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Champions League Team of the Week - Jude Bellingham, Rasmus Hojlund, Alvaro Morata

sportsmole.co.uk, 5 October 2023, 06:41
Newcastle United recorded the standout victory in the second game week of the Champions League, beating French champions Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 at St James' Park.

The Magpies moved to the head of Group F on four points courtesy of the incredible result, while the other match in the section saw Borussia Dortmund play out a goalless draw with AC Milan in Germany.

Manchester United's woes continued as they lost 3-2 at home to Galatasaray in Group A, while Bayern Munich moved onto six points in the section courtesy of a 2-1 win over Copenhagen.

Lens beat Arsenal 2-1 in France to rise to the top of Group B, while the other match in the section saw PSV Eindhoven and Sevilla play out a 2-2 draw in the Netherlands.

Real Madrid are top of Group C on six points courtesy of a 3-2 win over Napoli in Italy, while Braga won a five-goal thriller away to Union Berlin to secure their first victory in the section.

Real Sociedad are top of Group D, with the Basque outfit beating Red Bull Salzburg 2-0, while Inter Milan recorded a 1-0 victory over Benfica in the section's other contest.

Group E is led by Atletico Madrid, who beat Feyenoord 3-2 on Wednesday, while Lazio scored a last-gasp winner to beat Celtic 2-1 in Scotland.

Manchester City moved onto six points in Group G by beating RB Leipzig 3-1, while Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.

Group H has Barcelona at its summit, with the Catalan outfit beating Porto 1-0 in Portugal on Wednesday, while Shakhtar Donetsk recorded a 3-2 victory over Royal Antwerp to move onto three points.

Here, Sports Mole selects its standout XI from the second game week of this season's Champions League group stages.

DEFENCE

Barcelona showed a lot of steel and determination to beat Porto, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen was outstanding between the sticks. The goalkeeper made five saves over the course of the 90 minutes and was a solid presence when Porto were putting the pressure on in the second period.

Ter Stegen is joined by teammate Jules Kounde, who was another key contributor to the victory for the La Liga champions. The Frenchman made a brilliant last-ditch challenge to deny Pepe in the second period, while he won five aerial duels and ended with a pass success rate of 94% on Wednesday night.

There is also a spot for Kim Min-jae, who was outstanding in Bayern's narrow success over Copenhagen. The 26-year-old won five aerial duels and competed 90 of his 98 passes in Denmark. It was far from a vintage display from the Bundesliga champions, and they needed a brilliant performance from Kim to present Copenhagen from scoring more than once.

There simply had to be a spot for Newcastle's Fabian Schar, who had a night to remember. The 31-year-old's defensive work was excellent for the majority of the match with PSG, but his standout moment came in the final exchanges, finding the back of the net with an absolute stunner from outside the box.

MIDFIELD

Jude Bellingham is producing man-of-the-match performances for Real Madrid on a regular basis at the moment, and he was again outstanding against Napoli on Tuesday. The Englishman set up Vinicius Junior for Real Madrid's first of the night before scoring a brilliant second for the visitors in the 34th minute. Napoli simply could not deal with the 20-year-old's power during a wonderful all-round midfield display.

Bruno Guimaraes also makes it due to his contribution to Newcastle's success over PSG. The Brazilian came up with the assist for his team's second of the night, while he incredibly finished the match with a pass success rate of 97%, in addition to making two tackles. It is not difficult to see why the 25-year-old is admired by a number of the biggest clubs in world football.

Bruma had to be included, meanwhile, due to his excellent performance for Braga against Union Berlin. The attacker scored an absolute rocket to level the scores at 2-2 early in the second period before turning provider for Castro to win it in the 93rd minute. Union Berlin found it incredibly difficult to deal with his pace, power and clever moment in the forward positions.

Lens recorded a standout 2-1 win over Arsenal on Tuesday, and Przemyslaw Frankowski was their best player on the night. The 28-year-old set up Elye Wahi for the home side's second, while he made two tackles and completed 36 of his 45 passes during an excellent all-round performance in France.

ATTACK

Rasmus Hojlund did not deserve to be on the losing side on Tuesday, with the Denmark international putting in a brilliant performance for Man United against Galatasaray. The 20-year-old scored twice and had another disallowed during what was an outstanding centre-forward display, and his contribution was comfortably the biggest positive on an otherwise hugely disappointing night for the Red Devils.

All three strikers in this particular side scored braces for their teams this week, including Alvaro Morata, who netted twice in Atletico's 3-2 win over Feyenoord. The Spaniard scored either side of an effort from Antoine Griezmann, while he also completed two successful dribbles and won two aerial duels during a strong performance in the Spanish capital.

Danylo Sikan completes the XI, with the 22-year-old scoring twice in Shakhtar's 3-2 win over Royal Antwerp on Wednesday evening. The forward was a constant menace in the final third of the field, netting twice in the second half to help his side come from behind to win, and Royal Antwerp will be delighted that they do not have to face him every week.

SPORTS MOLE'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Champions League team of the week (3-4-3): Ter Stegen; Schar, Kounde, Min-jae; Bruma, Bellingham, Guimaraes, Frankowski; Hojlund, Morata, Sikan

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