Champions League Team of the Week: Hart, Messi Lead the Way

The UEFA Champions League round of 16 is complete, with AS Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus joining Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Real Madrid in the final eight.

Before we look ahead to the quarter-finals, it's time to assess some of the finest individual performances of the last batch of knockout matches.

In the following slides, we reveal our picks for the Champions League team of the week. Only players who featured for teams in this week's games received consideration. Criteria for selection included individual moments of brilliance, living up to or exceeding expectations, making a significant contribution to the cause of one's team or any combination of the three.

Which players would make your team of the week? Let us know in the comments below.

Goalkeeper

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

No matter what the 1-0 scoreline would suggest, Barcelona did more than defeat Manchester City on Wednesday. In truth, Barcelona dominated City, playing at a higher level than their Premier League opponents for much of the night.

If not for the contribution of goalkeeper Joe Hart, City could—perhaps should—have lost by four or five goals. But Hart was superb, making 10 saves to limit Barcelona to only a single goal. According to the Champions League on Twitter, no goalkeeper has made more saves in a single Champions League game this season.

The only time Barcelona beat Hart, the England goalkeeper was blameless. Lionel Messi picked apart the defence with a devastating ball over the top, and Ivan Rakitic applied a superb finish after chesting down expertly in the box.

Following the match, City midfielder James Milner paid tribute to his side's No. 1, telling Sky Sports (h/t BBC Sport): "Joe Hart was incredible. He's shown what a great goalkeeper he is. It could have been out of sight but he was amazing tonight."

After a dip in form in recent times, Hart was back at his best Wednesday night. Unfortunately for him, Barcelona were in another class, and now City are out of Europe.

Defenders

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Arsenal crashed out of Europe on Tuesday after failing to make up enough ground against Monaco in the second leg. Despite the exit, centre-back Laurent Koscielny played a leading role as the Gunners attempted a glorious—but ultimately futile—comeback.

Koscielny's partner, German giant Per Mertesacker, also turned in a fine shift, but the nod goes to the Frenchman for his consistently solid defensive work as well as his ability to start attacks from the back.

Alongside Koscielny stands Atletico Madrid's Miranda, who helped Diego Simeone's side nail down a quarter-final spot by seeing off Bayer Leverkusen. Miranda's positioning was excellent, allowing the Brazilian to cut out numerous Leverkusen attacks.

On the left is Wendell, who stood out for Bayer Leverkusen despite his side's exit at the hands of Atletico. Across the park, Juventus' Stephan Lichtsteiner did well to corral the threat of Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus and also contributed often to the counter-attack down Juve's left.

Midfielders

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Atletico Madrid claim a second entry in our team at defensive midfield, where Mario Suarez was outstanding. The Spaniard shielded his back four, scored a vital goal and took an excellent penalty in the shootout. All in all, it was a standout display.

Barcelona ran riot in the first half against Manchester City but only managed the single goal, which midfielder Ivan Rakitic scored with aplomb. Set up by Lionel Messi's tremendous cross-field pass, Rakitic chested down before poking the ball past Joe Hart. It was a top-class finish, not even considering how well Hart played Wednesday night.

Rounding out the midfield, which admittedly lacks width, are Arsenal's Santi Cazorla and Juventus' Claudio Marchisio. The latter contributed at both ends of the pitch in Andrea Pirlo's role, with Goal.com calling his transition play "nothing short of brilliant." The Italian closed out the space in which Marco Reus wanted to operate and clogged the middle to stop Dortmund from playing.

Cazorla has been a top performer on most nights for Arsene Wenger's side this spring, and his display against Monaco was typically strong, as Andrew Mangan noted for ESPN FC: "Brilliant again, close control, working the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, a deep-lying playmaker in great form."

Forwards

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Juventus cruised into the quarter-finals with an impressive 3-0 victory at Borussia Dortmund, and Carlos Tevez got the night started in style with a fantastic long-range finish in just the third minute.

Holding the ball well outside the box, Tevez spotted an opening at Roman Weidenfeller's near post and powered an unstoppable shot into the top corner for a quick Juve lead. The Bianconeri never looked back, and Tevez added a second goal 11 minutes from time.

His partner up front, Barcelona's Lionel Messi, never did score the goal that his play against Man City so richly deserved. But the little Argentinian wizard set up Ivan Rakitic's winner brilliantly and generally wreaked havoc on City's defence all night.

At no time was his superiority more apparent than when Messi flew about the pitch in the first half, nutmegging City players and playing outrageous passes to his teammates. All in all, his performance amounted to a perfect 10.0 rating at WhoScored.com.

Full Team

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Wendell (Bayer Leverkusen)

Midfielders: Mario Suarez (Atletico Madrid), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)

Forwards: Carlos Tevez (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Who would make your team of the week? Tell us in the comments below.