UEFA Champions League 250: Ranking the Top 250 Footballers After Matchday 2

As the UEFA Champions League group stage enters its third week, many of the world's best footballers—just returned from an intense international break—are awaiting Europe's pre-eminent competition to recommence.

Before they take the pitch, however, one piece of business remains from Matchday 2: ranking the 250 best performers at their respective positions.

Some major names were missing in action (such as Barcelona's Lionel Messi, for example), but their absences provided opportunities for others. Some players gave their clubs great back-to-back performances, while others failed to recapture their form from the first matchday.

Now hitting its proverbial stride, Bleacher Report is attempting to determine the best Champions League footballer on a matchday-by-matchday basis.

The usual suspects always lurk, but sometimes lesser known, or even unknown, footballers can shock our collective consciousness and arrive from nowhere. In that sense, Bleacher Report is taking a holistic approach: breaking down each position, finding the outstanding footballers therein and grading each according to his output.

With 250 players to start—from the 32 qualified clubs in the group stage—competition for places is tough, but there's enough room for thorough investigation and critique. Each player is evaluated by your slightly biased but mostly fair author, who will bring you player grades based on the action after every round of matches.

Before presenting the second set of grades for the 2016/17 Champions League, though, a reminder of the methodology is in order.

Methodology

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Footballers are graded on a series of four key attributes in their respective positional roles. Using a grading scale, starting at zero and going up to anywhere from 10 to 25, the system is based on the most recently completed matchday—reaching a maximum of 100 points.

The 250 players are divided into positions and ranked against/with their contemporaries:

• 30 goalkeepers
• 20 right-backs and right wing-backs
• 20 left-backs and left wing-backs
• 40 centre-backs
• 60 defensive, central and attacking midfielders
• 25 right midfielders, right-wingers and right-sided forwards
• 25 left midfielders, left-wingers and left-sided forwards
• 30 strikers and centre-forwards

Obviously no system is perfect, and there are flaws with every conceivable methodology, but giving each group of players its own unique grading system—rather than throwing every footballer into the same equation—should offer a truer end result from matchday to matchday.

One set of grades will have no connection with the next. Nor will one's domestic form bear any weight in Champions League proceedings. If a player is injured but is given time on the pitch, that is disregarded. If a player plays for under 45 minutes—no matter his effectiveness—he will be removed from the pool in order to offer a fair two-half representation.

Grading is a subjective process. We all have things we notice and things we appreciate more than others; in that respect, no ranking is ever definitive. There's always the comments section for discussions, rebuttals and suggestions.

Lastly, in the event of ties, we simply ask: "Who do we think had a better game?" The winner gets top billing.

Goalkeepers

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Champions League defences were slightly more resolute during the second group-stage fixtures.

Despite conceding one less clean sheet, there were 50 goals scored in the first group-stage matchday, compared to the 46 scored two weeks later.

Sevilla's Sergio Rico was arguably the top performer of the second round. Hosting Olympique Lyonnais, the Spanish shot-stopper logged four saves and kept a clean sheet against the French contingent. On the other side was Lyon's Anthony Lopez, who gave a similarly great performance, with five saves, but a Wissam Ben Yedder goal in the 52nd minute gave Jorge Sampaoli's side the three points.

Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur was close second to Rico, with 81 percent distribution. The Frenchman was instrumental to Spurs' efficient play from the back. Bouncing back from his performance against AS Monaco, Tottenham's captain finding his form against CSKA Moscow was key.

Defending Premier League champions Leicester City have earned back-to-back clean sheets, and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was vital to that effort against FC Porto, as the English titleholders moved top of Group G.

David Ospina took charge of Arsenal's No. 1 duties once more, as Petr Cech was rested by manager Arsene Wenger. It seems the Gunners' back-up goalie has taken complete charge of the job in the Champions League—something he was not able to do in 2015/16.

At the bottom of the rankings, both Celtic's Craig Gordon and Manchester City's Claudio Bravo suffered from being in an unexpected but thrilling 3-3 contest. Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Borussia Monchengladbach's Yann Sommer were not entirely convincing during their clash, and one of the latter's mistake allowed the Catalan giants to take the victory.

