The second instalment of Champions League group stage matches has come to close and there were plenty of thrilling encounters, as WhoScored.com take a run through the players that forced their way into the latest Champions League Team of the Week.
Salvatore Sirigu made a complete mess of his Sevilla debut at the weekend but there was no repeat performance between the sticks in the Champions League as Jorge Sampaoli recalled Sergio Rico to the side for their 1-0 win over Lyon on Tuesday.
Sevilla were completely dominant against their French opponents but missed chances ensured the game was far tenser than it needed to be. As a result, Rico’s performance was invaluable in ensuring victory, as he made four saves and completed one interception to keep their clean sheet intact en route to securing the highest rating of any goalkeeper in the Champions League this week (7.51).
The first entrant into the back four is Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender. The 27-year-old is a midfielder by trade but excelled at right-back against Monaco after being asked to do a job by manager Roger Schmidt. Bender completed more tackles against Monaco (13) than any player has managed in a Champions League match in the last seven seasons to secure a WhoScored rating of 8.24.
Filipe Luis, who is a regular in the WhoScored La Liga Team of the Week, joins Bender on the opposite flank after sparkling in Atletico Madrid’s imperious 1-0 win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday. Not only did Luis come out on top in his battle with Thomas Muller, but he was also a threat going forward, completing more dribbles than any other player on display at the Vicente Calderon (5). Seven tackles and interceptions combined also contributed to Atletico keeping their 15th clean sheet in their last 17 Champions League home matches, and their sixth in a row.
Raphael Varane and Zanka form the heart of the back four after their eye-catching performances for Real Madrid and Copenhagen, respectively. Varane scored his first goal in 43 Champions League appearances to give Madrid the lead for the second time against Borussia Dortmund, while also managing 11 clearances and four tackles and interceptions combined. His partner, Zanka, was also on the scoresheet, scoring a stoppage time goal to round off Copenhagen’s 4-0 win over Club Brugge.
Further forward and into midfield provides Premier League representation in Theo Walcott and Fernandinho from Arsenal and Manchester City respectively. The penny finally appears to have dropped for Walcott this season and he carried over his strong league form onto the continental circuit. The 27-year-old scored both goals in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Basel, making it four from his last three matches for the Gunners. His brace came in a 70-minute performance, which is all the more impressive when you consider he only managed the same amount of goals in six Champions League matches last season.
Like Walcott, Fernandinho has also been one of his club’s best players this season. The box-to-box midfielder has been immense since Pep Guardiola’s arrival and he was on hand to get City back in the game after Celtic stunned them with a goal inside the first three minutes. Fernandinho reacted quickest to Aleksandar Kolarov’s flashed effort to finish past Craig Gordon less than 10 minutes later. Only thee players completed more interceptions in the Champions League this week than Fernandinho (6), highlighting his ability to break up the play once again.
There is also room in the midfield for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti. Only teammate Thiago Motta (155) had more touches of the ball in the Champions League this week than Verratti (132) and only one player won possession more times in the midfield third (9) than the pint-sized midfielder. Three key passes, including an assist, and at least two more dribbles than any other teammate helped secure a WhoScored rating of 8.28.
Napoli’s Dries Mertens is the final member of the midfield quartet after scoring twice in their 4-2 win over Benfica on Wednesday. The 29-year-old was used sparingly in Maurizio Sarri’s first season but appears to have edged out Lorenzo Insigne from the team at the beginning of this campaign and is now repaying the faith shown by his manager. He scored both of his goals from three shots on target, having failed to score a Champions League goal in his previous 458 minutes of action.
Copenhagen celebrated 21 matches unbeaten in all competitions with Tuesday’s win and their second representation in the team of the week comes in the form of another goalscorer, Federico Santander. The 25-year-old has scored four goals in his last three matches in all competitions, although was forced off with just over 10 minutes remaining against Club Bruges with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
It’s perhaps appropriate that the last player mentioned in the WhoScored Champions League Team of the Week is also the player of the round. Alexis Sanchez garnered the highest score of any player (9.14), although the Chile international would have been disappointed not to have scored after failing with all four of shots. Nevertheless, Sanchez did register both assists for Arsenal and certainly appears to be growing in his new role as the striker, which has come to the detriment of Olivier Giroud’s place in the team. Sanchez has been named the WhoScored man of the match in four of Arsenal’s last six matches and has now finished gameweek two of the Champions League group stages as the highest rated player.
