UEFA.com have taken the time and good grace to bestow upon us their Team of the Year 2010, and it should come as scant surprise that both Barcelona and Inter Milan dominate proceedings – with 8 of the final 11 slots being occupied by their employees, along with a further 7 of the 44 ‘unsuccessful’ nominees.

UEFA’s Team of the Year 2010, in all it’s glory, reads thusly…

GK: Iker Casillas, Spain/Real MadridRB: Maicon, Brazil/Inter MilanCB: Carles Puyol, Spain/Barcelona CB: Gerard Pique, Spain/BarcelonaLB: Ashley Cole, England/ChelseaRM: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal/Real MadridCM: Xavi, Spain/BarcelonaAM: Wesley Sneijder, Holland/Inter MilanLM: Andres Iniesta, Spain/BarcelonaFW: Lionel Messi, Argentina/BarcelonaFW: David Villa, Spain/Barcelona

All-in-all, it’s been a rather good year for ‘Spain/Barcelona’, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Ashley Cole is the only Premier League player on the list

On the other hand, it’s apparently been a pretty apalling year for the GREATEST LEAGUE IN THE UNIVERSE (©Sky Sports), i.e. the English Premier League, which proffers forth just one measly player for inclusion  – namely, Chelsea’s Ashley Cole.

Several other Premier League-based players received token nominations (Carlos Tevez, Brede Hangeland, Dirk Kuyt…), but none were deemed to have come anywhere close to surpassing the standard’s set by their Spanish and Italian-based counterparts.

Which altogether, is another life-affirming kick in the balls for Murdoch and his sycophantic minions.

As, for UEFA’s team itself…well, put it this way, I sure wouldn’t like to come up against it in the Sunday Amateur League, as Platini and co. have damn-near nailed it this year – though I think I’d have plumped for Inter stopper Julio Cesar (who has enjoyed the best form of his life over the past 12 months) over Casillas (who, frankly, hasn’t) betwixt the sticks.

Agree/Disagree with UEFA’s picks Let us know in the comments box below…

For a full list of all the winners and runners-up, you may want to visit UEFA’s official gallery.