Champions League Player Rankings: Tevez Rises, Messi Reigns, Boateng Drops
Welcome to the seventh round of our UEFA Champions League knockout-stage player rankings, in which we order the competition's top players so far this season. As we're now in the semi-finals, we have narrowed the field down to a top 15, knocking five off the bottom and moving away from the top-20 format.
Both home sides claimed important victories in the first legs, with Barcelona desecrating Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich 3-0 and Juventus squeezing out a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid. An astonishing 11 players have dropped from last week—a few due to poor form and the format change, nine due to their clubs being knocked out at the quarter-final stage—so expect seismic shifts and massive readjustments.
The criteria are simple: We pick the 15 best players on the basis of form in Champions League games only and update the rankings after each round.
Did we miss anyone? Start the conversation in the comments below!
Dropouts
1 of 16
Due to their sides exiting the competition, the following players have left the rankings. The number in brackets denotes their rank following the culmination of the quarter-finals.
Juanfran, Atletico Madrid (2)
Aymen Abdennour, Monaco (4)
Koke, Atletico Madrid (5)
Blaise Matuidi, Paris Saint-Germain (6)
Jackson Martinez, FC Porto (7)
Geoffrey Kondogbia, Monaco (9)
Yacine Brahimi, FC Porto (10)
Miranda, Atletico Madrid (13)
Fabinho, Monaco (18)
In addition, Karim Benzema, Real Madrid (12), did not play due to injury and drops out. Jerome Boateng, Bayern Munich (14), was shown the trap door by Lionel Messi and leaves as a result.
15. Thiago Alcantara, Bayern Munich
2 of 16
Last Week: 16
Differential: +1
As we shift from a top 20 to a top 15, Thiago Alcantara fortuitously finds himself moving up one spot. Had it not been for several players dropping out of the rankings because their teams were eliminated, he wouldn't have managed that.
The Spaniard experienced a miserable return to his former home at the Camp Nou, losing 3-0. He played in a strange role wide to the right initially before tucking inside, but he was unable to impact whatever the position.
Perhaps the only positive to emanate from the situation is that Thiago can say he's played against his younger brother; Rafinha Alcantara came on in the closing stages for the hosts.
14. Patrice Evra, Juventus
3 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Patrice Evra told reporters that it was "United blood" that helped him and Carlos Tevez topple Real Madrid in Turin on Tuesday, per Ben Gladwell ESPN FC. By that, he means they are "champions" and don't shirk the big stage.
The Frenchman has had a quietly impressive season after dropping off the relative map following his exit from Old Trafford. The battle he had against Dani Carvajal on the left flank on Tuesday was enticing, energetic and hard-fought.
13. Leonardo Bonucci, Juventus
4 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
It was Stefano Sturaro who ended up making the remarkable block on James Rodriguez's header, forcing it onto the bar, but one Juventus player has been a defensive force more regularly.
Leonardo Bonucci has developed into one of the most consistent and reliable defenders in the world, and he was again brilliant while defending Juventus' lead on Tuesday. He dominated aerially and tracked Real Madrid's runs into the box very well.
12. Javier Mascherano, Barcelona
5 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Gerard Pique may be back to something closely resembling top form, but he's always seemingly on the verge of a huge blunder—a fact he again showed on Wednesday during Barcelona's defeat of Bayern Munich with a swinging, sliced clearance.
Javier Mascherano, on the other hand, has carried his brilliant La Liga form into Europe and remains one of the least error-prone and most consistent centre-backs on the planet. That's high praise given he's actually a defensive midfielder.
He was sturdy, firm in the challenge and commanding in the face of danger at the Camp Nou.
11. Dani Alves, Barcelona
6 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Dani Alves had a genuine game of two halves on Wednesday. In the first, he did very little of note in either third of the pitch. But in the second, he exploded into life.
As he got forward more and more, the right flank became a dominant area for Barcelona. Strong in possession and accurate with his passing, Alves helped build overloads and attract markers to free up Lionel Messi.
He surged into the box and came close to toeing a good through ball home, then bagged an assist for Messi's first goal by flummoxing two markers and feeding the ball inside for a finish.
10. Claudio Marchisio, Juventus
7 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Claudio Marchisio has been on the cusp of joining our rankings for a while after turning in a series of solid, steady performances for Juventus.
Against Borussia Dortmund, he filled in as the regista (of sorts) while Andrea Pirlo was away, and now he's moved back into his regular shuttling midfield role. He worked hard against Real Madrid, covering the gaps that appeared and chasing down the ball to limit time for Los Blancos to pick a pass.
