Casemiro, Muller and Thiago Silva Headline Champions League Team of the Week
Real Madrid, Porto, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain will make up half the draw for the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League, and each of the four sides booked its place in the next round thanks to standout performances from key players.
Some of Tuesday's and Wednesday's losing teams also generated impressive displays that made things interesting in the round of 16.
Following is our Champions League Team of the Week.
Goalkeeper: Timon Wellenreuther, Schalke
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Schalke were 4-3 winners at Real Madrid on Tuesday but still went out of the Champions League on a 5-4 aggregate. Nevertheless, goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther made several key saves in the victory, notably denying Gareth Bale in the 35th minute and Toni Kroos early in the second half.
Right-Back: Marquinhos, Paris Saint-Germain
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Marquinhos was getting forward with regularity before PSG team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic was controversially sent off in the 31st minute against Chelsea—after which his task changed dramatically.
But the Brazilian right-back did ever so well to contain both Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, who drifted to his side of the pitch, and, according to WhoScored.com, completed 94 percent of his passes, won all of his aerial duels and contributed four tackles.
Centre-Back: Thiago Silva, Paris Saint-Germain
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Thiago Silva quite nearly put his side out of the Champions League when he handled the ball in extra time on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge. But after Eden Hazard successfully converted the resulting penalty the PSG defender regrouped and scored what proved to be the tie-winning goal against Chelsea.
As freelance football journalist Jason Pettigrove noted on Twitter, "That is one of the best headers you will ever see from Thiago Silva."
Centre-Back: Marcano, Porto
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Marcano played 35 minutes of Porto's 4-0 win over Basel on a booking and as a result of his infraction will miss the first leg of his side's upcoming quarter-final. He remained composed, however, and didn't give the likes of Shkelzen Gashi and Marco Streller an inch on the rare occasion the Swiss outfit pressed forward.
Left-Back: Alex Sandro, Porto
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Alex Sandro began Tuesday's round-of-16 second leg at the left-back position for Porto but ended up on the right-hand side after team-mate Danilo's injury forced a reshuffle in the defense. He didn't skip a beat and combined exceptionally well with the Porto midfielders and attackers, who were allowed to tuck inside and crowd the midfield because of his positional competence.
Midfielder: Thiago Motta, Paris Saint-Germain
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Marco Verratti was PSG's true star in the centre of the park against Chelsea on Wednesday, but after he was withdrawn in the 82nd minute it fell to Thiago Motta to keep things organised in midfield.
"Thiago Motta, king among men," analysed Goal's Peter Staunton.
Midfielder: Casemiro, Porto
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Casemiro put in an all-world display in the Porto midfield on Tuesday, scoring a sumptuous free-kick goal against Basel and also breaking up play and passing efficiently in a complete performance.
"What a free-kick from Casemiro!" tweeted beIN Sports pundit Tancredi Palmeri in all caps.
Midfielder: Christian Fuchs, Schalke
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Real Madrid, ahead 2-0 from the first leg in Gelsenkirchen, found themselves with a tricky match on their hands when Christian Fuchs opened the scoring for Schalke after 20 minutes at the Bernabeu. The Royal Blues man then set up Leroy Sane's goal just before the hour mark.
Forward: Yacine Brahimi, Porto
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Yacine Brahimi got Porto off to an ideal start against Basel when he beat goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik with a spectacular free-kick after just 14 minutes. He also assisted Hector Herrera's goal shortly after the restart.
As OptaJean pointed out on Twitter, "Yacini Brahimi is the only player to have scored 2+ direct free kick goals in the Champions League this season."
Forward: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Schalke
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Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored late in each half on Tuesday, stunning former club Real Madrid with the brace and leading Schalke to an impressive 4-3 win that nearly lifted them into the quarter-finals.
"A touch of Klaas! Huntelaar with a great goal," tweeted the Dutch Football account.
Forward: Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich
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It took just four minutes for Thomas Muller to open the scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. He successfully converted from the spot following Olexandr Kucher's foul on Mario Gotze and subsequent ejection, but he wasn't finished just yet. He completed his brace in the 51st minute as Bayern romped to a 7-0 win.