Grading Scale

Hand: Handling (graded out of 25)

Pos: Positioning (graded out of 25)

Kick: Kicking (graded out of 25)

Saves: Saves (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Goalkeeper Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Hand	Pos	Kick	Saves	Ovr
1	Sergio Rico	Sevilla	23	22	21	23	89
2	Hugo Lloris	Tottenham Hotspur	21	23	23	21	88
3	Jan Oblak	Atletico Madrid	22	22	20	23	87
4	Anthony Lopez	Olympique Lyonnais	23	21	22	21	87
5	Kasper Schmeichel	Leicester City	22	22	21	21	86
6	David Ospina	Arsenal	22	21	20	22	85
7	Alphonse Areola	Paris Saint-Germain	21	20	22	21	84
8	Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	20	22	21	20	83
9	Keylor Navas	Real Madrid	19	20	21	20	80
10	Rui Patricio	Sporting Lisbon	20	19	21	20	79
11	Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus	19	20	20	19	78
12	Fabricio	Besiktas	18	19	19	19	75
13	Tomas Vaclik	FC Basel	19	20	18	18	75
14	Roman Burki	Borussia Dortmund	18	19	18	19	74
15	Arkadiusz Malarz	Legia Warsaw	17	18	20	18	73
16	Robin Olsen	Copenhagen	19	20	17	17	73
17	Iker Casillas	FC Porto	17	19	18	17	71
18	Artur Rudko	Dynamo Kiev	18	17	17	18	70
19	Danijel Subasic	AS Monaco	19	16	18	17	70
20	Ludovic Butelle	Club Brugge	17	17	16	18	68
21	Marc-Andre ter Stegen	Barcelona	16	18	16	17	67
22	Vladislav Stoyanov	Ludogorets	17	17	16	18	67
23	Pepe Reina	Napoli	16	18	18	16	66
24	Yann Sommer	Borussia Monchengladbach	16	15	17	15	63
25	Soslan Dzhanaev	FC Rostov	15	16	17	15	63
26	Craig Gordon	Celtic	16	14	16	16	62
27	Jeroen Zoet	PSV Eindhoven	15	14	15	16	61
28	Claudio Bravo	Manchester City	14	16	17	14	61
29	Bernd Leno	Bayer Leverkusen	13	13	15	15	56
30	Igor Akinfeev	CSKA Moscow	12	14	13	13	52

Notable Omissions

• Petr Cech, Arsenal: rested/benched
• Kevin Trapp, Paris Saint-Germain: rested/benched
• Salvatore Sirigu, Sevilla: rested/benched

Right-Backs and Right Wing-Backs

STRINGER/Getty Images

Finishing seventh after Matchday 1, Dani Alves gave Juventus a man-of-the-match performance and takes top spot after Matchday 2. Scoring and assisting against Dinamo Zagreb, the Brazil international contributed to 50 percent of the Old Lady's goals in their 4-0 drubbing the Croatian champions.

Just behind the former Barcelona star is Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender. Not playing his club's first Champions League match at right-back, the Germany international made 12 tackles in 90 minutes. His defensive contribution was not enough to earn three points against AS Monaco but helped the German outfit remain unbeaten.

Serge Aurier and Lukasz Piszczek, from Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund respectively, were two of the best defensive contributors on Matchday 1, but the right-backs failed to repeat their previous performances.

Elsewhere, the north London-based duo of Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur) and Hector Bellerin (Arsenal) were solid, Spurs beating CSKA Moscow and the Gunners easily handling FC Basel. Premier League peer Luis Hernandez (Leicester City) was similarly strong for manager Claudio Ranieri in his side's victory over Porto.

Bayern Munich's Philipp Lahm missed the Bavarians' first Champions League fixture, but the venerable captain featured in a losing effort for head coach Carlo Ancelotti's men against Atletico Madrid. Juanfran, the German's opposite number, was his usual, reliable self—providing his stringent manager, Diego Simeone, with the requisite defensive solidarity to combat one of Europe's most potent offensive clubs.

Grading Scale

Tac: Tackling (graded out of 25)

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Dis: Discipline (graded out of 25)

