Our Champions League Team of the Week follows the second legs of the play-off round, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Benfica among the clubs that have reached the last 16.
Goalkeeper: Simon Mignolet – Club Brugge
An absolute wall as Club Brugge booked their place in the last 16 with a win at Atalanta. Mignolet made nine saves, including a penalty stop from Ademola Lookman, as Brugge won 3-1 in Bergamo to seal a 5-2 aggregate triumph. His 3.32 xG prevented is the highest by a goalkeeper in a Champions League match over the last three seasons.
Right-back: Eduardo Quaresma – Sporting Lisbon
The damage was done in the first leg but Sporting battled to a draw in Dortmund to regain respect in the return. Eduardo Quaresman was excellent for the Portuguese champions at right-back, where he made seven interceptions, won nine tackles and won 10/13 ground duels.
Centre-back: Ryan Flamingo – PSV Eindhoven
Ryan Flamingo’s reputation is on the rise and the 22-year-old stood tall as PSV beat Juventus in a thrilling tie. The Dutch defender made 11 clearances and five tackles, in addition to scrambling home the extra-time winner for PSV.
🇳🇱⭐️ | 𝐑𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐨 (𝟐𝟐) vs Juventus:
Winning Goal.
11 Clearances.
5 Interceptions.
3 Tackles.
89% Pass Accuracy.
7/10 Successful Long Balls.
5/11 Ground Duels Won.
4/8 Aerial Duels Won.He literally put PSV in the Last 16 Round.
𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑. pic.twitter.com/NjjqHtEtUm
— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) February 19, 2025
Centre-back: Joel Ordonez – Club Brugge
Joel Ordonez might just be the next starlet sold on at Club Brugge for a big fee. The 20-year-old was immense in the second-leg win at Atalanta, where he racked up a mammoth 15 clearances in the upset of the Italian side. Ordonez won 7/8 defensive duels on the night and is the latest in an exciting batch of Ecuadorian talent.
Left-back: Nuno Mendes – Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain’s 7-0 rout of Brest felt like a training game at times as the Parisians emphatically eliminated their Ligue 1 counterparts. Nuno Mendes enjoyed the freedom of the left alongside Bradley Barcola and got himself on the scoresheet at the Parc des Princes.
Midfield: Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich
Even when Bayern are not at their best, Joshua Kimmich usually finds a way to impact games. The German giants survived a scare against Celtic with Kimmich crucial in getting his team over the line. Few players have as good a radar as the midfielder, who completed 114 of his 119 attempted passes and created six chances. No player created more over the midweek Champions League games.
Joshua Kimmich’s game by numbers vs. Celtic:
139 touches
119 passes attempted
114 passes completed
8 long passes completed
8 crosses
6 chances createdAnother dominant performance in CM. 🇩🇪🧙♂️ pic.twitter.com/9ezUbBpc9Z
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 18, 2025
Midfield: Fabian Ruiz – Paris Saint-Germain
At the hub of Paris Saint-Germain’s big win against Brest. Fabian Ruiz helped himself to two assists as PSG ran riot to crush their compatriots at the Parc des Princes. There are flaws in this PSG team but, right now, Luis Enrique’s men are in red-hot form. With a clash against either Liverpool or Barcelona next, it’s set to be the tie of the round.
Winger: Chemsdine Talbi – Club Brugge
Welcome to the big stage, Chemsdine Talbi.
The 19-year-old announced his arrival in the Champions League with two goals as Club Brugge knocked out Atalanta. After an assist in the first leg, the teenager was on target twice inside the opening 27 minutes before Ferran Jutgla added a third on the stroke of half-time.
This shot of Club Brugge’s 19-year-old Chemsdine Talbi with his Champions League POTM award goes incredibly hard 🥶📸 pic.twitter.com/aMNgcZ6sn6
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) February 19, 2025
With 10 goal involvements this season, Talbi is another exciting Brugge talent that recruiters will be watching closely.
Winger: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Paris Saing-Germain
An eye-catching first Champions League start for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt. The Georgian combined delightfully with Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola all evening as a new-look forward line found their groove against Brest. He scored the second of the night and teed up the final goal of the 7-0 rout for Senny Mayulu.
Forward: Kylian Mbappe – Real Madrid
A world-class performance from Mbappe.
The Frenchman hit a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Manchester City at the Bernabeu, with the visitors unable to live with his pace, movement and lightning footwork. He raced in behind to lift the opener over Ederson inside four minutes, before leaving Josko Gvardiol on the deck to slam in a second before half-time. He completed his treble with a step inside Phil Foden and arrowed finish into the far corner, in a statement showing from the summer arrival.
Kylian Mbappe was unstoppable this evening! 🔥
⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/B35mbNk1JZ
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 19, 2025
Forward: Vangelis Pavlidis – Benfica
Vangelis Pavlidis is enjoying himself in Europe this season and the Greek goalscorer took his return to seven Champions League goals for the campaign this week.
Pavlidis was the architect of the opener with fine feet inside the box and a perfect cross for Kerem Aktürkoğlu to turn home, before slamming in Benfica’s second against Monaco from the spot. Incredibly, has now matched his Primeira Liga goal return (7) in Europe this season.
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