European Team of the Week: Sergio Ramos and James Collins Make Unlikely Pairing

Cristiano Ronaldo is WhoScored.com’s European player of the week. The Real Madrid star was in fine form once again to help Los Blancos to a 5-1 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

The Portuguese netted late on in the victory to go with his two assists and was duly rewarded with his seventh WhoScored.com man-of-the-match award of the season.

Thomas Muller partners Ronaldo up front as Bayern reasserted their supremacy in Germany’s top tier. Pep Guardiola’s side secured an impressive 4-0 win away at Eintracht Frankfurt, with Muller helping himself to the first hat-trick scored in the Bundesliga this season. The German also played three key passes and completed two successful dribbles in the encounter.

PSG’s Serge Aurier comes into the XI at right-back and is the third player to attain a 10-out-of-10 rating this week. The Parisian outfit closed the gap at the summit of Ligue 1 to just one point having overcome Marseille 2-0 at the Parc des Princes.

Aurier played a hugely influential role in the victory, playing three key passes, one of which culminated in an assist. PSG may have attacked evenly down either flank (33 percent), but the Ivorian was crucial when on the ball, completely three successful dribbles, too. The defensive side of Aurier’s game was also tested in Le Classique, with the majority or Marseille’s attacks coming down their left wing (38 percent). The PSG right-back easily dealt with their offensive threat, making eight tackles, seven interceptions and five clearances.

On the opposite flank, Christian Gunter features at left-back. The 21-year-old bagged the opener in Freiburg’s 2-0 win over Schalke and ensured his side came away with all three points and a clean sheet, making five tackles and five clearances in an impressive victory for the hosts.

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Sergio Ramos stars at centre-back on the back of his commendable display for Madrid against Rayo. The Spaniard netted Madrid’s second in the encounter and was on hand to help the Liga table-toppers come away with all three points, winning four aerial duels, making three tackles, three interceptions and five clearances.

James Collins partners Ramos at the heart of the back line as a result of his clean-sheet-attaining performance against Aston Villa. The West Ham centre-back won eight aerial duels in Saturday’s stalemate at Upton Park, while his four tackles, four interceptions and 13 clearances guaranteed a positive result for the Hammers.

However, West Ham came away from the fixture frustrated due to the exploits of Villa No. 1 Brad Guzan. The American saved each of West Ham’s five shots on target and claimed five crosses in the match in east London as he helped the Villans to a confidence-boosting point at the Boleyn Ground.

Pawel Olkowski was WhoScored.com’s highest-rated midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues this week. After a lacklustre start to the season, FC Cologne appear to have turned a corner, winning three of their last four league games, and Olkowski played a key role in maintaining their good run of form at the weekend. The Pole netted two and registered an assist in Cologne’s entertaining 4-3 win at Hoffenheim.

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Bundesliga counterpart Tobias Werner features on the left wing, having had a hand in each of Augsburg’s goals in their 3-0 win over Paderborn. Like Olkowski, Werner also scored two goals and registered an assist, with his two goals coming from just two shots and his assist the result of one of his two key passes.

Hiroshi Kiyotake comes in in the middle of the park after a match-winning display against Hertha Berlin. The Japan international set up the opener for Jimmy Briand on the stroke of half time, before getting on the score sheet himself with 15 minutes remaining. Kiyotake also played three key passes and completed three successful dribbles as Hannover 96 head into the international break fourth in the Bundesliga.

Toni Kroos completes WhoScored.com’s European team of the week having excelled for Madrid on Saturday night. The Germany midfielder provided the assist for Gareth Bale’s opener after nine minutes. It was Kroos’ sixth assist of the season, meaning only Koke and Lionel Messi (both seven) have more in La Liga this term. The former Bayern ace also netted his first league goal for Madrid 10 minutes after the interval, while his four tackles and 94.2 percent pass success capped off a fine all-round midfield performance from the 24-year-old.

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