Off: Offence (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Right-Back and Right Wing-Back Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Tac	Pas	Dis	Off	Ovr
1	Dani Alves	Juventus	21	24	23	25	93
2	Lars Bender	Bayer Leverkusen	25	22	23	20	91
3	Kieran Trippier	Tottenham Hotspur	21	24	21	22	88
4	Hector Bellerin	Arsenal	20	23	21	23	87
5	Juanfran	Atletico Madrid	23	20	23	18	84
6	Daniel Schwaab	PSV Eindhoven	22	20	22	19	83
7	Sergi Roberto	Barcelona	18	23	19	22	82
8	Mariano	Sevilla	22	20	19	19	80
9	Dani Carvajal	Real Madrid	19	21	19	20	79
10	Peter Ankersen	Copenhagen	20	19	19	18	76
11	Lukasz Piszczek	Borussia Dortmund	19	20	19	17	75
12	Luis Hernandez	Leicester City	18	19	20	17	74
13	Philipp Lahm	Bayern Munich	18	18	19	17	72
14	Serge Aurier	Paris Saint-Germain	17	18	18	17	70
15	Paulo Zabaleta	Manchester City	16	18	16	18	68
16	Nelsinho	Benfica	17	16	18	15	66
17	Mario Fernandes	CSKA Moscow	15	16	17	16	64
18	Timofei Kalachev	FC Rostov	19	14	16	14	63
19	Andrea Raggi	AS Monaco	15	15	17	13	60
20	Miguel Layun	FC Porto	14	14	17	14	59

Notable Omissions

• Rafinha, Bayern Munich: rested/benched
• Kyle Walker, Tottenham Hotspur: rested/benched
• Stephan Lichtsteiner, Juventus: not in Champions League squad

Left-Backs and Left Wing-Backs

David Ramos/Getty Images

Filipe Luis has been world's football's most consistent left-back for the past four seasons. Despite an interesting but title-winning campaign with Chelsea in 2014/15, the Brazil international maintained his level, and since returning to Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid last summer, Luis has continued his stellar form.

Tasked with slowing down the right side of Bayern Munich's opulent attacking talent, the 31-year-old defender was magnificent. Hardly found out of position—and always ready to get his team moving forward—the Brazilian is an invaluable member of Group D's early leaders.

Luis' counterpart was someone many feel is the world's most talented left-back, David Alaba.

Capable of playing multiple positions, the Austrian seems most comfortable at left-back, even though some might argue he is more effective in central midfield. Against Atletico Madrid, the young Munich star was one of Ancelotti's better performers, but his efforts were not enough.

Keeping with the Madrid theme, veteran Real Madrid defender Marcelo was unavailable, so Danilo stepped in for manager Zinedine Zidane. A right-back by trade, Danilo was decent for the Spanish giants in an emergency left-back capacity. Playing Borussia Dortmund's bevy of attacking talent, however, "decent" was not enough to help Real secure three points.

Arguably the surprise of this Champions League matchday was Ludwig Augustinsson. FC Copenhagen's young left-back found two assists against Club Brugge and helped keep his club's first clean sheet of the group stage. Should Augustinsson's performances continue, the Swede's employers could start receiving some fairly impressive offers for him.

Grading Scale

Tac: Tackling (graded out of 25)

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Dis: Discipline (graded out of 25)

Off: Offence (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Left-Back and Left Wing-Back Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Tac	Pas	Dis	Off	Ovr
1	Filipe Luis	Atletico Madrid	24	24	25	23	96
2	Ludwig Augustinsson	Copenhagen	22	25	22	25	94
3	David Alaba	Bayern Munich	21	22	22	23	90
4	Benjamin Henrichs	Bayer Leverkusen	24	21	23	21	89
5	Christian Fuchs	Leicester City	23	21	22	21	87
6	Natanael	Ludogorets	20	20	21	25	86
7	Djibril Sidibe	AS Monaco	21	20	22	21	84
8	Faouzi Ghoulam	Napoli	19	22	20	23	84
9	Nacho Monreal	Arsenal	20	21	20	20	81
10	Danilo	Real Madrid	19	21	19	21	80
11	Patrice Evra	Juventus	20	19	21	19	79
12	Caner Erkin	Besiktas	19	18	21	18	76
13	Alex Telles	FC Porto	17	19	20	17	73
14	Sergio Escudero	Sevilla	16	17	19	19	71
15	Jordi Alba	Barcelona	15	20	18	17	70
16	Ben Davies	Tottenham Hotspur	16	17	18	18	69
17	Maciej Rybus	Olympique Lyonnais	17	15	17	18	67
18	Georgi Shchennikov	CSKA Moscow	15	16	18	15	64
19	Adama Traore	FC Basel	15	15	14	17	61
20	Jetro Willems	PSV Eindhoven	14	15	15	14	58

Notable Omissions

• Marcelo, Real Madrid: injury

Centre-Backs

VI-Images/Getty Images

As the least attacking outfield players, central defenders usually defend their own goal; the Champions League's second round of group-stage matches, though, found a handful centre-backs celebrating offensive exploits.

