Champions League Player Rankings: Thiago, Alba, Messi and Ronaldo Shine
Welcome to the sixth round of our UEFA Champions League knockout-stage player rankings, in which we order the competition's top 20 players so far this season.
Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have all been confirmed as the semi-finalists for this year's tournament. We say goodbye to plenty of top performers from the likes of Monaco and Atletico Madrid, while a select few move into prime position to end the tournament in first place.
The criteria are simple: We pick the 20 best players on the basis of form in European games only and update the rankings after each round.
Did we miss anyone? Start the conversation in the comments below!
Dropouts
1 of 21
Gabi, Atletico Madrid: Came on as a substitute in the second half but struggled as Atletico were eventually worn down.
Marquinhos, Paris Saint-Germain: Had a so-so game and had difficulties against Barcelona's attack, but he played nowhere near as poorly as David Luiz.
20. Alvaro Morata, Juventus
2 of 21
Last Round: 16
Differential: -4
Alvaro Morata did very little to influence the game as Juventus drew away to Monaco on Wednesday. He was hauled off early by Massimiliano Allegri.
The Spaniard has been preferred to compatriot Fernando Llorente in the Champions League thus far, but he may have given his manager something to think about for the wrong reason as the Bianconeri gear up for the semi-finals.
19. Arturo Vidal, Juventus
3 of 21
Last Round: Unranked
Differential: New!
Arturo Vidal hasn't had the season many expected. Repercussions from a knee injury slowed the start to his campaign, and there have been other performers, such as Alvaro Morata, Roberto Pereyra and Carlos Tevez, who have dominated the attention in black and white.
But as the season ramps up to its epic conclusion, Vidal is finding a way to influence games again. His hard running and ability to perform a wide range of offensive and defensive tasks—he led Juventus in tackles in the second leg against Monaco despite being subbed off after 76 minutes—in the midfield diamond have seen him shoot into our top 20.
18. Fabinho, Monaco
4 of 21
Last Round: 19
Differential: +1
Fabinho tore up and down the right side of Monaco's formation on Wednesday night, but he couldn't quite conjure up the end product to crown his performance.
The Brazilian has proven himself a versatile, well-rounded player in the latter stages, stepping into holding midfield in the round of 16 before reverting to right-back against Juventus.
17. Neymar, Barcelona
5 of 21
Last Round: Unranked
Differential: New!
Neymar joins Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi in our top-20 form ranking. That should serve as an indicator of just how well Barcelona are clicking up front.
The Brazilian bagged a brace against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, adding to the single goal he scored at the Parc des Princes last week. His movement to flummox David Luiz was sublime, and his finishing was on point.
16. Thiago Alcantara, Bayern Munich
6 of 21
Last Round: Unranked
Differential: New!
Welcome back, Thiago Alcantara!
After troubling knee injuries wiped out close to a year of his fledgling career, he's returned with a goalscoring bang and helped Bayern Munich into the semi-finals.
His away goal at the Dragao gave Bayern a genuine lifeline heading into the second leg against Porto, and he scored the opener at the Allianz Arena by heading in a Juan Bernat cross from the left flank.
15. Carlos Tevez, Juventus
7 of 21
Last Round: 12
Differential: -3
Carlos Tevez was remarkably ineffectual against Monaco on Wednesday. The game opened in ideal fashion for him, with Monaco enjoying more of the ball and rendering Juventus capable of counter-attacking, but the Argentinian couldn't string anything together.
He was more effective than his strike partner—notably, Tevez had three shots to Alvaro Morata's zero—but the frustrating night capped a difficult two-legged tie for him against a brilliant Monegasques defensive line.
14. Jerome Boateng, Bayern Munich
8 of 21
Last Round: 20
Differential: +6
Jerome Boateng redeemed himself after a real howler last week, scoring Bayern Munich's second goal against FC Porto at the Allianz Arena and affirming the home side's superiority in the tie.
He managed to direct a good header into the corner of Fabiano's net after generating all the power from a knock back across goal. His defensive work was light thanks to Bayern's dominance in midfield, and he didn't make any errors to put his side in yet another tough position.
13. Miranda, Atletico Madrid
9 of 21
Last Round: 14
Differential: +1
Somewhat controversially, perhaps, Miranda was plugged back into Diego Simeone's XI for the Champions League second leg despite Jose Maria Gimenez's brilliant form in the league.
The Brazilian responded with a strong performance in the penalty area for 87 minutes, but he was drawn out and beaten by a Cristiano Ronaldo-James Rodriguez one-two in the channel for Real Madrid's eventual winner.
12. Karim Benzema, Real Madrid
10 of 21
Last Round: 8
Differential: -4
Karim Benzema was injured for Real Madrid's second leg against Atletico Madrid, hence the drop in these rankings. Javier Hernandez started in his place and scored the winner.
