Table of Contents
Well, what a week that was. Three days, eighteen matches, a whole load of top players: there really is no shortage of options for our first Champions League team of the week.
We’re playing 4-4-2 this time, partly because it’s the formation that gives you the widest choice of options in your team, but mainly because I was watching “Mike Bassett: England Manager” last week.
GK: David Raya, Arsenal
A matter of volume from Thibaut Courtois against a moment of splendor from David Raya? It is the Arsenal man who shades the ball, so good was his double save from Mateo Retegui’s penalty. Admittedly, the Atalanta striker’s header from the rebound was as tame as you’ll see in the Champions League this season, but Raya was still forced to scramble halfway across the goal after a very good initial save.
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The former Brentford man has already had moments of excellence in this competition, but this season it seems that hardly a week goes by without Raya delivering something truly spectacular, usually after half a game in which he has William Saliba and Gabriel in cruise control watched. His name isn’t really mentioned as one of the best goalkeepers in the game, but since the turn of the year he has conceded just 12 goals in 26 games and made a series of excellent saves. Considering everything he can offer his team on the ball as well, he may have a case to be among the best in his position.
RB: Angelo Preciado, Sparta Prague
You won’t find many full/wingbacks who end up completing fewer passes than they give away, but while Angelo Preciado was hardly the most stable influence in the build-up, he made many more direct contributions. Six ball recoveries led his side, as well as eight progressive carries and two chances created.
CB: Zeno Debast, Sporting
One of the rules we’re very particular about in the CBS Sports Champions League Team of the Week is that you don’t pick centre-backs primarily because of the goals they score. We intend to adhere to this. However…
What do you want me to do?
CB: Liam Scales, Celtic
Few if any players were as effective at advancing the ball up the pitch this week as Liam Scales, who added to his 21 progressive passes and 14 passes into the attacking third with a whopping 22 progressive carries. Then there was that rather ferocious header at the near post, which led to a frenzied evening at Celtic Park.
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The natural tendency is to disapprove of any opponent who could lose 5-1 to Celtic in a European match, who are constantly on the receiving end of that kind of scoreline. Slovan Bratislava probably won’t be pulling trees up in the next seven Champions League games, that’s fair, but that doesn’t mean Celtic didn’t impress just because of the nature of their opposition. With tougher games looming and a possible path to the play-offs on the horizon, Brendan Rodgers’ side had to be assertive. Libras set the tone for that kind of performance from the grassroots of the team.
LB: Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City
Inter’s defensive work at the Etihad Stadium might have earned praise, but some of it was deserved as Erling Haaland was kept quiet for most of the evening and the rest of Manchester City were stifled until Ilkay Gundogan’s late chances. At the other end, however, the home side’s defense had to be no less impressive given the way Inter pushed through the high press. Crucial for City was Gvardiol, who stood out most when he saved a crucial header when a dangerous cross came his way. The hosts often defended man-to-man as Inter pushed bodies onto the pitch. In such circumstances, Gvardiol’s ability to dominate his duels and slow down Marcus Thuram was vital.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said the Croatia international. “We knew how good they are and we did a great job. We secured the clean sheet, we could have scored goals but it just wasn’t our day.”
RM: Jamie Gittens, Borussia Dortmund
For the seven teams of the coming weeks, we will do well to find a player in limited playing time who deserves a place more than Jamie Gittens. When he entered the field of the Jan Breydel Stadium, Borussia Dortmund was on the ropes. Club Brugge would have had more and better chances. Twenty-two minutes later, the Bundesliga side were on their way to a 3-0 win, a win that their young winger deserved.
First came excellent work to create space in the penalty area to get a shot away, the kind of shot that takes a lucky deflection that leaves the goalkeeper stranded. The second time he didn’t need any favors. He accelerated and decelerated before getting past two defenders and firing into the far corner.
CM: Ryan Gravenberch, Liverpool
As Arne Slot noted, San Siro has seen many great Dutch midfielders enter their gates and rule the biggest events. Well, no one from Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids or Ruud Gullit would have smelled a performance like that of Ryan Gravenberch. The 22-year-old was the breakout star in Arne Slot’s first few weeks in charge and on Wednesday night he was calm personified as Liverpool overcame a slow start to seal a 3-1 victory over AC Milan.
His passing was accurate enough from the base of midfield, but what Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szboszlai really need is someone who can get the ball back. Gravenberch did just that with a total of seven interceptions.
CM: Teun Koopmeiners, Juventus
While he is still on his way to full fitness, you wouldn’t have known it after what was an impressively creative performance from Teun Koopmeiners, whose passes in the 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven led to six chances for his Juventus teammates, 0 .64 expected assists and impressive performances in each game. Especially his work in the left channel, close to Kenan Yildiz, asked very uncomfortable questions to the opponents about what was an impressive evening for La Vecchia Signora.
LM: Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
I’m cheating a little to get one of the best players in the sport a little out of position on this team. Suage me. And if that seems a bit exaggerated, then you haven’t been keeping a close eye on Florian Wirtz’s start to the new season. In the Bundesliga, he averaged 1.06 expected goals without penalties + expected assists per 90 minutes, three goals and an assist in his first three games.
Tonight was a sign that Wirtz is not among those whose figures should be subject to a heavy Bundesliga tax. On his Champions League debut it was as if he played his hundredth game, striking early and making an excellent start to a game in which he always found space. When Jeremy Frimpong picked him as precisely as he did, there was only going to be one result.
ST: Harry Kane, Bayern Munich
While it would be unwise to overindex a home game against one of the also-rans in the 36, all Harry Kane and Bayern Munich can do in a match like this is increase the score in dramatic fashion. The short burst of goals for Dinamo Zagreb in the second half was a reminder of the sloppiness that prevented this team from truly competing at home and in Europe last season, and the enormous work Kane had to do to cover it up.
Looking ahead, however, England’s record Champions League goalscorer can hope for big things. There are quite a few tough games in store for Bayern in the near future – trips to Aston Villa and Barcelona to follow – but even in those games there will be opportunities for the Bavarians. If Kane converts them with the precision he showed this week, don’t rule out him coming close to Cristiano Ronaldo’s single-season scoring record… as long as his teammates can keep him in the competition.
ST: Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid
Morgan Rogers, this sport was yours until the last minute of the last round. However, there is no denying that Antoine Griezmann is still playing as well as he ever has, just months after he was supposed to have joined the European game to make it big in LA. Thank goodness for Atletico Madrid he’s still around as they needed him to bail them out of some terrible defense early on.
Griezmann did that in style. His equalizing volley may have gone into all kinds of spaces, but it was perfectly hit by the Frenchman, who ended up in the deck and left Peter Gulacsi without any hope. Also in the last minute, the Leipzig goalkeeper could not do much as Griezmann made space to deliver a cross and rose perfectly against the back post, allowing Jose Gimenez to meet him on the run and win the match for Atletico. At the age of 33 and with his top career likely coming to an end, Griezmann remains an attacker who can really do anything.