Barcelona's hopes of reaching the knockout round of the Champions League took a hit on Tuesday evening when they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan at San Siro.

The loss has left Xavi's side in third spot in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter and six from leaders Bayern Munich, who thumped Viktoria Plzen 5-0 on the same evening.

In Group A, Napoli made it three wins from three matches with a 6-1 success at Ajax, while Liverpool recorded an important 2-0 victory over Rangers, which has left the Reds in second spot in the section.

Club Brugge are the surprise leaders in Group B, with the Belgian outfit moving onto nine points courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid, who are bottom, with Porto in second on three points courtesy of their 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.

Sporting Lisbon still find themselves at the top of Group D despite losing 4-1 to Marseille on Tuesday, while Tottenham Hotspur are second in the section following a goalless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany.

Chelsea went from the bottom of Group E to second on Wednesday night courtesy of a 3-0 win over AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, while Red Bull Salzburg are top courtesy of their 1-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Real Madrid lead Group F with nine points, having beaten second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 at Bernabeu, while RB Leipzig are third on three points due to their 3-1 victory over Celtic.

In Group G, Manchester City moved onto nine points with a thumping 5-0 victory over Copenhagen, while Borussia Dortmund are second on six points following their 4-1 win at Sevilla.

Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1 draw by Benfica on Wednesday night, but the French champions remain top of Group H, with Juventus down in third despite beating Maccabi Haifa 3-1 in Turin.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Champions League Team of the Week from the third set of group matches in the 2022-23 competition.

DEFENCE

There were two outstanding goalkeepers in the latest set of fixtures, and Allan McGregor of Rangers just gets the nod over Porto's Diogo Costa, who is unfortunate to miss out on a spot in the side.

McGregor was excellent in his side's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, and the scoreline would have been much worse for the Scottish giants had the 40-year-old not been in such strong form; he made eight saves during the course of the match and did not deserve to be on the losing side at Anfield.

There are two Chelsea defenders in this particular side, with Reece James and Thiago Silva both starring in their team's 3-0 victory over Milan on Wednesday night. Silva was brilliant in both penalty boxes, with Milan struggling to make their mark over the course of the 90 minutes.

James also played an important role in Chelsea keeping a clean sheet, but he was a constant threat going forward and managed to get his name on the scoresheet with a brilliant strike in the second period.

There is also a spot at the back for Napoli's Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who was outstanding in his side's 6-1 win at Ajax on Tuesday. The 29-year-old was on the scoresheet in the 33rd minute of the match, but it was his overall performance that impressed the most, with the defender a key contributor to the standout victory.

MIDFIELD

Juventus have found it difficult to get going in the early stages of this season, but they put a huge three points on the board on Wednesday evening by beating Maccabi Haifa 3-1. Adrien Rabiot was the star of the show, as he came up with two goals in a brilliant all-round performance for the Old Lady.

Angel Di Maria was also in impressive form for the Italian giants, coming up with the assists for all three of his side's goals. Maccabi Haifa struggled to come to terms with the Argentine, who also had three shots and one successful dribble during a positive performance in the European affair.

There also had to be a spot in the side for Jude Bellingham, who captained Dortmund to a 4-1 victory over Sevilla in Spain. The England international set up Raphael Guerreiro for the opening goal of the match before scoring himself in the 41st minute, and it was another standout performance from the 19-year-old.

Leon Goretzka is included, meanwhile, due to his performance in Bayern's 5-0 victory over Plzen on Tuesday evening. The 27-year-old provided two assists during an impressive display, while he won two tackles and boasted a 84% pass success rate during his 73 minutes on the field.

ATTACK

The front three was incredibly difficult to pick, shown by the fact that Erling Braut Haaland, Andre Silva and Leroy Sane have been left out despite scoring braces.

Sadio Mane only scored once for Bayern against Plzen, but he also set up Sane in the 50th minute, and it was a special performance from the former Liverpool attacker, who had six shots and seven successful dribbles, in addition to completing 42 of his 56 passes at Allianz Arena.

There had to be a spot at centre-forward for Napoli's Giacomo Raspadori, who was his team's standout player in the 6-1 win at Ajax. The 22-year-old scored twice and provided one assist in Amsterdam, with Ajax struggling to get to grips with the attacker, who had only netted once this season ahead of Tuesday's match.

The final position in the side is taken by Amine Harit for his contribution to Marseille's 4-1 victory over Sporting on Tuesday. The 25-year-old was on the scoresheet in the 16th minute of the contest before turning provider for Leonardo Balerdi to make it 3-1 to the home side in the 28th minute. Harit had four shots, completed three dribbles and boasted a 94% pass success rate during his 77 minutes on the field.

SPORTS MOLE'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Champions League team of the week (3-4-3): McGregor; James, T Silva, Di Lorenzo; Rabiot, Bellingham, Goretzka, Di Maria; Mane, Raspadori, Harit