11. Jordi Alba, Barcelona
11 of 21
Last Round: 15
Differential: +4
Jordi Alba gave Gregory van der Wiel plenty of problems again on Tuesday, with Barcelona knocking early balls in to him to exploit one-on-one opportunities.
The Spaniard has been a constant threat moving forward in the knockout stages and has managed to steer clear of suspensions—a genuine feat for him, given his tendency to get booked for getting involved in other people's scraps.
10. Yacine Brahimi, FC Porto
12 of 21
Last Round: 4
Differential: -6
Yacine Brahimi wasn't quite as ineffective as his wing partner, Ricardo Quaresma, who was hooked at half-time for teenager Ruben Neves, but he was still pretty useless.
FC Porto struggled to get out of their own third in the first 30 minutes, and before they knew it, they were 3-0 down. Bayern Munich pressed and stopped Brahimi from dribbling forward, blunting his impact. Eventually, Julen Lopetegui substituted him too.
It was down Brahimi's (and Diego Reyes') side where much of Bayern's good play originated.
9. Geoffrey Kondogbia, Monaco
13 of 21
Last Round: 11
Differential: +2
Geoffrey Kondogbia seized one final chance to shine, performing well in midfield as Monaco battled to a stalemate at home to Juventus.
Once again he looked the most likely to make something happen in the final third, and he fizzed one shot just past the post in the first half. Kondogbia's size and strength allow him to break through midfield marking systems and beat his markers—a valuable game-changer in the right area of the pitch.
8. Luis Suarez, Barcelona
14 of 21
Last Round: 10
Differential: +2
Neymar took the credit thanks to his brace against Paris Saint-Germain, but Luis Suarez played an important role, as ever, drawing markers away with clever runs.
The Uruguayan has hit the headlines of late after a goalscoring spree—five in his last five appearances—but he reminded us all once again that he's the ultimate team player when it comes to creating space for others. He took to the right wing late on to allow Lionel Messi inside.
7. Jackson Martinez, FC Porto
15 of 21
Last Round: 3
Differential: -4
FC Porto were dreadful in their second leg against Bayern Munich—a real comedown from the first match at the Dragao, where they were oh so impressive.
Jackson did at least salvage his own personal performance at the Allianz Arena by netting a late consolation goal, likely maintaining his stock as a top-level striker, but no one in blue performed well on Tuesday.
6. Blaise Matuidi, Paris Saint-Germain
16 of 21
Last Round: 6
Differential: None
Blaise Matuidi just about edged a 6/10 performance at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, and bar Marco Verratti, there isn't a single other Paris Saint-Germain player who can claim to have matched his efforts.
Laurent Blanc's tactics were awful; he played a 4-4-2 diamond shape that had no discipline or structure and left Matuidi to man the entire left side by himself. One goal came directly from his area of jurisdiction, but he did well simply to cap it at that.
5. Koke, Atletico Madrid
17 of 21
Last Round: 5
Differential: None
Koke did well simply to keep his chin above water at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night, as Diego Simeone moved him all over the place while tinkering with formations and tactics.
As a result of the chopping and changing, he struggled to have a positive impact on the game, and while positionally he was very good (as usual), he did little when the ball arrived at his feet.
4. Aymen Abdennour, Monaco
18 of 21
Last Round: 9
Differential: +5
It was another good, strong performance from Aymen Abdennour this week, and it will be a shame to see him exit the competition.
Monaco enjoyed 57 percent possession, per WhoScored.com, which is more than they're used to. It gave us the chance to see Abdennour higher up the pitch in space, and he passed the eye test there too.
Far from just a penalty-box monster, the Tunisian looks a well-rounded centre-back. European scouts should be considering his number.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
19 of 21
Last Round: 7
Differential: +4
Cristiano Ronaldo once again struggled to free himself of Atletico Madrid's shackles, but he did eventually wriggle into space in the closing moments to provide the assist for Javier Hernandez's goal.
It's the sort of telling impact on a game an elite player has to make and has a tendency to make. The relief on Ronaldo's face was plain to see.
2. Juanfran, Atletico Madrid
20 of 21
Last Round: 2
Differential: None
Juanfran bows out of the competition after two defensively solid but toothless performances against Real Madrid.
Over two legs, his attacking game was nonexistent—partially due to Diego Simeone's tactics, but he also failed to take advantage of a few opportunities—but Cristiano Ronaldo was quiet on his flank, particularly in the first leg when he barely influenced proceedings at all.
1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona
21 of 21
Last Round: 1
Differential: None
Lionel Messi hasn't scored for four UEFA Champions League games in a row, but don't be fooled by the statistics: He's playing superbly.
With his decimation of Manchester City still fresh in the memory, Messi has tortured Paris Saint-Germain over two legs and contributed heavily to the 5-1 aggregate victory. His weaving, mazy dribbles have caused havoc and created chances for others.
David Luiz had a nightmare trying to deal with his movement.
