UEFA.com's round of 16 team of the week
Thursday, February 26, 2015
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The players who made the difference in the last-16 first legs take their place in UEFA.com's UEFA Champions League team of the week, Luis Suárez leading the way.
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GK: Bernd Leno (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Only one home team won and did not concede an away goal: Leverkusen against Club Atlético de Madrid. But it required Leno to be alert throughout the BayArena contest, especially late in the first half when he bravely beat the marauding Antoine Griezmann to a deflected Jesús Gámez delivery.
DF: Branislav Ivanović (Chelsea FC)
The sight of the full-back wheeling away having scored in a high-stakes encounter has become commonplace to Chelsea fans. They witnessed it again after Ivanović applied the finishing touch in Paris to play involving two of his defensive colleagues, the Serbian international heading in a cross from John Terry that had been adroitly flicked on by Gary Cahill.
DF: Vyacheslav Shevchuk (FC Shakhtar Donetsk)
Not even a cut to the head from Thomas Müller's studs could stop centre-back Shevchuk putting in a man-of-the-match performance in the 0-0 draw with FC Bayern München. Shevchuk's discipline ensured in-form Arjen Robben was kept quiet, following him from the left into the middle for much of the game.
DF: Aymen Abdennour (AS Monaco FC)
Unlikely to have been starting had regular central defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Andrea Raggi been fit, the Tunisia player epitomised everything positive in the Ligue 1 club's London win. Organised, composed and confident, he marshalled a makeshift defence supremely – indeed it needed an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stunner to breach it in added time.
DF: Marcelo (Real Madrid CF)
The Madrid supporters are not quite as spoiled as Chelsea's when it comes to full-backs regularly hitting the target. Even so, Marcelo managed it in last year's final and the left-back repeated the trick to make it 2-0 at FC Schalke 04, a brilliant looping strike with his right foot capping a fine display and clean sheet.
MF: Fabian Frei (FC Basel 1893)
The man who makes Basel tick, even when they are not necessarily running like clockwork. With the Swiss side rusty, his role was mainly a defensive brief in the 1-1 draw with FC Porto – yet it was also Frei's intelligent through ball that released Derlis Gonzalez for the opening goal. He ended with the captain's armband and led by example.
MF: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
While Leno kept Atlético out at one end, it was the Turkey midfielder that made the difference at the other. In the 57th minute a fine move was completed when Karim Bellarabi back-heeled the ball into Çalhanoğlu's path and he got around his marker before sending in an unstoppable angled drive.
MF: Fabinho (AS Monaco FC)
A right-back by trade, Fabinho was a revelation in central midfield covering captain Jérémy Toulalan's absence. Alongside the excellent Geoffrey Kondogbia, the Brazilian set the foundation for Monaco's devastating counters while supplying an all-action defensive shield to help nullify the potentially destructive talents of Mesut Özil, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sánchez.
FW: Luis Suárez (FC Barcelona)
Inspired by his 'cool' reception from the Manchester City FC supporters, Suárez made a triumphant return to England, netting with two close-range strikes in the first half-hour. Both goals were another illustration of the Uruguay forward's predatory instincts in and around the penalty area.
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF)
Following his Gelsenkirchen brace last term, Ronaldo found the back of the Schalke net again. By getting his head to Dani Carvajal's curling centre, he not only opened the scoring in Madrid's 2-0 away victory, he moved to within a goal of former Merengues ace Raúl González's all-time goal record in UEFA club competition.
FW: Álvaro Morata (Juventus)
The young Spaniard set one up and notched another to put Juve on track for the quarters. His shot was too hot to handle for Roman Weidenfeller, allowing Carlos Tévez a tap-in, before a cool finish showed his own lethal touch. A presence in the box who constantly stretched the BVB defence, the ex-Real Madrid CF man was on top form to outshine his more celebrated partner Tévez.