Julio Salinas: My team of 2013

Julio Salinas accords all due respect to the team that knocked his old side out of the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League, with FC Bayern München players in prominent roles in the former FC Barcelona striker's contribution to UEFA.com's users' Team of the Year for 2013.

Now 51, the 56-times capped Spanish international played and scored at the 1986, 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups. He also won four league titles, the European Champion Clubs' Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in a glittering spell at Barcelona, having started his career with his home-town side Athletic Club, where he won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984.

View Salinas's choices below and submit your own selection before 13.00CET on Thursday 9 January.

Vote for your Team of the Year 2013

Manuel Neuer: He reminds me of the goalkeepers of my generation; the kind of keeper that gives off an air of assuredness, that are leaders with personality who excel at claiming high balls.

Philipp Lahm: He is one of those players that possesses great intelligence. He knows how to adapt to any position on the field and positions himself well. He is a fantastic reader of the game.

Sergio Ramos: For me, he is perhaps the best central defender around. He has everything: he has endless strength, he's quick and he is a master of the aerial game.

Gerard Piqué: He defines elegance. He has the class to carry the ball out of defence while also possessing good aerial ability. He knows when to apply pressure and reads the line to play the offside trap when needed.

David Alaba: Loads of energy, great physical strength and a huge headache for forwards, who don't know whether to attack or defend when he is around.

Yaya Touré: A great physical presence, he brings attacking strength as well as being a rock in midfield. He combines his power with a great ability to surge forward.

Mesut Özil: Extraordinary skill and great vision in playing that final ball.

Franck Ribéry: A player capable of unbalancing a side in one-on-one situations. He knows how to finish and his physical make-up makes him difficult to stop.

Zlatan Ibrahimović: The best centre-forward. A great goalscorer with a huge personality that marks him out as a guaranteed starter in your team, and a major worry for the opposition.

Cristiano Ronaldo: The complete player, and fast. He can play with both feet, in the air, is a physical powerhouse and also scores goals. One of those players that only appears once every 20 years or so.

Lionel Messi: The best player in the world. He has four FIFA Ballons d'Or and has the chance of winning a fifth. One of the best of all time. It's hard to put it into words – better just to enjoy watching him play.

Julio Salinas was talking to Delfín Ramírez.