European Team of the Week: Neymar, Van Der Vaart and Sergio Ramos Impress

As Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of West Ham United, one of their former stars impressed on the Continent. Against a resolute Hammers side, the creativity of Rafael van der Vaart would have been an asset to Spurs, with the Dutchman attaining a WhoScored.com rating of 10.0 during Hamburg’s 5-0 drubbing of Nurnberg.

With two assists and a goal, van der Vaart shone in only their second win of the season. Making up the remainder of the midfield is Loic Remy, Remy Cabella and Juan Iturbe, all of whom netted for their respective sides at the weekend, reinforcing their selection in the European team of the week.

Yet, while Van der Vaart impressed, teammate Pierre-Michel Lasogga was awarded the WhoScored.com man of the match as a result of his hat-trick in Hamburg’s 5-0 win. The 21-year-old netted his three goals from just five shots on target, and with one key pass and three successful dribbles during a blistering 85-minute outing, the young German more than deserved to be named Europe’s player of the weekend.

Partnering Lasogga in the attack line is Neymar, who helped Barcelona to a 4-1 win over Valladolid to maintain their 100 percent start to the season. The Brazilian, in the absence of Lionel Messi, led the line for Gerardo Martino’s side in style, netting one and assisting another. With two key passes and nine successful dribbles, Neymar was deserving of his rating of 9.8.

Making up the La Liga contingent are Sergio Ramos and Yoel of Real Madrid and Celta Vigo respectively, with the two players impressing this weekend. Ramos made seven tackles—the most of any Real player—and 11 effective clearances, accentuating his rating of 9.7. Yoel may have conceded twice in Celta’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid, but with 10 saves to his name, the Spaniard rightly picked up the man of the match award having kept the scoreline respectable.

Ahead of Yoel, and partnering Ramos in the heart of defence, is West Ham’s Winston Reid. The New Zealander was imperious during the 3-0 win over Spurs, netting the opener, making six interceptions and nine clearances to ensure that the Hammers are yet to concede a goal from open play away from home this season.

Flanking Ramos and Reid is the Bundesliga pairing of Atsuto Uchida and Marcell Jansen, both of whom impressed in wins for their respective teams. The former picked up two assists in Schalke’s 4-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday, while the latter made five tackles and won five aerial duels in Hamburg’s 5-0 victory to pick up a rating of 8.3.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.