Starting with the least of these, Mathias Jorgensen from FC Copenhagen scored against Club Brugge in the dying minutes as the Danish side slaughtered the Belgians 4-0 at home.

AS Monaco's Kamil Glik also scored a goal at the death against Bayer Leverkusen—down a goal, his late strike was worth a point for the Ligue 1 leaders. The former Torino centre-back unleashed a great strike to level proceedings—any centre-forward would have been proud of the Poland international's stunning effort.

Raphael Varane's goal against Borussia Dortmund put the Spanish giants ahead for 19 minutes in the second half, but Andre Schurrle's rocket leveled the fixture at 2-2. The 23-year-old Frenchman was not just a goalscorer, though. His ability to keep pace with lightning-quick centre-forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was imperative to shackling head coach Thomas Tuchel's explosive attacking force.

A centre-back goalscorer did capture three points for his side, however, Barcelona's Gerard Pique being the right man in the right place to beat Borussia Monchengladbach. Not having Messi available, the Catalan superclub was in desperate need of three points, and their long-serving defender popped up with a 74th-minute winner.

Pique is frequently subjected to heavy criticism, but more times than not, the 29-year-old has been great for Barcelona—their last UCL match being no exception.

Grading Scale

Def: Defending (graded out of 25)

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Dis: Discipline (graded out of 25)

Off: Offence (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Centre-Back Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Def	Pas	Dis	Off	Ovr
1	Giorgio Chiellini	Juventus	25	23	25	20	93
2	Kamil Gilk	AS Monaco	22	22	22	25	91
3	Raphael Varane	Real Madrid	23	22	22	25	91
4	Shkodran Mustafi	Arsenal	23	23	23	20	89
5	Andrea Barzagli	Juventus	24	21	23	20	88
6	Marquinhos	Paris Saint-Germain	23	23	22	20	88
7	Gerard Pique	Barcelona	21	22	20	25	88
8	Toby Alderweireld	Tottenham Hotspur	23	21	22	20	86
9	Laurent Koscielny	Arsenal	23	20	22	19	84
10	Diego Godin	Atletico Madrid	24	20	23	17	83
11	Mathias Jorgensen	Copenhagen	22	21	22	18	83
12	Sebastian Coates	Sporting Lisbon	22	21	21	18	82
13	Jeremy Morel	Olympique Lyonnais	21	20	22	17	80
14	Leonardo Bonucci	Juventus	20	21	19	20	80
15	Jan Vertonghen	Tottenham Hotspur	21	20	21	17	79
16	Ruben Semedo	Sporting Lisbon	22	19	19	17	77
17	Stefan Savic	Atletico Madrid	22	18	22	15	77
18	Gabriel Mercado	Sevilla	21	19	20	16	76
19	Javier Mascherano	Barcelona	21	18	18	17	74
20	Nico Pareja	Sevilla	20	17	20	17	74
21	Erik Johansson	Copenhagen	21	19	19	15	74
22	Dusko Tosic	Besiktas	21	17	18	16	72
23	Omer Toprak	Bayer Leverkusen	19	18	18	16	71
24	Robert Huth	Leicester City	20	15	20	15	70
25	Thiago Silva	Paris Saint-Germain	19	18	17	16	70
26	Jemerson	AS Monaco	20	17	17	15	69
27	Wes Morgan	Leicester City	21	16	16	14	67
28	Matthias Ginter	Borussia Dortmund	18	17	15	16	66
29	Eder Balanta	FC Basel	17	17	17	14	65
30	Yevhen Khacheridi	Dynamo Kiev	17	15	18	15	65
31	Nicolas N'Koulou	Olympique Lyonnais	18	14	16	16	64
32	Sokratis	Borussia Dortmund	17	16	15	15	63
33	Sergio Ramos	Real Madrid	16	15	17	15	63
34	Javi Martinez	Bayern Munich	17	15	15	15	62
35	Nicolas Otamendi	Manchester City	16	16	15	14	61
36	Jerome Boateng	Bayern Munich	18	15	14	14	61
37	Jonathan Tah	Bayern Leverkusen	16	15	16	13	60
38	Andreas Christensen	Borussia Monchengladbach	16	14	15	14	59
39	Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa	Olympique Lyonnais	17	13	15	13	58
40	Kalidou Koulibaly	Napoli	17	14	14	13	58

Notable Omissions

• Mats Hummels, Bayern Munich: played 12 minutes
• Pepe, Real Madrid: rested/benched
• Samuel Umtiti, Barcelona: rested/benched

Defensive Midfielders, Central Midfielders and Central Attacking Midfielders

CARLO HERMANN/Getty Images

Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti was unfortunate to be red-carded against Arsenal on the campaign's first matchday, and UEFA deemed that disciplinary action harsh. European football's governing body rescinded the suspension and allowed the Italy international to play against Ludogorets Razgrad; he took advantage by giving PSG a man-of-the-match performance.

