WhoScored's Champions League Team of the Week: Alvarez and Wirtz lead midweek best XI
The fifth round of Champions League matches in the new league phase is now complete, and we’re taking a look back at the week’s standout performers in our Team of the Week.
Represented in our XI are Shakhtar Donetsk, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Crvena Zvezda, Atalanta and PSV.
Dmytro Riznyk (Shakhtar Donetsk) - 9.71
Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk became the first in Champions League history to make as many as 15 saves in a single match, doing all he could to help his side to victory against Dutch champions PSV. For much of the contest it looked as though he would do just that, with Shakhtar leading by two until as late as the 86th minute, but a miraculous PSV comeback completed in the 95th minute saw the hosts take the points.
Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid) - 9.13
Atletico Madrid recorded the biggest victory of the week with their dominant 6-0 victory away to Sparta Prague on Tuesday evening, and Marcos Llorente, playing at right-back, was directly involved in three of his side’s goals. Llorente doubled Atleti’s lead just minutes before half-time, before providing assists for Antoine Griezmann and Angel Correa in the second half.
Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund) - 7.71
Borussia Dortmund made it four wins from five in the league phase when they cruised to a 3-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday. Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton makes our XI having contributed to an important clean sheet, with four tackles, four clearances and four ball recoveries, while the 28-year-old also won five of his seven duels.
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) - 8.33
Bayern Munich made it seven wins and seven clean sheets on the bounce with Tuesday’s narrow 1-0 victory over PSG, thanks to centre-back Kim Min-jae’s first-half header. The Korean defender also made two tackles, seven clearances, two interceptions and three ball recoveries, to earn a WhoScored rating of 8.33.
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen) - 10.0
The first of two players to register a perfect 10.0 WhoScored rating this week is Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo, involved in two of the German champions’ five goals in their victory over Salzburg. The 29-year-old spectacularly doubled the hosts’ lead after just 11 minutes with a direct free-kick, before providing the assist for Florian Wirtz’s second of the evening 20 minutes later. In all, the Spaniard managed four key passes, four tackles and seven ball recoveries.
Silas Katompa Mvumpa (Crvena Zvezda) - 8.97
After five matches, Serbian side Crvena Zvezda finally picked up their first European victory of the season, and in some style too, putting five past Bundesliga side Stuttgart in one of Wednesday’s early kick-offs. Winger Silas Katompa Mvumpa, who is coincidentally on loan from Stuttgart, brought the hosts level after 12 minutes, setting the wheels in motion for an historic evening for the Serbian Super Liga leaders.
Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta) - 10.0
The second player to earn a perfect WhoScored rating, and our Champions League Player of the Week, is Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere, who was directly involved in all but one of the six goals scored against Young Boys on Tuesday evening. The 23-year-old Belgium international found the net twice himself, and made a further three assists for his team-mates, while also completing two successful dribbles and five passes into the final third.
Dutch champions PSV pulled off without doubt the comeback result of matchday five, coming behind to claim all three points against Shakhtar Donetsk, having trailed by two goals as late as the 86th minute. Crucial to completing the turnaround was USA international Malik Tillman, who scored in the 87th and 90th minutes, with two of his three attempts on goal. The 22-year-old also made a total of seven key passes, five tackles and six ball recoveries, to land a WhoScored rating of 9.60.
Jamie Gittens (Borussia Dortmund) - 8.56
Fresh from scoring and assisting against Freiburg at the weekend, Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens found the net again in the Champions League this season during Wednesday’s win over Dinamo Zagreb. The 20-year-old picked out the far corner in fine style four minutes from half-time, while he also made two key passes, five successful dribbles and two tackles.
Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) - 9.58
Former Manchester City attacker Julian Alvarez continued his strong start to life at Atletico Madrid with a brace in Tuesday’s 6-0 thrashing of Sparta Prague. The Argentina international put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes, before netting their third of the evening shortly after half-time. The 24-year-old also laid on a total of four key passes for his team-mates, and completed two successful dribbles, to return a WhoScored rating of 9.58.
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) - 9.55
Rounding off our Team of the Week is Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz, who made it five goals in five Champions League games this season with a brace in the win over Salzburg on Tuesday. Wirtz, who now has more goals to his name in European action than domestic so far, also provided the assist for Leverkusen’s fifth of the evening, scored by Aleix Garcia 20 minutes from time.
