UEFA Champions League League phase matchday three: Team of the week

Another exciting week of Europe’s top club competition has come and gone with a lot of goals and not a lot of defending.

Here is the best player at every position from this week.

Goalkeeper

On a night in the Principality of Monaco, it seems almost impossible that Tottenham was able to get away unscathed.

Guglielmo Vicario faced eight shots on target, totaling 2.68 expected goals allowed according to FotMob.

He kept every shot out, keeping Spurs in the game and somehow letting them get away with a draw.

When I watched the second half of that match, there were at least four times where I said in my head, “Surely this is the time where Monaco finds the opener”, but Vicario’s performance prevented it from ever arriving.

Right Back

This was one of the more difficult selections, but I think the best right back of the week was Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier.

Even at 35 years old, Trippier continues to perform for the Magpies.

He created four chances and shut down the left side of Benfica’s attack in Newcastle’s 3-0 win at home on Tuesday.

Center Backs

Two names who are no strangers to lists like these make it on here: Willian Pacho and Gabriel.

Gabriel scored and assisted in Arsenal’s massive 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, continuing to provide a unique profile with how dangerous he is as a target man.

Pacho scored the first of PSG’s seven goals against Bayer Leverkusen, and it was his first with the club since moving over from Frankfurt.

Even with starting center back Marquinhos out and his replacement in Illya Zabarnyi, getting sent off very early into the match, Pacho held down the PSG defense very nicely.

Left Back

For as long as this type of article is published, get used to seeing Nuno Mendes’ name here.

The best left back in the world put together another masterclass against Bayer Leverkusen.

He scored, assisted, and kept Claudio Echeverri quiet all night in PSG’s 7-2 win.

Midfielders

To start off this list, we see a third PSG player.

Vitinha’s reputation is too high for him to fall into the underrated category anymore, but it still manages to amazes me how far he has come since his first season in Paris every time I watch him.

He had another phenomenal showing against Leverkusen, where he scored, assisted, and was accurate on 126 of his 128 passes.

The first and only Real Madrid player on this week’s list is Arda Guler.

Guler was far and away the best player on the night for Los Blancos, as he created seven chances and was let down by poor finishing from some of his teammates.

He has taken a massive step forward this year under Xabi Alonso, and Madrid fans are finally starting to see the player they were promised when he signed there in 2023.

The final midfield spot goes to Dominick Szobozlai.

Ever since Arne Slot moved him out of the attack and into a deeper midfield role, the Hungarian has been brilliant.

He controlled the match well in Liverpool’s 5-1 win, also adding a goal and an assist to his night.

Left Wing

Fermin Lopez missed Barcelona’s second UCL match due to injury, but in his return, he made a major impact.

He scored three of Barcelona’s six goals in their 6-1 thrashing of Olympiacos, needing only one match to double his career number of goals in the competition.

Striker

The curse of Manchester United continues to show up, as Marcus Rashford has been brilliant since moving to Barcelona.

He had another phenomenal performance against Olympiacos, scoring two very impressive goals and also winning a penalty that Lamine Yamal scored.

Through three UCL matches, he has four goals and an assist, and if he continues at this rate, then the 30 million Euro buy clause attached to his loan will be a no-brainer for the Spanish champions.

Right Wing

While Erling Haaland’s continued dominance caught all of the headlines, Savinho is Manchester City’s lone representative on this list.

He played a beautiful assist to Bernado Silva for City’s second goal, and led the match with five dribbles completed on five attempts.

He also created four chances, leading the match once again.

Team

While Arsenal and PSG were close, I have to give the team of the week to PSV Eindhoven.

They welcomed a Napoli side that won the Scudetto last season and is arguably Italy’s best, and absolutely demolished them.

The Dutch club won 6-2, and that scoreline was extremely representative of the gap between the two teams.

PSV even fell behind 1-0 in this match after Scott McTominay opened the scoring, but by the time Napoli found their second, the match was already over.

This wasn’t a match I expected them to win against a tough Napoli side, but them not only winning, but winning in the fashion they did, shows that this team needs to be taken seriously.

Edison Pellumbi is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ejp5889@psu.edu.