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The defining image of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League might end up being Mats Hummels doing something heroic. There he is, making a perfectly timed block of a dangerous shot. There he is, tackling the ball away from a threatening situation. There he is, quarterbacking the high-wire act that is Borussia Dortmund's buildup play. There he is, scoring a damn goal in the semifinals. Hummels is obviously not solely responsible for Borussia Dortmund's stunning run to the final -- goalkeeper Gregor Kobel has been brilliant when necessary, winger Jadon Sancho had PSG on a string for much of the semifinals, forward Niclas Füllkrug has scored huge goals in two of the team's last three matches. But he's the MVP. He's also 35. He was one of BVB's best players when they last made the Champions League final 11 years ago. His minutes have been down in league play of late, as BVB's season has come to be wholly defined by the Champions League. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) But he's played every minute of Europe's biggest competition, and he leads his team in everything from touches and pass attempts to progressive carries and progressive passes to ball recoveries and defensive interventions. This Champions League run has become one of the defining moments of his career, and he's had a hell of a career. He is the perfect prime inductee for this year's Gündogan Awards. What are the Gündogan Awards? They are a celebration of players who seem to be finding a new level at an advanced stage in their careers. They are of course named after Ilkay Gündogan -- Hummels' teammate during BVB's 2012-13 Champions League run -- who evolved into the perfect Swiss Army Knife and had recently added goalscoring to his repertoire when I first made this post in 2021. Initially, I looked at players who were 27 or older. The members of this year's class are all in their respective 30s. Here are the first three classes of Gündogan inductees. (Prime inductees in bold.) 2020-21:Benjamin Andre (Lille), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP), Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus), Andy Delort (Montpellier), Magnus Wolff Eikrem (Molde), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Sam Mewis (Manchester City), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Roma), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Willi Orban (RB Leipzig)
-- Lifetime achievement: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Ciro Immobile (Lazio) 2021-22:Georgios Athanasiadis (Sheriff Tiraspol), Sofiane Boufal (Angers), Antonio Candreva (Sampdoria), Diego and Yimmi Chara (Portland Timbers), Edin Dzeko (Inter), Sebastien Haller (Ajax), Kim Little (Arsenal), Joel Matip (Liverpool), Anthony Modeste (Cologne), Iker Muniain (Athletic Club), Dimitri Payet (Marseille), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Oscar Trejo (Rayo Vallecano), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage)
-- Lifetime achievement: the entire Real Madrid midfield 2022-23:Rémy Cabella (Lille), German Cano (Fluminense), Kenza Dali (Aston Villa), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Galatasaray (the whole team), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Pascal Groß (Brighton), Joselu (Espanyol), Rani Khedira (Union Berlin), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Amir Rrahmani (Napoli), Mário Rui (Napoli), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Enner Valencia (Fenerbahce)
-- Lifetime achievement: Ilkay Gündogan Now here are the 14 members of this year's class.
Prime inductee: Mats Hummels, CB, Borussia DortmundIt's fun when stats and eyeballs agree. It has sure felt like Hummels has made more defensive interventions and ball recoveries than anyone else in this year's Champions League, and the stats more than back that up. He has been the ultimate firefighter. 
(Source: TruMedia)
Since 2012-13, only two players have topped Hummels' 240 defensive interventions in the Champions League: Borussia Dortmund's Neven Subotic hit 272 in 2012-13 ... and Hummels hit 268 that same year. No one has topped even 213 since 2014-15 and in the history of StatsPerform's performance data, no one has ever combined this number of interventions with the 123 progressive carries and 82 progressive passes that Hummels has also put together in this current campaign. This is just an absolutely ridiculous run from one of Europe's more celebrated defenders, simultaneously old-school (just hurl your body in front of any problem that arises) and new-school (defenders are responsible for intricate buildup and ball progression). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, CF, MarseilleBorussia Dortmund is known for giving a big stage to bright, young future stars, but this list of older shining lights, from the awards' namesake to this year's prime inductee, has BVB DNA all over it. That extends to our second inductee, who scored 141 goals in all competitions for the club in 4.5 seasons from 2013-14 to 2017-18 and makes this list after one of the more brilliant UEFA Europa League runs you'll ever see. Over his two previous seasons, Aubameyang moved from Arsenal to Barcelona to Chelsea, played 60 matches and scored a decent 23 total goals. He sought stability with a move to Marseille this past summer -- as much as "Marseille" and "stability" can ever be found in the same sentence -- and at age 34, he's found fifth gear once again. The veteran forward has scored twice in 166 minutes in Marseille's failed Champions League qualification run, and in 1,030 minutes in the Europa League, he combined 10 goals with three assists. He began the year tied for 12th in all-time Europa League (or UEFA Cup) goals scored; he's now first. And in Europe's Big Five leagues and this year's UEFA competitions, he's recorded more combined goals and assists than just about anyone. 
