Year in review: Five best defenders of Serie A in 2020

Bengaluru, January 11: Serie A, the top tier of Italian football, once used to be the most prestigious football league in the whole world but with the rise of Premier League and La Liga, it has been its stock fall to some extent in recent years. However, Serie A is still regarded as one of the top five leagues in Europe and has a unique feel about it.

The division always had some of the biggest legends of the game gracing the pitch such as Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Michael Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Paolo Maldini and many more. The star power of Serie A recently saw a rise with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus and it is once again on an upward trajectory.

Serie A has given birth to some of the greatest defenders the game has ever seen and still has some world class defenders. In this article, we will take a look at five best defenders in Serie A in 2020.

5. Francesco Acerbi - Lazio

An underrated defender, Francesco Acerbi, has been immense for Lazio since his arrival at the Roman club two summers ago. He was one of the key reason why Simone Inzaghi's side were in title contention throughout last season and while their form has lost steam this time out, their star centre-back has hardly disappointed.

Known for his ability to intercept dangers and excellent tackling, Acerbi is very difficult to overcome for any attacker and that is evident from the fact that he was dribbled past the fewest of times last season in Serie A among all outfield players.

4. Milan Skriniar -Inter Milan

Milan Skriniar has been one of the most in-demand defenders in the world for several years now and while reports have claimed that Inter could be willing to part ways with the Slovakian international for the right price, he has still managed to hold his place in Antonio Conte's Inter side that has been in the title contention for two years on succession.

A tough tackler and a good reader of the game, Skriniar is a complete defender and has plenty of room for growth considering that he still only 25 years of age.

3. Matthijs de Ligt - Juventus

Widely regarded as one of the best young players in the planet and the best young defender right now, Matthijs de Ligt made his move to Juventus in the summer of 2019 after leading Ajax on a fairytale run to the Champions League semi-finals in the previous season.

He has made an immediate impact at the Turin club in an experienced and world class backline and is only getting better and better. Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo has already tipped De Ligt as one of the future captains of the club which speaks volumnes about his quality.

2. Alessio Romagnoli - AC Milan

Since his arrival at Milan from As Roma back in 2015, Alessio Romagnoli has been a loyal servant of the Rossoneri despite the club enduring their toughest times. Since the start of 2020, Milan's fortunes have drastically changed as they are now at the summit of the Serie A table after a decade and their 25-year-old skipper has been instrumental behind that.

Milan still have a long way to go if they have to win their first Serie A title after 10 years and if they do that, no one is more deserving than Alessio Romagnoli for clinching the title.

1. Theo Hernandez- AC Milan

A player who has been instrumental behind AC Milan's upturn in form over the past couple of seasons, Theo Hernandez is one of the best left-backs in the world right now and deservedly tops this list.

The 23-year-old Frenchman has already racked up an impressive eleven goals and ten assists in 58 games for Milan in all competitions thus far during his relatively short stint in Italian football. And, if he can keep his strong showings, Milan have an excellent chance to end their 10-year title drought.