There's an outside chance he's fielded in an even more attacking role at the Bernabeu, with Massimiliano Allegri safe in the knowledge that wherever he plays Marchisio, he'll get a 7/10 performance at the least.
9. Ivan Rakitic, Barcelona
8 of 16
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
After 45 even minutes in which Barcelona and Bayern Munich couldn't be split, Ivan Rakitic finally wrested control of the midfield and helped turn the tide in his side's favour.
Die Bayern still finished with more possession—they won that particular battle—but Rakitic put in key tackles and followed them up with key passes, moving his side forward and allowing Barcelona to create clearer goalscoring opportunities.
Along with his strong yet unheralded performances against Paris Saint-Germain and his goal against Manchester City in the round of 16, Rakitic has earned his place in our form rankings.
8. Alvaro Morata, Juventus
9 of 16Last Week: 20
Differential: +12
Alvaro Morata had absolutely no issues motivating himself on Tuesday, coming up against his former club Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals. It was a perfect chance to prove to them it wasn't the right choice to sell him on.
The Spaniard combined superbly with Carlos Tevez as we've come to expect, stealing in to score the first goal early on and threatening throughout on the counter-attack. His tireless, committed performance to closing down and tracking exhausted him, leading to his late substitution after a job well done.
7. Arturo Vidal, Juventus
10 of 16
Last Week: 19
Differential: +12
Arturo Vidal played like a man possessed against Real Madrid. He's had an iffy season, but he's shot into form at just the right time.
He scored the Scudetto-winning goal against Sampdoria last weekend, and he followed that up with a Man of the Match-worthy performance on Tuesday night, spearheading counter-attacks, tracking runs, making tackles and initiating play from the back.
Absolutely sublime.
6. Neymar, Barcelona
11 of 16
Last Week: 17
Differential: +11
For a while, it looked as though Neymar would not score against Bayern Munich, squandering several big chances as Manuel Neuer bested him in their duels.
But late on, Lionel Messi freed the Brazilian through on goal and he made no mistake. Stuttering to fake a shot and forcing Neuer to commit, Neymar coolly slotted around the German's outstretched leg to make it 3-0.
That's an unassailable lead, right?
5. Carlos Tevez, Juventus
12 of 16
Last Week: 15
Differential: +10
Carlos Tevez kept his cool to blast home from the spot and give Juventus its second lead against Real Madrid on Tuesday. It could prove to be a pivotal goal as the Bianconeri look toward a surprise Champions League final.
He created the first for Alvaro Morata by springing into space and forcing Iker Casillas to palm his firm shot back into the danger zone. And as usual, the Argentinian dropped in, received the ball, turned and created havoc on the counter-attack.
4. Jordi Alba, Barcelona
13 of 16
Last Week: 11
Differential: +7
You more or less know exactly what you're going to get from Jordi Alba at this stage: flying runs and overlaps down the left to create overloads near the opposing penalty box.
He got forward often to help Neymar wriggle free of markers and cut inside, and he tracked back well enough, only allowing Thomas Muller two runs toward goal on the break.
Alba bagged a clean sheet, too.
3. Luis Suarez, Barcelona
14 of 16
Last Week: 8
Differential: +5
Luis Suarez failed to score on Wednesday night against Bayern Munich, but he caused all sorts of trouble early on and was an effective part of Luis Enrique's three-pronged trident in attack.
He hashed a good shooting chance over the bar and went down under a heavy challenge from Jerome Boateng in search of a penalty in the first half. He does have the occasional profligate game even when he is playing for Barcelona.
But his decoy runs to drag markers away were pivotal as ever, allowing Barca to build on the right and switch to Neymar on the left one-on-one. Tireless and energetic from Suarez.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
15 of 16
Last Week: 3
Differential: +1
Cristiano Ronaldo was there when it counted, on hand to head home James Rodriguez's cross from the right to get Real Madrid a precious away goal.
The rest of the game was something of a struggle for him, though. So, despite netting, he can only move up one place. Juventus packed in defensively and allowed little space for him. Usually when that happens, he resorts to headers from deeper crosses, but Giorgio Chiellini and Co. were more than a match for him in the air.
1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona
16 of 16
Last Week: 1
Differential: None
Lionel Messi is so far out ahead of the rest in this Champions League player ranking, it's remarkable.
As Thierry Henry elegantly put it on Sky Sports' live coverage of Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich, "he decided to win that game, so he won it."
"He's a player from another dimension," admitted his manager Luis Enrique after the game, per Liam Corless of the Mirror.
His role in Barca's remarkable win cannot be understated, as Jerome Boateng can testify. Messi jinked and weaved his way into space in the second half and scored two brilliant goals, breaking the deadlock in a tight game.
