Take a look at my purely statistical Champions League Team of the Week.
GK – Jury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg) 23 years old
Porto went down to ten men inside 6 minutes but they still gave Lodygin a few dodgy moments but he coped well and made 5 saves as Zenit got a great 3 points with a 1-0 win.
RB – Giulio Donati (Bayer Leverkusen) 23 years old
I have a soft spot for Donati after looking him for Italy under 21′s in the summer and it’s great to see him doing well for Leverkusen. He had 2 tackles, 1 interception, 4 clearances and an assist in Leverkusen’s 4-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
LB – Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) 24 years old
Arsenal were on the wrong end of the result but Gibbs can be happy with his own performance. He made 3 tackles, 7 interceptions and 7 clearances as Arsenal fell to Borussia Dortmund.
CB – Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) 24 years old
It’s not easy to win away from home in the Champions League and when it happens you usually need a good performance from your centre backs. Hummels stepped up when his team needed him and ended up with 4 tackles, 5 interceptions, blocked 1 shot, won 3 headers and also had 10 clearances.
CB – Phil Jones (Manchester United) 21 years old
I’ve never really been sure what to make of Phil Jones as he doesn’t seem to play the same position for a sustained period of time. I think he’s best at centre back but I’m not sure if frequent appearances at right back and centre midfield are helping his development. Regardless he played well on Wednesday and ended up with 8 headers, 15 clearances, 4 interceptions and 1 blocked shot.
RM – Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) 29 years old
Robben was sublime for Bayern in their comfortable, 5-0 win over Viktoria Plzen. He ended the game with 2 assists but what really caught my eye was his pass accuracy. He completed 70 of 76 passes which is outstanding for a winger. The Robben I remember would never have attempted 76 passes. The stats would have read 16 passes and 60 attempted dribbles so it’s great to see that he has really matured into a team player.
LM – Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) 30 years old
Ribery like his team mate, Robben, is another player showing great maturity and he is reaping the rewards of being a proper team player. Against Plzen he scored 2 goals but again it was the passing that caught the eye. He completed 60 of 66 passes in the 67 minutes he was on the pitch and he seems to be enjoying life under Pep Guardiola.
CM – Xavi (Barcelona) 33 years old
The pass master was at his best in Barcelona’s draw in Milan. He completed an outstanding 126 passes from 130 passes. Barca are at their best when Xavi is pulling the strings in midfield and it’s great to see that he is as good as ever at 33.
CM – Thiago Motta (Paris St Germain) 31 years old
Thiago Motta is in the form of his life and although he’s not the player who makes the headlines for PSG he is every bit as important as anyone. He is the heartbeat of the team and everything goes through him. Against Anderlecht he completed 143 of 154 passes as PSG ran out 5-0 winners.
CF – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain) 32 years old
I’ve often criticised Ibrahimovic as any time I saw him he didn’t play well. I’ve seen quite a bit of him this season though and there have been some outstanding moments. I hope he can carry that form into the latter stages of the competition as his style of play is fantastic to look and the tournament will be better off for having him there. He done a great job this week by scoring 4 goals as he led PSG to a 5-0 win over Anderlecht.
CF – Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund) 25 years old
Lewandowski loves the Champions League and once again he is leading the charge as Dortmund aim to go one win further than last year. Plenty of players managed a brace in this game week but I have gone for Lewandowski as his contribution mattered the most in a tight game. He ended with a goal and an assist in what was a huge win for Dortmund away to an in form Arsenal and also contributed to the team’s performance by making 3 key passes and winning 4 headers.