Flying around the pitch making challenges, winning possession and keeping his team on the proverbial front foot, Verratti—despite his diminutive, 5'5" stature—was head and shoulders above the rest and earned the top spot in Week 2's central-midfield rankings.

A close runner-up was Napoli's Marek Hamsik.

The Napoli captain was instrumental to his club's 4-2 victory over Benfica. Scoring once and passing at an 86 percent clip, the 29-year-old is the fulcrum of head coach Maurizio Sarri's Naples outfit. When he plays well, it normally translates to every sector on the pitch, and three points against the Portuguese champions seems evidence.

Manchester City duo David Silva and Fernandinho have different roles in manager Pep Guardiola's midfield, but each provided the Sky Blues with much-needed offence during an entertaining 3-3 contest with Celtic at Celtic Park. The importance of the absent Kevin De Bruyne's creativity from all areas cannot be overstated for Guardiola's men.

Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli did enough to help their team beat CSKA Moscow but were not breathtaking.

Fellow Spurs midfielder Victor Wanyama, however, does seem to be finding his feet in north London. Bought from Southampton in the summer—reuniting with former boss Mauricio Pochettino—his UCL form will be crucial to Spurs having any measurable success moving forward.

Grading Scale

Tac: Tackling (graded out of 25)

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Cre: Creativity (graded out of 25)

Pro: Production (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Defensive Midfielder, Central Midfielder and Central Attacking Midfielder Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Tac	Pas	Cre	Pro	Ovr
1	Marco Verratti	Paris Saint-Germain	25	25	23	24	97
2	Marek Hamsik	Napoli	22	25	24	25	96
3	Santi Cazorla	Arsenal	21	24	25	24	94
4	Miralem Pjanic	Juventus	20	24	24	25	93
5	David Silva	Manchester City	18	25	25	24	92
6	Fernandinho	Manchester City	24	23	19	25	91
7	Thomas Delaney	Copenhagen	23	23	23	22	91
8	Toni Kroos	Real Madrid	21	24	24	23	91
9	William Carvalho	Sporting Lisbon	24	21	19	25	89
10	Steven N'Zonzi	Sevilla	23	22	20	24	89
11	Gabi	Atletico Madrid	22	22	22	22	88
12	Thiago Alcantara	Bayern Munich	19	23	23	23	88
13	Anderson Talisca	Besiktas	20	23	22	22	87
14	Gonzalo Castro	Borussia Dortmund	19	22	23	23	87
15	Danilo Pereira	FC Porto	24	20	19	24	87
16	Hernanes	Juventus	23	21	19	23	86
17	Mario Gotze	Borussia Dortmund	18	24	23	21	86
18	Tiemoue Bakayoko	AS Monaco	22	20	21	22	85
19	Davy Propper	PSV Eindhoven	20	22	21	21	84
20	Luka Modric	Real Madrid	19	22	22	21	84
21	Adrien Silva	Sporting Lisbon	22	21	20	20	83
22	Mesut Ozil	Arsenal	17	23	22	20	82
23	Daniel Amartey	Leicester City	22	18	19	23	82
24	Mahmoud Dahoud	Borussia Monchengladbach	20	20	19	22	81
25	Nir Bitton	Celtic	19	20	20	22	81
26	Andrea Iniesta	Barcelona	17	22	21	20	80
27	Sami Khedira	Juventus	22	19	18	21	80
28	Ilkay Gundogan	Manchester City	19	23	18	20	80
29	Atiba Hutchinson	Besiktas	20	19	19	21	79
30	Arturo Vidal	Bayern Munich	21	20	18	20	79
31	Ivan Rakitic	Barcelona	20	19	17	22	78
32	Granit Xhaka	Arsenal	20	20	17	21	78
33	Luka Zuffi	FC Basel	19	19	18	22	78
34	Sergio Busquets	Barcelona	20	18	17	21	76
35	Victor Wanyama	Tottenham Hotspur	21	18	16	20	75
36	Kevin Kampl	Bayer Leverkusen	19	18	17	21	75
37	Andre Almeida	Benfica	19	17	16	21	73
38	Tolgay Arslan	Besiktas	19	18	17	19	73
39	Benjamin Verbic	Copenhagen	17	17	17	22	73
40	Scott Brown	Celtic	20	16	16	19	71
41	Hakan Calhanoglu	Bayer Leverkusen	15	17	19	19	70
42	Danny Drinkwater	Leicester City	17	18	17	18	70
43	Jorginho	Napoli	18	17	15	19	69
44	Corentin Tolisso	Olympique Lyonnais	17	16	17	17	67
45	Christian Eriksen	Tottenham Hotspur	14	18	17	16	65
46	Thiago Motta	Paris Saint-Germain	17	16	14	17	64
47	Dele Alli	Tottenham Hotspur	15	17	16	15	63
48	Maxime Gonalons	Olympique Lyonnais	14	16	16	16	62
49	James Rodriguez	Real Madrid	13	16	16	17	62
50	Serhiy Rybalka	Dynamo Kiev	15	15	15	16	61
51	Andreas Guardado	PSV Eindhoven	15	16	15	14	60
52	Julian Weigl	Borussia Dortmund	16	15	15	13	59
53	Charles Aranguiz	Bayer Leverkusen	14	14	14	16	58
54	Pontus Wernbloom	CSKA Moscow	15	13	16	14	58
55	Oliver Torres	FC Porto	14	14	14	15	57
56	Marcelinho	Ludogorets	12	15	13	15	55
57	Christian Noboa	FC Rostov	13	14	14	14	55
58	Timofei Kalachev	FC Rostov	12	15	13	14	54
59	Franco Vazquez	Sevilla	14	12	12	15	53
60	Anicet	Ludogorets	12	14	14	13	53

