Picking the best XI of any year in football is always an impossible task.

In terms of 2020, identifying that Robert Lewandowski was the best male player wasn't rocket science, but selecting the finest possible starting XI proved to be a far more contentious issue.

Besides, there was an interesting discrepancy during the latest FIFA FIFPro World XI with Manuel Neuer being snubbed despite being crowned the sport's best goalkeeper at the same ceremony. 

Best players of 2020

In the end, the voters plumped for a line-up of Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Sergio Ramos, Virgil van Dijk, Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Thiago Alcantara, Kevin De Bruyne, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lewandowski.

There's no denying that it's a phenomenal team with arguably the two greatest players of all-time leading the line alongside some of the key protagonists in Bayern Munich's romp to the treble.

However, if you've ever burrowed down a footballing rabbit hole on social media over the last few years, you'll know that stats have played a massive role in player perception recently.

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Europe's finest players

And while, yes, some shallow scans of goal and assist statistics can sometimes only scratch the surface, the data gurus at WhoScored.com pride themselves on digging deeper than most.

That's because they compile average match ratings based on a series of data-sets for each player in every game, owing to remarkable accuracy when they're averaged out over a year.

And in the wake of 2020 wrapping up this week, they've drawn up the best statistical XIs for Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A, the Premier League and the Bundesliga for the last 12 months.

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Europe best XI of 2020

As a result, we couldn't contain our curiosity to find out who made 2020's best XI for Europe's top five leagues in general, so we mushed the line-ups together and reached a fascinating result.

Yes, it might well be the most attacking XI in football history, but who doesn't enjoy some tactical gymnastics? You can check out the final team down below:

GK: Alexandre Oukidja (FC Metz) - 7.11

RB: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) - 7.33

CB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) - 7.13

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CB: Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) - 7.32

LB: Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) - 7.48

CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - 7.72

CM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 7.68

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CAM: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 8.54

RF: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) - 8.10

ST: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) - 8.17

LF: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) - 7.86

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An astonishing XI

So, all in all, that's three Premier League players, three Bundesliga representatives, two Ligue 1 heroes, two La Liga stars and just a single candidate from Serie A.

Now, if you ignore the fact this side would probably get torn to shreds on the counterattack with absolutely nobody protecting the back four, you've got to say it's a pretty astonishing team. 

I think we can all agree that Oukidja is probably the most surprising player, though it must be said that tracking statistics for goalkeepers is an entirely different ball game to the outfield stars.

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Meanwhile, Cancelo's presence in the team is a massive victory for his long-awaited burst of form in England and let's put some respect on Messi's name for the most impressive stats of the year.

And while, yes, stats are never the be all and end all, it's hard to refute them too much when all the maths from 2020 points towards a collection of some of the world's most thrilling football players.