Werder Bremen's Per Mertesacker has been selected by the European Sports Magazine (ESM) writers committee for the ESM-Top Eleven for November. The defensive 'Giant', who played in all five of Werder Bremen's Bundesliga matches and the Champions League tie against Chelsea scoring two goals along the way. The German international picked up seven of the nine votes to top the poll. Only Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy) and Sport Express (Russia) didn't have 'Merte' on their ballot sheet. Don Balon from Spain and Voetbal International from Holland also voted for Miroslav Klose while the Italians saw Diego ahead of Mertesacker.
The complete ESM-Top-Eleven for November was: Coupet (Olympique Lyon) – D. Alves (FC Sevilla), Mertesacker (WERDER), Vidic (Manchester United), Panucci (AS Roma) – Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Malouda (Olympique Lyon), Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona) – Rooney (Manchester United), Totti (AS Rom), Kanoute (FC Sevilla).
The federation of "European Sports Magazines" is made up of the following ten sports papers: Don Balon (Spain), A Bola (Portugal), Voetbal International (Holland), World Soccer (England), La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), Sport-Express (Russia), Fanatik (Turkey), Foot-Magazine (Belgium), Tipsbladet (Denmark), Kicker Sportmagazin (Germany). The writers get together monthly to select the top eleven players in Europe.