The Champions League quarter-finals got underway this week, and some mouth-watering ties lived up to their expectations as 14 goals flew in across the four first legs.
A repeat of last season's final saw chances galore as Bayern Munich's Champions League winning run was finally ended by Paris Saint-Germain, who will take a 3-2 lead back to the French capital.
Chelsea also have one foot in the semi-finals courtesy of their 2-0 win away against Porto, but on Tuesday night it was the home sides who came out on top.
Real Madrid overcame Liverpool 3-1 in a repeat of the 2018 final, but there was better news for the other English team in action as Manchester City edged to a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Champions League team of the week from the quarter-final first legs.
Only one goalkeeper kept a clean sheet over the four games, but Edouard Mendy was made to work for it in the Chelsea goal as he made five saves to keep Porto at bay - enough for him to edge Keylor Navas to the gloves in this week's team.
One PSG defender does make the cut despite conceding two goals and countless chances against Bayern, with Marquinhos making a big impact at the other end with his side's second goal. The centre-back was only on the pitch for half an hour before being forced off, but his absence was felt as Bayern clawed their way back into the tie after his withdrawal.
Real Madrid fans may have been fearing the worst when a defence lacking Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane was due to come up against Liverpool, but Eder Militao in particular stepped up to the plate in their absence as Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane barely got a kick.
Ben Chilwell is the second Chelsea player to make this week's team having contributed to the only clean sheet of the round, in addition to scoring a crucial second away goal too. The full-back finished it with all the composure of a seasoned centre-forward too, taking the ball around the keeper before slotting it into an empty net.
Chilwell could have easily been joined by Reece James on the opposite flank, but Benjamin Pavard gets the nod for us having been a constant attacking threat down the right-hand side for Bayern, eventually ending the game with an assist when he should have arguably got more.
Pavard's Bayern teammate Joshua Kimmich also helped himself to an assist, but he too will feel that the absence of Robert Lewandowski cost him a more impressive return as the holders squandered chance after chance on their way to a captivating but damaging defeat.
Kimmich makes up a world-class midfield duo alongside Kevin De Bruyne, who was once again instrumental as Man City took another small step towards their quadruple dream. The Belgian opened the scoring for his side, having started and finished that particular move, and also played a big part in the 90th-minute winner which puts his side just about in control of the tie heading to Germany.
The star-studded nature of the team continues ahead of those two as well, including a youngster who is looking more and more at home among such esteemed names. Phil Foden was arguably the standout performer for Man City against Dortmund and, while he missed a few chances, he tucked the winner away at the death to earn his side a crucial victory.
Foden is flanked by two Brazilians - Neymar and the man touted as his heir apparent, Vinicius Junior. The latter came of age against Liverpool with two really well-taken goals which swung the tie firmly in favour of the Spanish giants, first collecting a Toni Kroos pass on his chest before beating Alisson Becker and then producing a sharp snapshot which the Liverpool keeper could not push wide.
Vinicius stole the headlines in that match, but Neymar was forced to play second fiddle for PSG against Bayern - although his contribution of two assists was a huge reason behind PSG's success at the Allianz Arena.
It was Kylian Mbappe who earned all of the plaudits in Munich, though, scoring the first and third goals for his side to put PSG in command. Having now downed Barcelona at Camp Nou and Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Mbappe looks increasingly capable of inheriting the mantle of the world's best player sooner rather than later. body check tags ::
