The Round of 16 matches of the prestigious UEFA Champions League was kicked off this week, and eight teams completed their first leg matches. A total of ten goals were scored by all the teams, and three teams were able to keep a clean sheet in the first leg. Those teams are Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool FC and Manchester City.
Manchester City put five past Sporting Lisbon, and they have one foot in the quarter-finals. Liverpool have a great advantage after scoring two goals at San Siro. Bayern Munich and Salzburg will have to decide the winner in the second leg at Allianz Arena. PSG will have a slender advantage when they face Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu next month.
Let’s have a look at the players who have contributed well and made into the UCL Team of the Week:
Formation: 4-4-2
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
If the Belgian goalkeeper did not concede that late goal against PSG, it would have been a perfect game for him. He denied Messi’s penalty in the second half and made a total of nine saves in 90 minutes.
Right Back: Achraf Hakimi
Hakimi successfully marked Vinicius Jr. and did even give a single moment for the Brazilian to create a goal threat. For almost all the time, Vinicius was in Hakimi’s pockets. He made five ball recoveries in the game.
Centre-backs: Ibrahima Konate
Another solid performance from the French defender this season. He was perfectly paired up with Virgil van Dijk and had a great game. He made three tackles and had six ball recoveries.
Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk was too strong for the Inter Milan attack. He stood like a pillar and denied them from scoring. He had nine ball recoveries and completed five clearances.
Left-back: Andrew Robertson
Robertson was equally involved in both attacking and defending for Liverpool. He assisted Roberto Firmino for the first goal from the corner. He also made two tackles and recovered the ball five times.
Midfielders: Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring against Sporting Lisbon and also added an assist to his name. He attempted 44 passes with an accuracy of 95%.
Bernardo Silva
The Portuguese midfielder was the star of the match against Sporting Lisbon. He scored two goals and assisted for a goal in the 0-5 win. His passing accuracy was 91% after attempting 44 passes.
Phil Foden
Phil Foden never disappoints in the UCL games. He had another brilliant game where is scored one goal. He finished the game with 100% passing accuracy by completing 25 passes in the 65 minutes that he played.
Kingsley Coman
Coman saved Bayern Munich from a shock against RB Salzburg. His goal in the 90th minute gave the equalizer for the Bavarians. He had a total of seven attempts in the game.
Forwards: Kylian Mbappe
The best player on the pitch for PSG against Real Madrid. He scored the winning goal for the French club in the 94th minute. He made seven attempts at the goal.
Chikwubuike Adamu
The Austrian young forward stunned Bayern Munich in the 21st minute after scoring the game’s first goal. He came in as a substitute for Noah Okafor in the 12th minute and had an excellent performance.