Notable Omissions

• Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City: injured
• Casemiro, Real Madrid: injured
• Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich: played 21 minutes

Right Midfielders, Right-Wingers and Right-Sided Forwards

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

With Barcelona's Messi sidelined through injury, not having the world's (just about consensus) best footballer available left a vacancy atop the midfield's right side, both for his manager, Luis Enrique, and these Champions League rankings.

The man filling Messi's boots from the first round—as the top right-sided player—is Arsenal's Theo Walcott. It might be an aberration, but the England international was splendid against FC Basel for the north Londoners.

Manager Arsene Wenger for around the past half-decade had been trying to make Walcott a centre-forward, but with that mission now Alexis Sanchez's, maybe that pressure being lifted has unleashed the 27-year-old's clinical nature; playing without too many expectations might be just what the Gunners attacker needed.

Trailing Walcott closely are three of his fellow Premier League stars. Raheem Sterling, Erik Lamela and Riyad Marhez gave great accounts of themselves for Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City respectively.

Among the other stars was Ricardo Quaresma. One of the more naturally talented and gifted footballers the game has, the Portuguese's only issue has been consistency—some might argue desire. Bouncing around the continent, Besiktas seems a great fit for the now-33-year-old. Maybe performances such as the one he put in against Dynamo Kiev have come around too late in his career, but it's better late than not at all. 

Ousmane Dembele and Gareth Bale had relatively calm outings when Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid clashed at Westfalenstadion. The Welshman's inventive backheel—albeit deflected by BVB defenders—set up Madrid's opening goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, but the rest of Bale's night was rather benign.

His young French counterpart was lightning in Dortmund's opening group-stage match, but while the intent to cause havoc was evident against Real Madrid, little Dembele did was penetrative; plenty of invention, though, resides in the 19-year-old's boots.

Grading Scale

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Cre: Creativity (graded out of 25)

Fin: Finishing (graded out of 25)

