
Champions League Matchday 6 Best XI: Cristiano Ronaldo, Olivier Giroud Star
The UEFA Champions League group stage is complete after all 32 teams took part in Matchday 6 fixtures on Tuesday and Wednesday.Ā
Before we turn our attention to the knockout stage looming, we at Bleacher Report are naming our best XI from Matchday 6. Selections were based on each player's individual contributions to his team, with extra consideration given to players who made a decisive contribution to a winning side.
Who made our team? Click through the slides to find out.
Goalkeeper
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Sevilla secured third placeāand Europa League footballāin Group D with a 1-0 victory over visiting Juventus. The result also denied Juventus top spot in the group, and the Italians will rue their failure to beat Sergio Rico in the hosts' goal.
The 22-year-old finished with eight saves, per ESPN FC, including a top stop on a Paulo Dybala free-kick just before half-time. He then preserved the result with a block on Juan Cuadrado in second-half stoppage time.
Coach Unai Emery will now turn his attention to another run in the Europa League, having won the competition each of the last two seasons.
If Sevilla are to advance deep in the tournament again, Rico likely will have to be at his best.Ā Emery said, per Nick Aitken atĀ UEFA.com:
"We didn't reach the level of Juve and Man. City [in Group D], so we have to keep working in the Europa League,We also have to climb the Liga table. We have to enjoy the campaign ahead - every moment, every match in the Europa League will be played to the best of our ability and we want to win every game from now on.
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Defenders
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Naldo played a starring role in Wolfsburg's 3-2 victory at home to Manchester United in Group B, scoring twice, including the winner in the 84th minute. Naming the center-back a winner in his post-match analysis, Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe wrote:
"After his two-goal performance on Tuesday nightā¦Naldoās name will be mentioned across Europe. His first strike was a stunning volley into the bottom corner after a slick Ricardo Rodriguez free-kick, and his second was a header so firm even the man on the line who "blocked" it couldnāt keep it out.
A powerful, rangy defender, he meshes with the more considered, ball-playing Dante superbly. [Wolfsburg coach] Dieter Hecking has one hell of a partnership there.
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His partner in our team, however, is Stefan Savic, who helped Atletico Madrid win, 2-1, at Benfica to claim top spot in Group C. The Montenegrin's confident display was his best yet in an Atletico shirt, per ESPN FC's Joseph Walker.Ā
At right-back, we've chosen Real Madrid's Danilo, who found loads of space against overmatched Malmo. Admittedly, space was in abundant supply against the Swedish side, but this was a solid attacking performance from a player who almost functioned as a midfielder on the night.
The final berth in our defense, at left-back, goes to Henri Bedimo, who helped Lyon to a 2-0 victory at Valencia on Wednesday. The 31-year-old recorded three tackles, four interceptions and one clearance, perĀ WhoScored.com,Ā as the French side claimed their first and only win of the group stage.
Midfielders
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Dynamo Kyiv ended a 16-year absence from the knockout stage with a 1-0 win at home to Maccabi Tel-Aviv, a result that saw the Ukrainian side clinch second place in Group G. Central midfielder Serhiy Rybalka was the star man, as UEFA.com reported:
"On an increasingly tense evening in Kyiv, Dynamo could be thankful for the early opener created by Rybalka's set-piece mastery. It was the Ukraine midfielder's right-sided free-kick that led to the all-important goal, and a similarly impressive delivery at the beginning of the second period ought have resulted in a second.
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Our choice for right midfield is Isco, who received credit for two assists and earned a perfect 10.0 rating from WhoScored.com. The right-sided attacker recorded an impressive six key passes and completed more than 94 percent of all his passes as Real Madrid tore through Malmo.
On the left, Bayern Munich's Sebastian Rode completes our midfield three. The 25-year-old assisted a goal and played five key passes, per WhoScored.com. Rode would have had another assist, but Robert Lewandowskiāwho had already scored twice against Dinamo Zagrebāmissed a good chance to complete his hat-trick in the second half.
Forwards
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There was only one place to start when assembling our forward line this week. Real Madrid fired eight goals past Malmo, and Cristiano Ronaldo tallied four of them. He leads our best XI, for obvious reasons.
With his four strikes, Ronaldo broke his own record for most goals in a single group stage with 11. He completed his hat-trick in 11 minutes, making it the third-fastest in Champions League history, per ESPN Stats & Info (h/tĀ ESPN's James Tyler). According to Opta Joe, the Portuguese superstar has scored more goals in the group stage than all but four teams (Real Madrid not included) in the tournament this season.
His teammate, Karim Benzema, added a hat-trick, but he narrowly misses out at center-forward to Olivier Giroud. The Arsenal man also struck three times, but the difference was that Giroud's goals sent Arsenal into the round of 16 with a great escape.
Rounding out our front three is Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, who played as a false nine against Borussia Monchengladbach but will have to settle for a wide role here. On his 21st birthday, Sterling scored twice in as many minutes to help City turn around a second-half deficit against the Bundesliga side.
He also assisted a goal and thus played a part in three of his side's four goals. The 4-2 victory meant City finished atop Group D ahead of Juventus, who lost at Sevilla.
Full Team and Your Turn
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Here is a look at our full team: Sergio Rico; Danilo, Naldo, Stefan Savic, Henri Bedimo; Isco, Serhiy Rybalka, Sebastian Rode; Raheem Sterling, Olivier Giroud, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now it's your turn. Who would make your team? Let us know in the comments.

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