The fifth round of the revamped Champions League has come to an end, which means it’s time again to name the Team of the Week. Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal and Atalanta were the protagonists with very convincing victories, while Florian Wirtz and Charles De Ketelare impressed the critics and achieved the highest individual ratings. As always, we used Flashcore’s internal ranking system to select this eleven.
Goalkeepers:
Dmytro Riznyk (Shakhtar Donetsk) – 8.6
With three minutes left in the game, Ukrainian victory in Eindhoven seemed certain, and Riznyk had still not conceded a goal. Then everything went wrong for Shakhtar, who ended up losing to PSV. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Riznyk had a brilliant game for the Ukrainians, making 15 saves, which is a Champions League record.
The 25-year-old goalkeeper continues his strong form in the Champions League, which included a penalty saved at the Emirates against Arsenal.
Defenses:
Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid) – 9.1
Although teammates Julián Álvarez and Ángel Correa scored two goals in the 6-0 rout of Sparta Prague, it is Marcos Llorente who makes the team of the match. The Spaniard scored two more goals and was the scorer of an arcing shot in the first half.
The midfielder plays as a full-back and winger and has been sidelined since October with a muscle injury, having only played 45 minutes on his legs since October 2nd, which makes his performance even more admirable.
Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund) – 8.3
The 29-year-old played an important role for Dortmund, who achieved their first away victory in the Bundesliga and Champions League this season by beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. The defender helped keep the goal to zero and was also dangerous in the other goal, scoring a header following a corner kick.
Bensebaini had a difficult first season at Dortmund after arriving from Gladbach, but this season his fortunes changed and on Wednesday night the Algerian was named player of the match against Zagreb.
Gerard Martin (Barcelona) – 8.6
Gerard Martin has been criticized by the Spanish press for being Alejandro Baldé’s replacement and, in last weekend’s match against Celta Vigo, he was sent off after a disappointing first half.
However, he made up for it in the home game against Brest, where he put in a very solid performance with an assist for Dani Olmo, who scored Barcelona’s second goal in a 3-0 victory.
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) – 8.3
The South Korean is getting better and better. After a difficult start in Germany, the pieces start to fall into place and Min-jae starts to look like the defensive monster he was in Naples.
On Tuesday night, the goalkeeper was the scorer of the winning goal in the giant duel against PSG, when he pushed the ball into the back of the net. Furthermore, he kept the French attack under control and had a passing accuracy of 93%.
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen) – 9.1
The Spaniard capped off a fine performance with his first goal in all competitions since September, in the 5-0 victory over RB Salzburg. In addition to the excellent free kick, the winger was also involved in creating another Leverkusen goal.
With this goal, the Spanish international went on to score more goals in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga. In addition to the goal and the assist, Grimaldo made four important passes, hitting the target in 62 of 70 passes.
Mid:
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) – 10
The German wizard once again spread magic around the BayArena in the rout of Red Bull Salzburg. The 3-0 goal, in particular, was a real gem, scored safely after dribbling past three Austrian defenders.
In the last five games in all competitions, Wirtz has been involved in eight goals, providing the finishing touch in half of them. With the two goals against Salzburg, the German has already scored five goals in the Champions League.
Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) – 9.3
The 22-year-old American kick-started the Dutch’s stunning comeback as PSV faced their first home defeat since November 2022, when they trailed 2-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk with three minutes remaining.
But Tillman turned things around with a deflected free-kick, and three minutes later the Phillps Stadion was almost buzzing with excitement from a long-range shot before Hirving Lozano scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory for the club. home.
Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta) – 10
The Belgian, along with Florian Wirtz, is emerging as the big star of this round. He dominated Young Boys and was involved in five of Atalanta’s six goals. Two of them were scored by himself, thus opening his goal account in this season’s Champions League.
The former AC Milan player has found joy again in Bergamo, especially in the last month. With the five goals he was involved in in the same game, the Belgian joins a list of names like Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar who have done the same in the past.
Advanced:
Mateo Retegui (Atalanta) – 9.2
Many questioned Retegui when Atalanta signed him from Genoa in the summer. But it was a crucial factor for the Bergamo team to be in second place in Serie A, behind Napoli.
On Tuesday night, he scored two goals in a 6-1 win against Young Boys in Bern, boosting Atalanta’s chances of reaching the tournament play-offs.
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) – 8.8
After two disappointments in LaLiga, in which Barcelona won just one point in two games, the Catalan team won again thanks to Robert Lewandowski, who once again showed his eye for goal against Brest.
First, he converted a penalty in the 10th minute and, in stoppage time, he combined brilliantly with Alejandro Baldo and, finally, coolly shot past a helpless Marco Bizot.
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