European Team of the Week: Luis Suarez Leads Lionel Messi, Neymar for No. 1 Spot
After a week which saw Barcelona score 14 goals in 180 minutes of league action, it’s no real surprise to see the potent trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar feature in WhoScored.com’s European team of the week.
The triumvirate bagged 11 of the 14 goals in back-to-back wins over Getafe and Cordoba as the Blaugrana reaffirmed their status as title favourites.
Our player of the week is Suarez, who has found his best form for the Liga giants.
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The Uruguay international gained successive 10s over the past week having netted five goals and registered a further three assists as Barcelona broke the 100-goal barrier in Spain’s top tier for the fourth consecutive season.
Seven key passes also contributed to Suarez’s impressive rating over both games, with the former Liverpool star hitting his stride just in time for the midweek Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic partners Suarez in attack. While the powerhouse Swede failed to net in PSG’s 2-0 win at Nantes on Sunday night, Ibrahimovic provided the assist for Blaise Matuidi’s strike on the half-hour mark.
Over the 90 minutes, the experienced frontman played four key passes and won seven aerial duels. Ibrahimovic also aided his side defensively, making four clearances in the win.
Bar Dani Parejo of Valencia, it’s an all-Barcelona midfield this week, focusing first on Messi.
The Argentina international helped himself to four goals and two assists in resounding victories over Getafe and Cordoba, while 10 key passes, eight successful dribbles and a combined pass success rate of 86.1 percent over the two fixtures contributed to successive ratings of 10.
Neymar stars on the opposite flank this week. Not one to miss out on the action, the flamboyant Brazilian netted two goals and registered one assist against Getafe and Cordoba.
Eight successful dribbles and three key passes contributed to an impressive average rating of 9.01 as Neymar continues to enjoy a notable second season in Spain.
Ivan Rakitic is in the team at the heart of the midfield. The Croatian opened the scoring against Cordoba at the weekend, before turning provider for team-mate Gerard Pique after the interval.
Four key passes, one tackle and two interceptions contributed to Rakitic’s rating of 9.15 in Barcelona’s 8-0 win at the Estadio Nuevo Arcangel.
Parejo features alongside Rakitic in the middle of the park. The Spaniard netted in league meetings with Rayo Vallecano and Eibar, securing our successive man-of-the-match awards in the process.
Seven key passes contributed to a notable average rating of 8.60 over the two matches, though Parejo’s work off the ball also caught the eye. The 26-year-old made five tackles and four interceptions to gain a place in our team of the week.
Marc Albrighton comes into the side at right-back following noteworthy displays for Leicester against Chelsea and Newcastle.
The Foxes are now one of the favourites to secure safety following their recent upturn in form having won five of their last six in the Premier League, with Albrighton playing a big role in Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Newcastle.
A majority of Leicester’s attacks came down the right wing (43 percent), with Albrighton playing an influential role in the Foxes' offensive moves down that side of the pitch.
The former Aston Villa man played seven key passes against Newcastle, two of which culminated in assists for Leonardo Ulloa and Wes Morgan.
It was a similar scenario against Chelsea, with a majority of Leicester’s attacks coming down the right flank (49 percent).
Albrighton netted the opener in the 3-1 home loss to the Blues, but impressed over the 90 minutes as his rating against Chelsea (8.02) suggests.
A combined total of nine key passes and eight tackles contributed to his average rating of 8.66 over the two fixtures.
Aleksandar Kolarov is at left-back in the team this week. Kolarov turned out a hugely resolute display for Manchester City in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Tottenham, making three tackles, eight interceptions and two clearances as City held on to secure maximum points at White Hart Lane.
Jeong-Ho Hong comes in at centre-back after a solid showing for Augsburg in their 0-0 draw with FC Cologne on Saturday.
The South Korean won 18 aerial duels in the stalemate, accentuating his statistically calculated WhoScored.com strength of "aerial duels." Two tackles, two interceptions and six clearances contributed to his rating of 8.96.
Pique partners Hong at the heart of the back line as a result of his performance against Cordoba.
The Spain international netted his fifth league goal of the season in the 8-0 trouncing of Cordoba, while four tackles, four interceptions, four clearances and a 92.8 percent pass success rounded off an impressive display from the centre-back at the weekend.
Boaz Myhill completes the team this week following his match-winning display for West Brom.
The Baggies made it back-to-back league wins over Manchester United at Old Trafford with a steadfast 1-0 victory over Louis van Gaal’s side, for which they have Myhill to thank.
The Wales international made a total of nine saves—one of which was to deny a second-half Robin van Persie penalty—to secure our man-of-the-match award and effectively guarantee West Brom’s Premier League safety.
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.
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