Champions League Team of the Week: Antoine Griezmann, Jack Grealish and Harry Kane included

9 Nov 2023 05:30 CST
6 min read

Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid — © ProShots

The 2023-24 Champions League group stages are nearing their conclusion, but there are still several storylines in need of being written.

Manchester City, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Inter Milan have all booked their place in the last-16, while Manchester United succumbed to their third defeat in four matches against Copenhagen.

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As usual, there were some standout individual displays during the fourth round of fixtures in this season’s group stages, but who makes it into FootballTransfers’ Champions League Team of the Week?

© ProShots - FootballTransfers' Champions League Team of the Week

GK - Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid)

When Kepa Arrizabalaga was injured during the warm-up ahead of Real Madrid’s clash against Braga, Carlo Ancelotti finally turned to Andriy Lunin, the man expected to replace Thibaut Courtois before Kepa joined on loan.

And to say Lunin made the most of his opportunity would be an understatement. Just six minutes into the game, the Ukrainian guessed correctly, dived to his right and palmed away Alvaro Djalo’s penalty to preserve the 0-0 scoreline.

He then made three more impressive saves and kept a clean sheet as Real Madrid ran out 3-0 winners to secure their place in the knockout stages.

RB - Giorgi Gocholeishvili (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Barcelona were looking to seal qualification for the last-16 when they travelled to Hamburg to face Shakhtar Donetsk, but they left empty-handed after a shock 1-0 defeat to the Ukrainian side.

Shakhtar limited Barca to just one shot on target all game, and Danylo Sikan’s 40th minute goal was enough for the three points. Sikan’s header came from a lovely cross from right-back Giorgi Gocholeishvili, who added that assist to an all-round impressive performance.

The 22-year-old Georgian kept Ferran Torres quiet throughout and played a key role in Shakhtar’s impressive second-half defending.

CB - Pepe (Porto)

Pepe broke a Champions League record on Tuesday night when he became the oldest player to score in the competition’s history, at 40 years and 254 days old.

With Porto living dangerously with only a 1-0 lead and several missed chances against Royal Antwerp, Pepe lept highest from a Francisco Conceição cross in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to seal the victory.

Furthermore, no player managed more than his 111 touches.

CB - Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)

Borussia Dortmund faced almost a second-string Newcastle United side at the Signal Iduna Park and they emphatically punished Eddie Howe’s side with a relatively easy 2-0 win.

The Magpies were non-existent in an attacking sense during the first-half, but Mats Hummels and ‘keeper Gregor Kobel were called into action in the second period after an injection of energy from Newcastle.

However, Hummels dealt with everything thrown his way, making a huge eight tackles and four interceptions, both of which were a match-high.

LB - David Raum (RB Leipzig)

A late own goal from Benjamin Henrichs left RB Leipzig slightly worried against Crvena zvezda, but they managed to get over the line with a narrow 2-1 win to book their place in the knockouts.

Xavi Simons deserves praise for his wonderstrike in the eighth minute, while Xaver Schlager was responsible for both assists, but David Raum was arguably the standout player in a Leipzig shirt.

He was involved at the heart of everything impressive about their performance, making six key passes and creating two big chances. Raum also made four clearances and won three tackles in an all-round performance to be proud of.

CM - Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Milan)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s first 10 minutes versus PSG didn’t go to plan. He squandered a huge early opportunity and lost Milan Skriniar at a corner, which enabled the Slovakian to open the scoring.

© ProShots - Ruben Loftus-Cheek with Cristian Pulisic

However, he recovered from those early set-backs and dominated the middle of the park at San Siro. The former Chelsea star ran the show, displaying his immense ability to drive the ball up the pitch via his dribbling.

He completed a match-high five dribbles (joint with Rafael Leao) and no player on the pitch was fouled on more occasions (three). This was arguably Loftus-Cheek’s best performance in a Milan shirt and he played a major role in their first win of this season’s Champions League.

CM - Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad)

Real Sociedad are a joy to behold and they look set to become the dark-horses in the Champions League knockout stages.

Their only losses in all competitions this campaign have come against Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, and they are unbeaten in Europe.

A 3-1 rout against Benfica looked far too easy for Imanol Alguacil’s men, and former Newcastle man Mikel Merino was at the heart of the win.

He scored the opener with a close-range header before seeing another strike ruled out for handball. Merino then grabbed an assist when he set up Ander Barrenetxea to score his first ever Champions League goal.

CM - Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Antoine Griezmann has been one of the best players in world football since he returned to Atletico Madrid, although that form has mostly come alongside Alvaro Morata in a front two.

Antoine Griezmann's Atletico Madrid form since the start of last season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/krIYSNuZEE
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) November 7, 2023

Against Celtic, however, Diego Simeone took a leaf out of Didier Deschamps’ book and played Griezmann slightly deeper. It’s fair to say that decision paid off as Griezmann scored two and provided five key passes as Atleti smashed the Scottish champions 6-0.

RW - Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

Carlo Ancelotti’s new formation isn’t best-suited to Rodrygo or Vinicius Junior, but both Brazilians scored one and assisted one in Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Braga on Wednesday.

Vinicius gets the nod in our Team of the Week, mainly due to the fact he produced a mesmeric seven key passes during the game.

The absence of Jude Bellingham did not matter for Los Blancos, who steamrolled their way to qualification in no small part thanks to Vinicius.

On a side note, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka is very unfortunate to miss out on this XI.

ST - Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

Harry Kane is unstoppable. Just days after netting a hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker, he bagged a brace to drag Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win over Galatasaray.

The first was a neatly-guided header from a Joshua Kimmich free-kick, while the second was a far-post tap in after a Mathys Tel cross.

Kane now has 19 goals and seven assists in just 15 Bayern appearances.

LW - Jack Grealish (Man City)

Jack Grealish created the most chances in the 2022-23 Champions League season (35) and he has continued that form in this year’s competition too.

In Man City’s 3-0 win over Young Boys, Grealish laid on seven key passes, created three big chances and was fouled five times, while he grabbed the assist for Phil Foden’s goal in first-half stoppage time.

Erling Haaland may have grabbed the headlines for his brace, but Grealish was the inspiration behind another dominant Man City win.