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Champions League Team of the Week - Neymar, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe

Sports Mole selects its Champions League team of the week for matchday six, including Neymar, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe.

The group stages of the Champions League concluded this week, with the final places of the last 16 being confirmed.

Real Madrid avoided the ignominy of a group-stage exit with victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, who also qualified as Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan missed out following their goalless draw.

Manchester United also fell short courtesy of their 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig, a result which confirmed Paris Saint-Germain's place in the knockout rounds before their rearranged win over Istanbul Basaksehir, which was postponed on Tuesday night following an alleged racist incident involving one of the officials.

Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0 at Camp Nou to secure top spot in Group G, with Cristiano Ronaldo outshining Lionel Messi in their latest showdown.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Champions League team of the week for matchday six.



CL TOTW MD6

In addition to the battle between Messi and Ronaldo, Tuesday's match between Barcelona and Juventus also saw Messi come up against another legend of modern times in Gianluigi Buffon, and it was the goalkeeper who very much came out on top with seven saves from the Argentine alone.

Buffon's performance is enough to earn him the gloves ahead of some stiff competition, with Anatoliy Trubin, Jan Oblak, Yann Sommer and Yassine Bounou all deserving of honourable mentions too.

It is a goal-laden back three in this week's team, with Bayern Munich's Niklas Sule, Dynamo Kiev's Denys Popov and Atletico Madrid's Mario Hermoso all getting on the scoresheet in addition to keeping clean sheets.

The wing-backs were similarly important at the sharp end of the field with Lucas Vazquez helping himself to an assist and hitting the woodwork in Real Madrid's win over Monchengladbach and RB Leipzig's Angelino - on loan from Manchester City - helping to knock Man United out with a goal and an assist.

There was plenty of competition for left-back in this week's team too, with Alex Sandro, Alphonso Davies and Yannick Carrasco all in contention as well.

The goalscoring theme continues in midfield, where Porto's Otavio netted from the spot and Sevilla's Oliver Torres laid on his side's second goal in their win over Rennes.

Bruno Fernandes, Phil Foden, Axel Witsel and Ruud Vormer were also pushing for selection, with the latter particularly unfortunate to miss out having helped himself to a goal and an assist in Club Brugge's draw with Lazio.

It is a star-studded front three even without Ronaldo, whose two goals from the spot at Camp Nou are not enough to earn him a place in this week's team.

Youssef En-Nesyri also misses out despite scoring a brace, with Karim Benzema leading the line having scored both of Madrid's goals in their crucial victory - not to mention coming within the crossbar's width of completing his hat-trick.

PSG's star duo of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were the first names on this week's teamsheet courtesy of their contribution to the win over Istanbul, with Neymar hitting a hat-trick and Mbappe ending his Champions League drought with a brace.

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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring against Sevilla on December 2, 2020
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3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
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12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
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20Southampton1512121131-205


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