(Source: TruMedia)
Those are some pretty big names on that list. And Auba is ahead of a lot of them. Dani Carvajal, RB and Nacho CB, Real MadridNot that you could tell it from the results, but this has been a pretty disruptive season for Real Madrid when it comes to injuries. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender Éder Militão have combined for just 691 minutes in all competitions due to dueling ACL tears, defender David Alaba hit only 1,407 minutes before he, too, was lost to a knee injury. Luka Modric, at age 38, averages only about 50 minutes per appearance. And somehow, despite such a significant load of minutes and matches as Real Madrid have once again worked their way into the Champions League final, only eight players have topped even 2,900 minutes in all competitions. Two of them: Carvajal and Nacho. They are third and fifth on the team, respectively, in defensive interventions, Nacho is fourth in pass completions (and second in completion rate), and Carvajal is fifth in touches, sixth in goals scored, and seventh in assists. Nacho, 34, has recorded his most minutes since 2017-18; Carvajal, 31, has recorded a career-high in combined goals and assists. This club has plenty of both celebrated veterans -- the entire midfield got an honorary Gündogan Award two years ago, after all -- and brilliant youngsters, but they don't win LaLiga and reach the Champions League final without these two old veterans doing whatever is asked of them in the back line. Dante, CB, NiceIf you read my Head XI-versus-Heart XI piece last November, you probably knew Dante would show up on this year's list: "Nice is PSG's most serious competition in the Ligue 1 race this year and Dante, a 40-year-old center-back, has provided the team's most xPV to date. He's got the most touches, pass attempts and pass completions of any Big Five defender. He's also made the third-most ball recoveries (105), he's well above average in the air, and he's in the top 40 in total defensive interventions. Dante -- still a thing heading into 2024. Unreal!"
Granted, Nice couldn't quite maintain their challenge for a Champions League position -- they're four points outside the top four with two matches to go - but the ageless Dante has remained an impossibly integral piece for Les Aiglons. He's recorded the most minutes of any outfield player on the team, and he's first in touches, pass attempts and completions and progressive passes; he's also second in progressive carries, defensive interventions and ball recoveries. Only one player in all of Ligue 1 -- PSG midfielder Danilo Pereira, who himself had a case to make this list -- has more combined progressive passes and carries. 
(Source: TruMedia)
Dante turns 41 in October! This is ridiculous! These should be called the Dante Awards! Luuk de Jong, CF, PSV EindhovenThere's something magical about finding your level and thriving in it. De Jong has enjoyed some big moments outside of the Netherlands in his career -- perhaps most notably, scoring the game-winner in Sevilla's win over Manchester United in the 2020 Europa League semis -- but of his 262 career goals in all competitions, 228 have come while playing for Dutch teams and 166 have come while playing for PSV. At 33, De Jong has enjoyed his best-ever season, scoring 36 goals with 18 assists over 46 matches and leading PSV to its first league title since 2017-18. His aerial prowess was too much for the Eredivisie, but he also pitched in eight goals and two assists in 11 matches as PSV not only qualified for the Champions League but also progressed to the knockout rounds. Almost no one in Europe was as proficient at carving out space in the box and knocking the ball into the net. That's a pretty good thing to be good at! 
(Source: TruMedia)
De Jong scored 15 goals with his head and went seven-for-nine on penalties. He's got a skill set that could allow him to age gracefully, and he could be an Eredivisie terror for years to come. Isco, AM, Real BetisGiven more minutes, Carvajal and Nacho both thrived for Real Madrid and proved that their collective technical prowess remains intact. After a decade in Madrid, Isco had to move to Seville to prove the same. But wow, has he done so. After a brief spell with Sevilla in 2022-23, Isco moved to derby rival Real Betis this season, and basically anything good Los Verdiblancos have accomplished this season has probably been because of the 32-year-old. In all competitions, he leads the team in assists (seven), chances created (91), progressive carries (349), progressive passes (278); if you like the nerd stats, expected possession value added (xPVA). He's also attempted the most 1v1s (160), he's won 53% of them, and he's first on the team in shots (74) and third in goals (nine). 
(Source: TruMedia)
Isco hasn't played this many matches in five years, and the workload looks great on him. His attractive game is the only reason Real Betis have scored enough to hold onto sixth place in LaLiga. Eugénie Le Sommer, CF, Lyon FemeninEugenie Le Sommer played for France at the 2009 Women's Euros. She scored the first goal of Lyon's first UEFA Women's Champions League title run in 2010-11 and has played a role in each of the seven other title runs since. In just 1,182 minutes in league and Champions League play this season, she's scored 11 goals with four assists; she's played eight matches for her country since the start of 2023, and she's scored six times. On a per-minute basis, she remains as potent as just about any attacker in the women's game. 
