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Champions League Team of the Week: Arjen Robben, Koke, Toni Kroos

Allan Jiang
Apr 9, 2014

Who stood out in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second legs? Here is the Champions League team of the week from the UCL quarter-final second-leg games.

  • Chelsea 2-0Ā Paris Saint-Germain
  • Borussia Dortmund 2-0Ā Real Madrid
  • Atletico Madrid 1-0Ā BarcelonaĀ 
  • Bayern Munich 3-1Ā Manchester United

Please comment below with your thoughts.

GK: Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund)

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Borussia Dortmund goalkeeperĀ Roman Weidenfeller was world-class in both legs against Real Madrid.Ā 

InĀ Dortmund's 2-0 win overĀ Real,Ā Weidenfeller denied Real right forwardĀ Angel Di Maria from the penalty spot and made five saves.Ā 

Did you see CristianoĀ Ronaldo, who did not play the game, jumping up and down and acting as a quasi-manager on the sidelines? He knew his team was in a perilous situation.Ā 

Weidenfeller kept the score down in the first leg and was excellent in the second leg whenĀ Dortmund mounted a valiant comeback.Ā 

UnfortunatelyĀ for him, his performance is overshadowed by teammateĀ Henrikh Mkhitaryan choking right in front of goal, which enabled a Ronaldo-less Real to scrape through.Ā 

RB: Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)

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Philipp Lahm, who has split his time between right-back and aĀ Xavi-like midfield role,Ā resumed his right-back duties for Bayern Munich in a 3-1 win overĀ Manchester United.Ā 

LahmĀ still orchestrated play from the back.

He made three tackles and cut off two passes.Ā 

CB: John Terry (Chelsea)

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Chelsea centre-backĀ John Terry found himself in a mismatch (on paper) againstĀ Paris Saint-Germain centre-forwardĀ Edinson Cavani.Ā 

Cavani, who had complained about his right forward role, perĀ L'Equipe (h/t ESPN FC), had a chance to prove his point in his preferred No. 9 role withĀ Zlatan Ibrahimovic out.

Well,Ā Cavani came up short.Ā 

Why?

Terry organised the Chelsea back line and showed leadership on the field knowing one mistake would undo everything.Ā 

CB: Miranda (Atletico Madrid)

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Atletico Madrid centre-backĀ Miranda was solid in theĀ 1-0 win overĀ Barcelona.

HeĀ made nine effective clearances, which was the most in the game.Ā 

Miranda shielded the right side of his central area and provided added reinforcement wheneverĀ Barca left forwardĀ Neymar bypassedĀ Atleti right-backĀ Juanfran.

LB: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

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On paper,Ā Paris Saint-Germain had another mismatch:Ā Lucas Moura vs.Ā Cesar Azpilicueta.

Lucas was given the freedom to run at the Chelsea as PSG were front-runners with a 3-1 first-leg advantage.Ā 

Did Lucas have some nice dribbles? Yep, you would expect that given his explosive first step.Ā 

But who won out in the end?Ā Azpilicueta, because he did his job in limitingĀ Lucas, who did not score or create a goal.Ā 

CM: Koke (Atletico Madrid)

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By the time Atletico Madrid central midfielderĀ Koke finishes his career, he could be one of the greatest players of his generation.Ā 

He is such a complete player: can score, create, tackle and has a great work ethic.

AttitudeĀ was what separatedĀ KokeĀ from formerĀ FIFA Ballon d'Or winnerĀ Lionel Messi inĀ Atleti's 1-0 win overĀ Barcelona.

Messi sulked on the right wing (isĀ Barca managerĀ Tata Martino trying to get himself sacked?), while Koke was all over the field trying to make plays (offensively and defensively).

CM: David Luiz (Chelsea)

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Chelsea defensive midfielderĀ David Luiz played one of his best games ever as the Blues overcame a 3-1 first-leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain, winning 2-0 in the second leg and advancing on away goals.Ā 

Luiz completed five tackles, intercepted two passes and made four effective clearances.

But do you know what the important statistic was?

No error leading to goal conceded.Ā 

CM: Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

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There are pros and cons ofĀ Toni Kroos' performance in Bayern Munich's 3-1 win overĀ Manchester United.

  • Pros:Ā Kroos helpedĀ Bayern overcome a stubbornĀ United team.
  • Cons:Ā IfĀ KroosĀ ups the ante in negotiations over a new contract, could it damage his relationship with management?

"There is no player who you have to give everything to keep. Everyone is replaceable," former FIFA World Cup and European Cup winnerĀ Franz Beckenbauer said, per Sky Sports. "He [Kroos]Ā shouldn't raise the stakes too high."

Good luck to Bayern inĀ finding another midfielder who can average 89.3 passes per UEFA Champions League game with a 94.5 pass completion percentage.Ā 

RF: Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

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WheneverĀ Manchester United left-wingerĀ Danny Welbeck did not tightly markĀ Bayern Munich right-wingerĀ Arjen Robben, the Dutchman was always odds on to get by United left-backĀ Patrice Evra.

Evra struggled to cope withĀ Robben's incisive passing, his direct dribbling and ability to make decisive plays.Ā 

Robben's goal and assist forĀ Bayern deep-lying forwardĀ Thomas MullerĀ safeguardedĀ Bayern from being sucker-punched Chelsea-style.Ā 

CF: Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich)

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Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic is one of the hardest working centre-forwards in Europe's elite leagues.Ā 

When he wasn't throwing his head at crosses, he was dropping deep and trying to win back possession.Ā 

In hindsight,Ā Mandzukic's goal was aĀ pivotalĀ moment, as itĀ stopped United from gaining any form of momentum after left-backĀ Patrice Evra had opened the scoring two minutes earlier.Ā 

LF: Andre Schurrle (Chelsea)

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If not forĀ Eden Hazard's injury,Ā Andre Schurrle would have spent the majority of the game on the bench.

Instead,Ā Hazard strained his calf andĀ Schurrle was thrown on in the 18th minute.Ā 

Schurrle should play like this every week because he was forceful, he was resolute in his decision-making and he scored.

He changed the game for Chelsea, which was a big factor in their 2-0 win overĀ Paris Saint-Germain.

Statistics viaĀ WhoScored.com.