SM
Man City vs. Everton: 10 hrs 27 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Champions League Team of the Week - Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Leroy Sane

:Headline: Champions League Team of the Week - Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Leroy Sane: ID:344085: from db_amp
Sports Mole selects its Champions League team of the week from the final round of group games, including Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Leroy Sane.

The group stages of the 2018-19 Champions League campaign concluded this week, and there were tense finishes for both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.

The Reds held on for a 1-0 win over Napoli which sealed their place in the last 16, while Spurs needed a late equaliser against Barcelona - and a slip-up by Inter Milan at home to PSV Eindhoven - to make it a clean sweep of English clubs in the knockout rounds.

Manchester City secured top spot in their group by beating Hoffenheim, but Manchester United could not do the same as they slumped to defeat at the hands of Valencia when victory would have been enough to leapfrog Juventus, who were stunned by Young Boys.

Young Boys cannot even claim to have produced the shock of the round, though, with that honour going to CSKA Moscow courtesy of their 3-0 win over defending champions Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Champions League team of the week for matchday six.



One of the most oft-repeated Champions League statistics of recent years have been regarding Igor Akinfeev's 11-year wait for a clean sheet, stretching from 2006 to 2017, but he now has one at the Bernabeu to celebrate. The veteran made six saves during his side's remarkable win over Madrid, beating competition from Alisson Becker and Jeroen Zoet for the gloves.

Akinfeev is joined in this XI by teammate Hordur Magnusson, who won a game-high six aerial battles to help keep the champions at bay. Alongside him is Paris Saint-Germain's Marquinhos, who scored during his side's win over Red Star Belgrade - albeit from a more advanced position than he plays in this side.

The same is true of Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro, who scored both of his side's goals during their 2-0 win at Monaco. Guerreiro's goals came from an attacking left position, but he is a more regular left-back and the quality of the performances by those further up the field means that he deserves a place in the team - even at the expense of Benfica's Alejandro Grimaldo.

Liverpool's battling performance over Napoli earns them two representatives in this side, with Trent Alexander-Arnold earning his place at right-back while James Milner is in midfield, having supplied the assist for Mohamed Salah's all-important goal.

There were not too many outstanding midfield performances around Europe this week, but Ilkay Gundogan delivered a solid enough display to join his Premier League rival in the holding midfield role - one of two players selected from Manchester City's win over Hoffenheim.

Leroy Sane was the star of that particular show with both of his side's goals as they came from behind, and the German winger holds off some stiff competition in the fiercely-contested forward positions as the likes of Nikola Vlasic, Nabil Fekir and Arnor Sigurdsson all miss out.

It is a PSG pairing which completes the trio behind the striker, with Neymar having scored one and created another in Belgrade only to see Kylian Mbappe go one better with two assists to add to his goal as the Ligue 1 champions topped Group C.

Arguably the most entertaining game of the round came in Amsterdam where Ajax and Bayern Munich played our a 3-3 draw which saw Robert Lewandowski add two more goals to his competition-leading tally, narrowly beating competition from the Young Boys hero Guillaume Hoarau, who got both of his side's goals against Juventus.

amp_article__344085 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-12-22 08:18:36:
html db last update - 2018-12-22 08:18:36 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .