WhoScored Champions League Team of the Group Stages

With the Champions League group stages coming to an end, the fates of the 32 clubs involved have been decided, with a number of high-profile casualties, not least reigning champions Chelsea and Premier League winners Manchester City.

Here, however, we focus on the players that have starred in their respective sides' European campaigns thus far, with almost all of our Champions League group stage XI doing enough to help their teams progress to the last 16 of the competition.

While the team is scattered with big name stars there are a few lesser known players to have put themselves in the spotlight with some highly commendable performances, and we start with one of the latter between the posts.

If you had offered Romanian side CFR Cluj a 10-point haul prior to the tournament the chances are they would have bitten your hand - and possibly the rest of your arm - off. Their eventual tally was not enough to make it to the knockout stages, however, despite a victory over United in the final group game.

The Liga I champions had their Portuguese keeper Mário Felgueiras to thank on more than one occasion though, as the 25-year old stopper made the third most saves in the group stages, with 30, as well as the second most successful high claims from crosses (16). The Romanians conceded just 7 goals in 6 games and thoroughly deserve their place in the Europa League having been dumped out due to their head-to-head record with Galatasaray.

The full-backs in our XI are very familiar with one another, both having played their part in Schalke's Group B triumph. Captain Benedikt Höwedes gets a place at right-back in our line-up having played there on 7 occasions in all competitions this season. The German international netted twice having appeared in all of his side's group games, with only 6 players making more tackles and interceptions combined (38).

Höwedes' Austrian teammate Christian Fuchs takes his place on the opposite flank having also found the net once in his 5 group stage appearances, scoring the winner in Schalke's decisive 1-0 victory over Olympiakos. The full-back also ranks in the top 20 for accurate crosses in the competition, with 9, created more chances for teammates than any other defender, with 12, and made an impressive 17 tackles, in a more defensive sense.

At centre-back we also have another club pairing, with Paris Saint Germain's Champions League record somewhat alleviating the immense pressure on Carlo Ancelotti's head. The Parisian moneybags picked up more points from an admittedly favourable group draw than any other side (15), and had their defenders to thank in no small part for that record.

Both Alex and Thiago Silva netted twice, with only 5 players that started more than half of their team's group games recording a higher combined average for tackles and interceptions per game than Alex (7.2). Summer signing Silva, meanwhile, ranks joint 6th for interceptions in the group stages, with 22, 4 of which came inside his own box, ranking him equal 4th in that category.

Along with the aforementioned centre-back pairing, Jérémy Menez makes the grade, with PSG the only side to be represented in our XI by more than two players. The France international struck twice in 5 appearances in the group stages, as well as picking up a further 2 assists. The former Roma man ranks equal 11th for successful dribbles in the competition thus far (11) and joint 7th for accurate crosses per game, with 2.

On the opposite wing Shakhtar's Willian proved why a number of big clubs are circling Donetsk right now to get a look at him as he struck 4 goals from just 6 shots on target as the Ukrainians progressed at the expense of Chelsea - one of those mooted with an interest in the Brazilian. The playmaker also registered 2 assists, the joint 4th most successful dribbles thus far (18) and ranks in the top 25 for key passes, with 12.

At the heart of our midfield is Juventus workaholic Arturo Vidal, whose 3 goals and 1 assist helped the Italian champions eventually end Group E as leaders, with 12 points. Despite doing more than his, and often others' fair share of defensive work, the Chilean ranks equal 12th for shots at goal during the group stages, with 18, as well as producing 2 key passes per game. His most impressive standing, however, comes in the tackles category, making more than any other player in the competition to date (29).

The Juve man is joined in the middle by Shakhtar's Fernandinho, whose role it is to make the clockwork orange outfit tick. The Brazilian ranks joint 12th in the group stages for accurate passes, with 340, having found a teammate with 88.5% of his attempts. With averages of 3.3 and 3.5 for tackles and interceptions, and attacking figures of 2.3 shots, 1.7 key passes and 3.2 dribbles per game, he really is the complete midfielder along with Vidal.

Up front it is no surprise to see Lionel Messi take his place here, netting 5 goals and picking up 2 assists in just 5 starts in the group stages. Only one man has had more shots in this season's tournament - and it isn't hard to guess who that is - with the Argentinian firing off 29 efforts at goal thus far. With 2.3 key passes per game from an average of 69.5 attempted, Messi has an 85.4% accuracy, though his dribbles per game figure of 1.5 is way down on his usual standards.

The top rated player from the group stages, however, is Malaga's Isco, with the young Spaniard's early displays in the competition ensuring that he could be rested for the final two games, with the Champions League debutants already qualified. With 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 starts the 20-year old well and truly put himself in the shop window for Europe's big spenders, averaging more dribbles per game than any other player in the tournament thus far (4.8) alined with 2.3 shots and 2.5 key passes per match.