Champions League round-up: Neymar the star as three perfect 10s grace the XI

Three perfect 10s grace the WhoScored Champions League team of the week after another exciting round of matches in Europe’s elite club competition. Roma were on fire to defeat Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night, while Barcelona put Tottenham to the sword at Wembley with Lionel Messi once again the star man for the La Liga champions. 

However, top of the pile this week was Neymar, whose perfect 10 performance in PSG’s trouncing of FK Crvena Zvezda was deemed the best by our unique rating system in midweek. The Brazilian star bagged a hat-trick, with two of his goals coming from free-kicks, with Neymar becoming the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 to score two goals from direct free-kicks in the same Champions League match. Seven successful dribbles and five key passes contributed to a fine showing from football’s most expensive player as PSG emphatically ended FK Craven’s Zvezda’s 34-match unbeaten run. 

Edin Dzeko churned out a memorable display in Roma’s aforementioned with over Viktoria Plzen, with the Bosnian forward, like Neymar, rattling in a hat-trick in Rome. Dzeko hit the back of the net with three of his eight shots on goal, while two aerial duels won and one key pass helped the striker secure a WhoScored rating of 10. 

Rounding off the top three is Barcelona’s pint-sized magician Lionel Messi. Like Neymar and Dzeko, Messi too got a perfect 10 as he scored two of the Blaugrana’s four goals at Wembley in yet another mercurial display. He could’ve had another two goals to his name, too, having twice struck the woodwork before getting lucky at the third attempt before sealing the win late. 

Footing the player ratings pile this week is Young Boys defender Mohamed Ali Camara. The centre-back was part of a backline that shipped three goals at the Juventus Stadium and 21-year-old’s evening took a turn for the worst in the latter exchanges of the match as he was red carded with 12 minutes on the clock. With a WhoScored rating of just 4.75, Ali Camara was our lowest rated player of the second round of Champions League fixtures.

An honourable mention goes to Jordi Alba, who just misses the cut in this side despite registering a hat-trick of assists. Those came from five key passes, but having committed two fouls and been dribbled past once, the Spaniard just misses out on this XI.