Champions League Player Rankings: Aguero, Messi, Matic and Cavani Rise
Welcome to the second round of our UEFA Champions League knockout-stage player rankings this season, in which we order the competition's top-20 players so far.
The criteria is simple: We pick the 20 best players on the basis of form in European games only.
We'll be running the ranking every week as the games take place, so for those playing on the next matchday, we'll simply note as appropriate. Group-stage form will still count, so strong performances before Christmas are still a factor in our grading.
Note: All blurbs of players who played last week are copied from last week's edition, which can be found here.
Note: Marco Reus has been added to the ranking following the revealing that Lucas Moura is out for a month.
Honourable Mentions / Dropping out
1 of 21
Impressive Round 1 Performers
Marco Verratti, Paris Saint-Germain: Ran rings around Chelsea's midfield.
Thiago Silva, Paris Saint-Germain: Shut down Diego Costa with ease.
Hector Herrera, FC Porto: A dominant, commanding, creative and powerful performance.
Marcelo, Real Madrid: Next in line to enter; he just missed out.
Fernando, Shakhtar Donetsk: Shut the door in Bayern's face.
Paul Pogba, Juventus: Dominant in central midfield against Dortmund.
Alvaro Morata, Juventus: Had his way with Jurgen Klopp's back line.
Geoffrey Kondogbia, Monaco: Ripped Arsenal to shreds with surging runs.
Fabinho, Monaco: Out of position in holding midfield but still absolutely superb.
Joao Moutinho, Monaco: Decided to show up for once, and what a performance it was.
Aymen Abdennour, Monaco: Looked iffy early on but recovered and played brilliantly in defence.
Hakan Calhanoglu, Bayer Leverkusen: Scored the only goal of the game against Atletico Madrid and pressed well.
Karim Bellarabi, Bayer Leverkusen: Ran his socks off and provided an assist for Calhanoglu.
20. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
2 of 21
Last Round: 17
Differential: -3
Alexis Sanchez struggled badly against Monaco, with their deep defensive setup removing the space for him to dribble past opponents. It was, admittedly, rather foreseeable.
He tried and tried, then kept on trying; his endeavour to force through small gaps was admirable, but he was consistently dispossessed by the magnificent Geoffrey Kondogbia.
19. Blaise Matuidi, Paris Saint-Germain
3 of 21
Last Round: 19
Differential: None
He doesn't do it as often as he should—in fact, it's as if he saves his big performances for UEFA Champions League nights now—but Blaise Matuidi's impact against Chelsea on February 17 was remarkable.
His classic lung-busting runs were back, and his breaching of the penalty box caused Branislav Ivanovic no end of problems. His assist, a cross, for Edinson Cavani's equaliser was inch-perfect, and he forced Thibaut Courtois into a superb save with a header of his own in the first half.
18. Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea
4 of 21
Last Round: 18
Differential: None
Thibaut Courtois has had some excellent performances in the UEFA Champions League this season, but his form has been difficult to praise because he and Petr Cech share a spot.
Off the back of his latest performance, though, it's impossible not to include the Belgian in our top 20. He single-handedly saved Chelsea from returning to west London with a two- or three-goal deficit to recover.
He pulled off several excellent saves to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic and co. at bay.
17. Yacine Brahimi, FC Porto
5 of 21
Last Round: 16
Differential: -1
Yacine Brahimi was terrible against Basel on February 18. He was outmuscled early on and never recovered, as the home side played a physical game to disrupt his flow.
The moment he was substituted off for Ricardo Quaresma, FC Porto's attack stepped up two or three notches, and they equalised soon after. Quaresma's cross invited the handball and penalty conceded by Walter Samuel.
16. Gabi, Atletico Madrid
6 of 21
Last Round: 13
Differential: -3
Gabi was, frankly, overrun in central midfield as Bayer Leverkusen out-pressed Atletico Madrid in midfield. It was a truly remarkable sight.
He tried his best to marshal the midfield and came oh-so-close to achieving a valuable away clean sheet, but he must now lead the charge at the Vicente Calderon in the second leg and try to repair the damage.
15. Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid
7 of 21
Last Round: 14
Differential: -1
Diego Godin's game, for once, lacked dominance, but some of the blame for Atletico Madrid's rare defensive imbalance should be placed on Miranda's shoulders too. The Brazilian doesn't look quite up to speed following an injury-wrecked few months.
Atleti were fortunate to escape the BayArena with just a one-goal deficit. Godin drops in our rankings after a rare bad performance and must improve ahead of the second leg.
14. Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund
8 of 21
Last Round: New!
Differential: New!
Marco Reus has only played three games in the Champions League this season, but in all three he's been fantastic.
He bagged two goals and an assist across both ties with Galatasaray in the group stage, and continued his strong form in the knockout rounds with a vital away strike at the Juventus Stadium.
With a new contract under his belt and fitness restored, he's Jurgen Klopp's biggest weapon once again.
13. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
9 of 21
Last Round: 20
Differential: +7
Sergio Aguero fed off scraps as Manchester City lost to Barcelona on Tuesday night, but as always, he made one of his few chances count.