Pro: Production (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Right Midfielder, Right-Winger and Right-Sided Forward Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Pas	Cre	Fin	Pro	Ovr
1	Theo Walcott	Arsenal	23	24	25	25	97
2	Raheem Sterling	Manchester City	23	23	24	25	95
3	Erik Lamela	Tottenham Hotspur	24	24	23	23	94
4	Ricardo Quaresma	Besiktas	22	23	24	24	93
5	Riyad Mahrez	Leicester City	23	23	23	22	91
6	Lucas Moura	Paris Saint-Germain	24	23	21	23	91
7	Samir Nasri	Sevilla	24	24	19	22	89
8	Benjamin Verbic	Copenhagen	24	23	18	23	88
9	Saul Niguez	Atletico Madrid	23	23	18	22	86
10	Jose Callejon	Napoli	22	22	17	22	83
11	Thomas Muller	Bayern Munich	22	22	19	20	83
12	Ousmane Dembele	Borussia Dortmund	22	23	17	20	82
13	Gareth Bale	Real Madrid	21	23	18	20	82
14	Vitolo	Sevilla	21	20	17	20	78
15	Julian Brandt	Bayer Leverkusen	20	20	18	19	77
16	Andriy Yarmolenko	Dynamo Kiev	19	21	17	18	75
17	Gelson Martins	Sporting Lisbon	20	20	15	19	74
18	Ibrahima Traore	Borussia Monchengladbach	19	18	17	18	72
19	Thomas Lemar	AS Monaco	18	18	16	18	70
20	Andre Andre	FC Porto	17	17	15	17	66
21	James Forrest	Celtic	16	17	16	17	66
22	Birkir Bjarnason	FC Basel	17	16	15	16	64
23	Virgil Misidjan	Ludogorets	16	16	14	17	63
24	Zoran Tosic	CSKA Moscow	18	15	13	16	62
25	Hans Vanaken	Club Brugge	15	16	14	15	60

Notable Omissions

• Lionel Messi, Barcelona: injured
• Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich: played 31 minutes

Left Midfielders, Left-Wingers and Left-Sided Forwards

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Some of the best positional grades for the second round of Champions League group-stage matches come from the left flank. A number of the world's best attacking players enjoy starting positions on the left, and they proved their worth in Europe's top club competition last time out.

Napoli's Dries Mertens was the cream of that particular crop. The dynamic and direct winger was responsible for two of his club's goals during an open 4-2 contest against Benfica.

One man who does not need encouragement from his team-mates, nor seems particularly interested in spurring them on (at least not in constructive ways), is Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

Playing an open game opposed one of Europe's more progressive sides in Borussia Dortmund, the Portuguese superstar was in his element—using pace and acute anticipation to get in advantageous scoring positions. BVB's Andre Schurrle robbed Madrid of two points three minutes before the full-time whistle, but Ronaldo's 17th-minute strike was vital to Real getting an away point.

Tottenham Hotspur might have thought their campaign would start stuttering without centre-forward Harry Kane. The opposite has occurred. That resurgence is due in large part to the emergence of Heung-Min Son. The 24-year-old scored the only goal in Spurs' clash with CSKA Moscow, taking three points to bounce back from their loss to AS Monaco in their group-stage opener.

Lastly, Belgium have some exceptional talent. De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and the aforementioned Mertens are just some in a long list, but Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco is steadily climbing the ranks. His winner against Bayern Munich sent a clear message that Simeone's side should not be taken lightly. And neither should he.

Grading Scale

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Cre: Creativity (graded out of 25)

Fin: Finishing (graded out of 25)

Pro: Production (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Left Midfielder, Left-Winger and Left-Sided Forward Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Pas	Cre	Fin	Pro	Ovr
1	Dries Mertens	Napoli	24	24	25	25	98
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	23	24	25	25	97
3	Heung-Min Son	Tottenham Hotspur	22	24	25	25	96
4	Yannick Carrasco	Atletico Madrid	23	24	24	25	96
5	Angel Di Maria	Paris Saint-Germain	24	23	21	23	91
6	Nolito	Manchester City	21	22	23	23	89
7	Neymar	Barcelona	22	22	20	23	87
8	Viktor Tsygankov	Dynamo Kiev	20	20	23	23	86
9	Blaise Matuidi	Paris Saint-Germain	20	19	23	24	86
10	Koke	Atletico Madrid	21	22	19	22	84
11	Franck Ribery	Bayern Munich	21	21	20	20	82
12	Vitolo	Sevilla	22	19	19	20	80
13	Scott Sinclair	Celtic	20	21	18	21	80
14	Otavio	FC Porto	19	21	19	20	79
15	Hakan Calhanoglu	Bayer Leverkusen	18	19	20	19	76
16	Joao Moutinho	AS Monaco	17	20	19	19	75
17	Alex Iwobi	Arsenal	19	20	16	20	75
18	Rasmus Falk	Copenhagen	18	18	17	18	71
197	Marc Albrighton	Leicester City	19	18	16	17	70
20	Raphael Guerreiro	Borussia Dortmund	17	17	16	18	68
21	Bruno Cesar	Sporting Lisbon	18	16	16	16	66
22	Bernardo Silva	AS Monaco	16	17	16	15	64
23	Jose Izquierdo	Club Brugge	15	16	15	16	62
24	Pizzi	Benfica	15	14	14	16	59
25	Georgi Milanov	CSKA Moscow	13	15	14	14	56

Notable Omissions

• Douglas Costa, Bayern Munich: injured
• Admir Mehmedi, Bayer Leverkusen: played 17 minutes

Strikers and Centre-Forwards

Michael Steele/Getty Images

It was an interesting round for strikers and centre-forwards. Some of Europe's household names failed to get themselves on the scoresheet, but that allowed some lesser known players to climb the rankings.