(Source: FBref.com)
If Lyon knocks off Barcelona to win yet another Champions League title on May 25, odds are decent that she played a major role in it. Oh yeah, and she turns 35 on Saturday. Goodness. Granit Xhaka, CM, Bayer LeverkusenThe math on this one is pretty simple: On July 6, Xhaka joined Bayer Leverkusen. They have not lost since. In all competitions, the 31-year-old is first on the team in minutes (3,956), touches (5,006), passes (4,483) and ball recoveries (300) for a team that is unbeaten in 50 straight matches. And in the win that clinched Bayer Leverkusen's first-ever Bundesliga title, he scored the long-range bomb that basically put the match to bed. How would Xhaka not make this list? Nemanja Matic, DM, LyonJust call him Lyon's Xhaka. Why? Because Matic has been instrumental in one of the most jarring turnarounds you'll ever see. As of Dec. 9, Lyon was a distant last in Ligue 1 with just seven points from 14 matches. Since then, they've earned 43 points from 19 matches, the most in the league and six more than both first-place PSG and second-place Monaco. Granted, the turnaround began in part before Matic played his first match for the club on Feb. 4 after six months at Rennes. But since his debut, the 35-year-old is first on the team in touches (1,058), passes (900), pass completions (773) and progressive carries (151); he's a one-man buildup machine, and oh yeah, he's also first in defensive interventions (163) and ball recoveries (98). This team lost nine of its first 14 league matches this season; it's lost two of the 14 in which he's suited up. Nemanja Magic. Alyssa Naeher, GK, Chicago Red StarsGranted, she's got an awfully hard job at the moment. Since June 1 of last year, the 36-year-old has faced the third-most shots and the second-most shots on target of any keeper in the NWSL. This season, Chicago is fourth in the league in average points per game despite opponents attempting nearly five more shots per match. Naeher has certainly played a role in Chicago's overachievement, but I'll be honest: She's on this list because of those two shootouts. On March 6, Naeher saved three of four on-target penalties, and converted one as well, as the U.S. beat Canada on penalties to win the Gold Cup. On April 9, Naeher saved three of seven on-target penalties, and converted another one, as the U.S. beat Canada on penalties to win the SheBelieves Cup. At one point, she made a save, scored, then made another save in a three-shot sequence. I mean, come on. That's unfair. Mohamed Salah, RW and Virgil van Dijk, CB, LiverpoolThey're not going to make this easy. The contracts of Liverpool's two most influential and accomplished players of the Jurgen Klopp era both end after next season; Salah will turn 32 in June, and van Dijk will turn 33 in July. If you're in charge of the team, part of you would almost prefer that they show signs of regression and make it pretty obvious what should happen next. Nope. In his ninth season with Liverpool, van Dijk has recorded his most league minutes (3,088), touches (3,189) and defensive interventions (476) since Liverpool's 2019-20 Premier League title run. He's also recorded his most progressive passes (356), progressive carries (330), shot attempts (40) and chances created (11) and his highest duel (76.4%) and aerial duel (81.4%) success rates and his highest pass completion rate (91.4%). Salah's minutes are down a bit thanks to his January trip to the Africa Cup of Nations and the injury he subsequently suffered there. But on a per-90-minute basis, he has improved over last season's efforts in just about every category, from goals (0.66 per minute versus 0.52 last year) to assists (0.37 versus 0.33) to combined xG and xA (1.03 versus 0.79) to progressive passes (5.04 versus 3.99) to even ball recoveries (3.0 versus 2.7). If Liverpool was looking for an obvious answer on how to handle the future of these celebrated stars, they're not getting one. These two are just about as good as ever. Téji Savanier, CM, MontpellierOkay, fine, so the late-career uptick in Savanier's goal-scoring prowess has come almost entirely from penalties -- he's scored 29 league goals over the last three seasons, up from 17 in the three seasons before that, but a whopping 16 were pens. Still, (a) he's really good at them (16-for-17 in that span), (b) they still count as goals, and (c) at 32, it seems his all-around game is continuing to evolve. 
(Source: TruMedia)
Even as battery mates have come and gone -- longtime Montpellier co-star Andy Delort left after 2021-22; Elye Wahi produced 24 combined goals and assists last year but moved to Lens -- Savanier has figured out ways to produce. And in Europe's Big Five leagues this season, only five players have managed to combine at least 80 chances created (with a pass completion rate of at least 75%) with at least 150 ball recoveries: Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard, the ever-present Gündogan and Savanier. That's pretty good company. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Luis Suárez, CF, Inter MiamiLast June, it was revealed that Luis Suárez was dealing with constant knee pain and, at age 36, was considering retirement because of it. Last December, Suárez, then 37, won Brazil's Golden Ball after scoring 17 goals in 33 matches and nearly leading newly promoted Gremio to a shocking league title. He then joined Inter Miami; he has played 16 matches for the club and scored 13 goals. In the last 365 days, three players have played at least 4,000 club minutes and produced at least 49 combined goals and assists: Harry Kane (4,114 minutes, 47 goals, 12 assists), Kylian Mbappé (4,048 minutes, 47 goals, 11 assists) ... and Suárez (4,057 minutes, 30 goals, 19 assists). The guy with osteoarthritis in his knees and a "37" in the age column. Since turning 30 during the 2016-17 season, he has scored at least 25 goals in all competitions five times and has produced double-digit assists five times. He left his friend Lionel Messi to lead Atletico Madrid to the LaLiga title in 2020-21, and now he's reunited with Messi in Miami. This is an unexpected, and positively absurd, final act to a book-worthy (for any number of reasons) career.
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