A firm finish past the outstretched paw of Marc-Andre ter Stegen gave Manchester City a chance in this two-legged tie, though they'll need to win at Camp Nou in order to progress. Aguero, undoubtedly, will be key.
12. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund
10 of 21
Last Round: 11
Differential: -1
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggled for space against Juventus despite the game in Turin being pretty stretched. He's excelled up front for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in recent weeks but was put out on the right here by Jurgen Klopp.
Ciro Immobile led the press and Aubameyang's legs undoubtedly had an impact in forcing mistakes, but he was far from his usual sharp self.
11. Ciro Immobile, Borussia Dortmund
11 of 21
Last Round: 15
Differential: +4
Ciro Immobile led the line for Borussia Dortmund against Juventus in Turin on Tuesday, starting the press high up and working his socks off when the home side had the ball.
He dispossessed Andrea Pirlo and co. a number of times early and forced mistakes; had BVB shown a little more cutting edge (stop us if you've heard this before!), they'd have picked up more than just one away goal.
10. Edinson Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain
12 of 21
Last Round: 10
Differential: None
Edinson Cavani impressed on the big stage and perhaps atoned for his fruitless showing in the same fixture last year. His headed goal in the second half drew Paris Saint-Germain level with Chelsea and reignited the fight among Les Parisiens' players.
He should have scored a second later on, after a sublime piece of skill left him with only Thibaut Courtois to beat from an angle, but he fired wide.
9. Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea
13 of 21
Last Round: 9
Differential: None
Cesc Fabregas started slightly further forward again, playing near the No. 10 role in possession. He beat out Oscar to the spot as Ramires came into holding midfield, presumably to track David Luiz and Blaise Matuidi's runs.
The Spaniard, despite having a lot of space to use on paper, struggled to find a rhythm and was substituted late on for the aforementioned Oscar. He barely came close to his usual influential standards.
8. Karim Benzema, Real Madrid
14 of 21
Last Round: 7
Differential: -1
Despite Real Madrid winning 2-0 and effectively sewing up the tie with Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, Karim Benzema struggled.
He was frequently caught offside, even testing the limits Cristiano Ronaldo sets in this department, and his passing looked a little off. Given his 10/10 performance in the same fixture last year, this one stings a little.
7. Jackson Martinez, FC Porto
15 of 21
Last Round: 6
Differential: -1
Jackson Martinez disappointed immensely at Basel, failing to shake free the rather timid, weak grasp of Marek Suchy and Walter Samuel.
He had a case for a penalty in the first half, granted, but overall he struggled to make his mark on the match and FC Porto failed to play off him regularly due to a lack of space.
6. Juanfran, Atletico Madrid
16 of 21
Last Round: 8
Differential: +2
Juanfran was solid if unspectacular in Atletico Madrid's loss to Bayer Leverkusen. He wasn't much of an attacking threat as Los Colchoneros were pinned back, but he was his normal, dependable self in the defensive third.
Most of B04's attacking threat came via the central channels, so the Spaniard wasn't exactly tested, but he held up just fine when asked the question.
5. Koke, Atletico Madrid
17 of 21
Last Round: 5
Differential: None
Koke missed Atletico Madrid's loss to Bayer Leverkusen with a hamstring injury. He's expected to be back for the second leg, and his influence will be badly needed to overturn the deficit.
4. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
18 of 21
Last Round: 4
Differential: None
Eden Hazard had a quiet game at the Parc des Princes in front of the club who, in the past, have tried to extract him from Chelsea's ranks, per the Daily Mail.
Paris Saint-Germain fouled him nine times, per WhoScored.com, as the hosts attempted to keep him very, very quiet. Some of it was a bit rough-and-tumble—particularly the stuff from Marco Verratti—but the post-match fury from the Daily Mail is perhaps a little bit much.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
19 of 21
Last Round: 3
Differential: None
A goal and an assist for Cristiano Ronaldo is par for the course. The Real Madrid man opened the scoring in the first half via an unmarked free header to break the Schalke resistance and then teed up Marcelo for the sealer.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of his performance was that he took a pretty good free-kick in the second half. But in 2014-15, the quality of his set pieces has been awful overall.
With Eden Hazard, Jackson Martinez and Karim Benzema all underwhelming to an extent, and with Koke injured, Ronaldo hangs on to third spot almost by default.
2. Nemanja Matic, Chelsea
20 of 21
Last Round: 1
Differential: -1
Most of Chelsea's midfield struggled immensely at the Parc des Princes, but Nemanja Matic rose to the occasion.
The Serbian broke up play superbly in front of his defence and put in several important challenges to halt Marco Verratti and co. He was stretched wide and forced to chase the likes of Blaise Matuidi back into the box and help the overrun Branislav Ivanovic.
He moved into the No. 1 spot last week, but a certain Argentinian wizard reclaimed it on Tuesday after a truly remarkable performance.
1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona
21 of 21
Last Round: 2
Differential: +1
Despite his missing a penalty, you won't see a better individual performance this round than Lionel Messi's destruction of Manchester City.
He ran rings around the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium, torturing Vincent Kompany and co. with his sublime movement, dribbling talents and creative passing. Had Luis Suarez not intercepted most of his arced balls toward Neymar in space, he may also have ended the match with an assist or two.
He was, quite simply, unplayable.
