In the first season without the away goal advantage, Real Madrid was crowned champion for the 14th time. In spite of the several comebacks done by Real Madrid, the 21-22 CL had a diverse list for the top performing CBs.
| Player | Rating | Defense | Minutes Played | Team |
| Mykola Matviyenko | 8.95 | Back 4 | 270 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Dayot Upamecano | 8.44 | Back 4 | 540 | Bayern Munich |
| Lisandro Martínez | 8.40 | Back 4 | 720 | Ajax |
| Antonio Rüdiger | 8.17 | Back 5 | 840 | Chelsea |
| Virgil van Dijk | 7.82 | Back 4 | 810 | Liverpool |
| Jules Koundé | 7.73 | Back 4 | 450 | Sevilla |
| Ibrahima Konaté | 7.64 | Back 4 | 720 | Liverpool |
| Thiago Silva | 7.53 | Back 5 | 750 | Chelsea |
| John Stones | 7.52 | Back 4 | 540 | Manchester City |
| Aymeric Laporte | 7.51 | Back 4 | 791 | Manchester City |
| Bonucci | 7.51 | Back 4 | 534 | Juventus |
| Joël Matip | 7.44 | Back 4 | 630 | Liverpool |
| Andreas Christensen | 7.39 | Back 5 | 601 | Chelsea |
| Yaroslav Rakitskiy | 7.37 | Back 5 | 430 | Zenit |
| Jérôme Onguéné | 7.33 | Back 4 | 436 | Red Bull Salzburg |
| Milan Škriniar | 7.26 | Back 5 | 720 | Inter |
| Marlon | 7.24 | Back 4 | 450 | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Diego Carlos | 7.23 | Back 4 | 539 | Sevilla |
| Jurriën Timber | 7.22 | Back 4 | 572 | Ajax |
| Éder Militão | 7.15 | Back 4 | 1074 | Real Madrid |
| Rafael Tolói | 7.10 | Back 5 | 360 | Atalanta |
| Mats Hummels | 7.08 | Back 4 | 355 | Dortmund |
Conditions for the presented data:
– Minimum minutes played in the competition: 270 minutes (equivalent to 3 full games) per type of defense played (Back 4 or Back 5);
– CL Qualifying Round data excluded;
Data from FBref.