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The first match day of the champions league has come to a close with some spectacular action. A couple of outrageous long range goals, heartbreak for english sides, and some surprise packages that threw a bolt in the works for some of the competition’s favourites, were the talking points of the week. Football is a team game, but as always there those few individuals that led the charge and pushed their team to victory.UEFA has opted to go for a 4-3-3 formation in this edition of the team of the week. Let’s get right down to it, with the official UEFA Champions League Team of the week:
#1 Goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) – (Manchester City 1- 2 Juventus)
His early save from a Raheem Sterling shot was significant because of its timing, while the double save he made with the score at 1-0 in the second half was be the stand-out moment of the day. He almost single-handedly lifted his team onto a platform from which they could mount an offensive and pull off a recovery to eventually come from behind to win 2-1 against the premier league leaders Manchester City.
#2 Defenders
Alessandro Florenzi (Roma) – (Roma 1-1 Barcelona)
Scored an outrageous goal from the right-hand touchline which was 55 yards out to leave Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen stranded and earn his side a valuable point against a full-strength Barcelona side. Also did well defensively to nullify Neymar, and keep the scoreline restricted.
Dante (Wolfsburg) – (Wolfsburg 1-0 CSKA Moskva)
In just his second appearance for Wolfsburg, he showed his class to stifle the likes of Musa and Doumbia. Alongside Naldo, he formed a formidable defensive pairing on par with the best in Europe. Interestingly, he maintained his 100% win record against CSKA Moskva.
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus) – (Manchester City 1-2 Juventus)
The second man from the Juventus defensive line to feature in the team, showing exactly how effective they were in suffocating a City attack containing the likes of Silva, Sterling, Nasri, Yaya Toure and Nasri. A rock in the back of defense along with Chiellini, who might also have featured in the tea save for his own goal under intense pressure from Kompany.
Josip Pivaric (Dinamo Zagreb) – (Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal)
Created the opener with a surging run on the left flank, and forced a save from Ospina, before the rebound went in off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Defensively solid to keep in check an Arsenal attack that was reduced to 10-men after Olivier Giroud was sent off early for a second booking.
#3 Midfielders
Nicolas Gaitan (Benfica) – (Benfica 2-0 Astana)
An exemplary display, constantly pushing forward and at the centre of everything positive for Benfica. An outstanding one-two with Mitroglou allowed him to race into the box and slot home at the 50-minute mark and set the stage for Benfica to earn a well deserved 3 points. He slots in on the right side of the midfield of UEFA CL team of the week.
Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen) – (Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 BATE)
Undoubtedly the best player on the pitch, scoring two and setting up another in just 76 minutes and ran riot in the final third of the pitch, as the German club coasted a fine start to proceedings, putting in four goals past their counterparts from Belarus.
Angel Di Maria (PSG) – (PSG 2-0 Malmo)
Scored his first goal for the French outfit and set up numerous key passes. Seems like a man on a mission under Laurent Blanc as he continues to remind the world of his tremendous ability. Manchester United fans must be left wondering at what could have been, as PSG cruised to a 2-0 victory over Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s boyhood club.
#4 Forwards
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – (Real Madrid 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk)
The Portuguese scored yet another hat-trick, taking his tally to 8 goals in just 2 games in all competitions, to get Los Blancos off to a flying start in the competition. Madrid struggled initially in the first half, before Karim Benzema opened the scoring and that unveiled the floodgates for Ronaldo (80) to complete his hat-trick and overtake Messi(77) as all-time Champions League top scorer
Hulk (Zenit) – (Valencia 2-3 Zenit)
Very rarely does Hulk deign to show the world the reason for all the hype that surrounds him, and this was one such night, with the Brazillian forward dispatching two absolutely clinical strikes that nearly tore through the netting. Valencia later equalised, only for Axel Witsel to score just minutes later and that proved to be enough for a precious three points for the team from Russia.
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) – (Galatasaray 0-2 Atletico Madrid)
A delightful double from the from the Frenchman, including an exquisite finish from the edge of the area and a typical predatory close range strike consigned the hosts to defeat. Atletico dominated the initial stages with Griezmann unlucky to get a third after Jackson Martinez chose to shoot rather than play his team-mate in. A dominant display by the team both defensively and offensively.