Brendan Rodgers' Celtic were dismantled at the Camp Nou in their first group-stage fixture, Barcelona beating them 7-0. When playing at home, however, the Scottish champions are a dangerous side. Manchester City found that out, drawing 3-3 at Celtic Park. The Bhoys' star man was summer acquisition Moussa Dembele. The 20-year-old Frenchman scored twice and kept his club within touching distance of the a qualification spot in Group C.

Dembele's opposite number, Sergio Aguero, was one of several high-profile strikers who were just off the pace. The Manchester City talisman, Barcelona's Luis Suarez, Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema were all below their usual standards.

One player who turned things around was Edinson Cavani. The Paris Saint-Germain striker wasted chance after chance against Arsenal, but against Ludogorets, the 29-year-old was on song. Scoring twice, Cavani is the competition's joint-top goalscorer, with three goals.

Juventus duo Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain were on target against Dinamo Zagreb. The Argentina internationals scored a goal each, with the former assisting once. Serie A rivals Napoli have similarly found an on-form centre-forward. Higuain's replacement in Naples, former Ajax striker Arkadiusz Milik, scored three goals in the tournament and looked an impressive buy before injury robbed him of further participation.

Arsenal continue to progress with Sanchez at centre-forward. Wenger initially received criticism for using the Chilean star in a foreign position but—as weeks turn to months—Sanchez is looking more comfortable in the role. What this development could mean for Olivier Giroud remains a mystery.

Grading Scale

Pas: Passing (graded out of 25)

Cre: Creativity (graded out of 25)

Fin: Finishing (graded out of 25)

Pro: Production (graded out of 25)

Ovr: Top possible score of 100

Striker and Centre-Forward Rankings | Matchday 2

Rank	Player	Club	Pas	Cre	Fin	Pro	Ovr
1	Moussa Dembele	Celtic	24	24	25	25	98
2	Alexis Sanchez	Arsenal	25	25	22	25	97
3	Paulo Dybala	Juventus	23	24	24	25	96
4	Edinson Cavani	Paris Saint-Germain	22	23	25	25	95
5	Dmitry Poloz	FC Rostov	21	24	25	25	95
6	Arkadiusz Milik	Napoli	23	23	23	25	94
7	Thorgan Hazard	Borussia Monchengladbach	22	23	23	24	92
8	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	Borussia Dortmund	21	22	24	24	91
9	Javier Hernandez	Bayer Leverkusen	20	22	24	24	90
10	Luuk de Jong	PSV Eindhoven	19	21	24	25	89
11	Gonzalo Higuain	Juventus	19	23	23	24	89
12	Bas Dost	Sporting Lisbon	18	22	24	23	87
13	Federico Santander	Copenhagen	19	21	23	24	87
14	Wissam Ben Yedder	Sevilla	18	21	24	23	86
15	Bryan Ruiz	Sporting Lisbon	18	20	23	23	84
16	Islam Slimani	Leicester City	17	19	22	24	82
17	Antoine Griezmann	Atletico Madrid	21	21	19	19	80
18	Sardar Azmoun	FC Rostov	20	19	19	20	78
19	Goncalo Guedes	Benfica	19	21	17	20	77
20	Luciano Vietto	Sevilla	20	20	18	19	77
21	Luis Suarez	Barcelona	19	20	18	18	75
22	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	19	19	18	19	75
23	Vincent Aboubakar	Besiktas	19	18	18	18	73
24	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	18	19	17	19	73
25	Andreas Cornelius	Copenhagen	17	19	16	17	69
26	Jonathan Cafu	Ludogorets	18	18	16	16	68
27	Fernando Torres	Atletico Madrid	16	18	15	16	65
28	Maxwel Cornet	Olympique Lyonnais	16	19	15	14	64
29	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	16	17	14	15	62
30	Jamie Vardy	Leicester City	15	17	15	15	62

Notable Omissions

• Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur: injured
• Radamel Falcao, AS Monaco: injured

Follow @TaIkingTactics

Stats and transfer fees via WhoScored.com, Transfermarkt and Soccerbase where not noted.