroos and Isco ) and even forwards (Robert Lewandowki, as well as the aforementioned Messi and Ronaldo) rely on Brembo carbon ceramic systems.


 

 
 

Miralem Pjanic, a midfielder for Juventus and an almost unstoppable free kick sniper, can usually be seen driving his Mercedes SLS AMG GT, whereas his teammate, Gianluigi Buffon owns (according to our sources) a Maserati Quattroporte.
The two cars have little to nothing in common, starting from the driving style that distinguishes them. However, both manufacturers chose to rely on the braking comfort (no screeching and vibrations) and performance of Brembo-made one-piece calipers.

Atletico Madrid defensive leader, Diego Godin, drives a vehicle a bit different than the rest, but one that seems to have been tailor built to reflect his soccer playing qualities: we are talking about the indestructible Range Rover HSE, outstanding on any type of terrain and distinguished by its red Brembo single-piece calipers. This is a color that, what are the odds, along with white, historically represents the colchoneros.

 

​But here is the list of the top 18 and their respective vehicles. For each player, we selected only one vehicle.

PlayerTeamCarBrakes
Gianluigi Buffon​JuventusMaserati QuattroporteBrembo
Jan Oblak​Atletco Madrid​Porsche Macan​Brembo
Leonardo Bonucci​Milan​Ferrari F12 BerlinettaBrembo
Sergio Ramos​Real MadridMercedes AMG GT SBrembo
Diego Godin​Atletico MadridRange Rover Sport HSEBrembo
Casemiro​Real MadridAudi A7 Sportback competition 3.0Brembo
Toni Kroos​Real MadridFerrari 488 GTBBrembo
Isco​Real MadridFerrari F12 BerlinettaBrembo
Miralem Pjanic​JuventusMeercedes SLS AMG GTBrembo
Tiemoue Bakayoko​MonacoPorsche CayenneBrembo
Cristiano Ronaldo​Real MadridLamborghini Aventador LP 700-4Brembo
Lionel Messi​BarcelonaFerrari F430 SpiderBrembo
Antoine Griezmann​Atletico MadridMaserati Gran TurismoBrembo
Robert Lewandoski​Bayern MonacoFerrari F12 BerlinettaBrembo
Kylian Mbappe​MonacoNo driver's license-
Dani Carvajal​Real Madrid--
Marcelo​Real Madrid--
Luca Modric​Real Madrid--
 

As you can see in the notes above, it is not only the best Liga players who use Brembo calipers, but also the most representative players from Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

Many of the most talented Premier League players also drive cars with Brembo calipers and discs, but none of them were included on the Champions League 2016/17 Top 18 list. They were therefore (albeit begrudgingly) left out of our analysis, in the hopes that they will make the list next year following a spectacular season.

The 3 players “without Brembo brakes”, besides Mbappé who still is not a licensed driver, drive cars that they have been given by one of the sponsors of the club where they play. These are models for which Brembo brakes are available as optional equipment, therefore we have no way of knowing whether or not they were selected by the respective drivers.

Whether right or left footed, whether they use multi-colored or solid cleats, when they press the brake pedal to the floor, talented soccer players prefer Brembo braking systems.