Champions League Team of the Week – Saka, Bizot, Olise
Our Champions League Team of the Week for matchday six, featuring Arsenal’s academy gems, a pair of Bayern Munich menaces, and Atletico Madrid’s driving force.
Champions League Team of the Week – Saka, Bizot, Olise
Goalkeeper: Marco Bizot – Brest
Brest’s dream run in the Champions League continues after a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven. Marco Bizot was a crucial presence as the French side secured their fourth win in six games, making five saves to preserve his clean sheet. The 33-year-old is the first goalkeeper to stop PSV from scoring in nine months.
Right-back: Achraf Hakimi – Paris Saint-Germain
An outstanding outlet as PSG won at RB Salzburg to keep their European campaign alive. Hakimi is all-action from right-back and set up goals for Goncalo Ramos and Desire Doue in Austria. His second assist, a lung-busting run and neat interchange before squaring unselfishly for Doue, is an example of what he’s all about. What an engine.
🅰️CHR🅰️F HAKIMI ⭐️
2️⃣ passes décisives hier face à Salzbourg. 🔥
📸 @YanisGBA pic.twitter.com/z6AhmqHJzR
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) December 11, 2024
Centre-back: Auston Trusty – Celtic
Celtic battled to another valuable point on the road after holding Dinamo Zagreb to a goalless draw. Auston Trusty has been a towering presence in their Champions League campaign and was the Bhoys’ best player again on matchday six. He won eight defensive duels, completed 95.5% of his passes and made a huge block to deny Marko Pjaca. Another solid showing from the American.
Solid point away from home in the @ChampionsLeague Onwards and upwards, focus is now on this weekend🍀
Thank you to all the supporters who made the journey to Croatia last night! HH pic.twitter.com/bhPA2P08ex
— Auston Trusty (@Auston_Trusty) December 11, 2024
Centre-back: Marquinhos – Paris Saint-Germain
An easy evening’s work for Marquinhos who led PSG to a vital 3-0 win at Salzburg. Untroubled defensively, he won 7/10 defensive duels and showcased his expansive passing range, completing a mammoth 11 long passes.
Left-back: Myles Lewis-Skelly – Arsenal
A performance full of maturity on his first Champions League start. The teenager was heavily involved in the build-up to the opening goal with a defence-splitting pass and showcased his composure to dribble away from traffic throughout at the Emirates. He’s shown he’s ready for more involvement.
Midfield: Rodrigo De Paul – Atletico Madrid
A driving force in Atletico Madrid’s improvement as the Spanish side secured a 10th consecutive win in all competitions against Slovan Bratislava. The key creative passer in the side, Diego Simeone discussed the importance of De Paul this week, whose vision was instrumental in another Atletico win this week. No midfielder in La Liga has made more key passes in 2024/25.
Midfield: Enzo Millot – Stuttgart
Enzo Millot’s star is on the rise and the midfielder shone as Stuttgart thrashed Young Boys this week.
The 22-year-old scored one, assisted another and created four chances as Stuttgart secured a 5-1 win over the struggling Swiss side. European clubs are beginning to take note of his performances this season.
Midfield: Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich
The centrepiece of the side at Bayern Munich, almost everything good flows through Musiala. An unselfish assist for Thomas Muller got his night up and running against Shakhtar Donetsk before he scored the German side’s fourth of the evening with an emphatic finish.
Forward: Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
Bukayo Saka just loves European nights and extended his record to 14 goals and assists in 14 Champions League appearances for Arsenal this week. Saka scored twice as the Gunners eased past Monaco at the Emirates, turning in the opener from a Gabriel Jesus cross before capitalising on some calamitous defending to score a second.
He’s now scored as many goals in this competition for Arsenal as Dennis Bergkamp.
19 – Only Mohamed Salah (16 goals, 12 assists) has been involved in more goals in all competitions among Premier League players this season than Bukayo Saka (8 goals, 11 assists). Production. pic.twitter.com/4kOQLSEs1D
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 11, 2024
Forward: Michael Olise – Bayern Munich
Michael Olise was at his sparkling best as Bayern Munich won 5-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk. He ended a run without a goal after confidently slamming home a spot-kick and sealed the win late on with a wonderful individual goal. Shakhtar just couldn’t deal with the Frenchman, who completed six dribbles and also added an assist.
So good from Michael Olise. 🤩#UCL #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/kENkq7vep6
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) December 11, 2024
Forward: Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid
Antoine Griezmann’s red-hot run of form continued as the French forward scored twice in Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava. His brace made it five consecutive games with a goal, while he also reached 40 in the Champions League. He’s now just one form matching Sergio Aguero and entering the all-time top 20 scorers.
Antoine Griezmann’s last five games:
⚽ vs. Alavés
⚽ vs. Sparta Prague
⚽ vs. Valladolid
⚽⚽ vs. Sevilla
⚽⚽ vs. Slovan Bratislava pic.twitter.com/dDX5I7sIZM— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 11, 2024
Read – Champions League awards: Awesome Olise, Salisu’s shocker
See more – The Football Faithful’s Advent Calendar: December 12th