The second week of ties in the staggered Champions League last-16 was just as cagey as the first, and left plenty to play for in each of the second legs. Here’s the prime performers from a week in which no team was able to gain more than a one-goal lead.
Goalkeeper: Only two goalkeepers kept clean sheets, though Porto’s Diogo Costa was not asked to make a save from Arsenal, and neither was Inter’s Yann Sommer asked to face a shot on target from an Atletico player, so the week’s most attacking game – PSV 1-1 Dortmund – threw up two contenders, both keepers facing plenty of shots. Alexander Meyer beats Walter Benitez to the crown, being only beaten by Luuk de Jong’s canny penalty.
Defender: With Napoli under the temporary charge of Francesco Calzona, after Walter Mazzarri’s dismissal, senior players like skipper Giovanni di Lorenzo were asked to take on heavy responsibility against Barcelona. Considering the circumstances – and opposition – a 1-1 draw was useful, giving Italy’s fallen champions plenty to work with. At right-back, Di Lorenzo came off best in his personal duel with Barcelona’s Pedri.
Defender: Atlético Madrid are not the force of old but they do feature proven class, Antoine Griezmann in particular, and it was Alessandro Bastoni who marshalled Inter’s defence, making three key interceptions and two blocks. Bastoni represents the best of traditional Italian defending but with a modern edge that has the likes of Manchester City linked to him. He was the outstanding defender in a tight game at San Siro. More of the same will be required in Madrid next month.
Defender: The competition’s perennial, Pepe, showed off all his wiles as Arsenal were suffocated and frustrated in Porto. He will be 41 next week, and was still making interceptions and putting the frighteners on Arsenal’s rather meek attack like he once did as a Real Madrid player. His class in bringing the ball out of defence was in evidence, too. When it comes to the Champions League, few players have Pepe’s knowhow and there’s little sign of him wanting to stop.
Defender: Atlético Madrid’s glut of midfielders and a defensive injury crisis has pushed Axel Witsel into a three-man backline and the Belgian veteran showed he remains a footballer of class in helping make sure the deficit his team returned to Spain with not higher. As Witsel said afterwards, it was a ”great pity” that a good first half was followed by a second in which Inter scored their goal.
Midfielder: In the early stages, it seemed like Nicolò Barella might not get to play much of a part, but having shaken off a knock, Italian football’s midfield prince swiftly returned to his best. Atlético’s usual roughhouse style was employed but Barella, all balance and poise, held off the aggressors. It was Barella’s promptings that presented the greatest threat to Diego Simeone’s team.
Midfielder: As a ball-player rather than muscular defender, perhaps Andreas Christensen was always better suited to being a midfield player rather than centre-back, but it is still strange to see him adopting what will always be Sergio Busquets position at the depth of Barca’s midfield. Against Napoli, in a scrappy game, Christensen looked comfortable enough playing there, if not a long-term solution to replacing the irreplaceable.
Midfielder: Asked to play as part of a five-man midfield when Arsenal had the ball, Galeno, a winger by usual disposition, was asked to chase back, just as Francisco Conceição was on the other flank. On the attack, the pair were asked to be part of an attacking trident. The plan, as set by Sergio Conceição, Francisco’s father, worked like a dream, though Galeno might have scored earlier than his late heartbreaker for Arsenal, having thought his second attempt at a rebound had gone in. His late goal, even if David Raya’s goalkeeping looked a tad suspect, was a pearler of a chip from a player who retained his threat through the 90 minutes.
GALENO WINS IT FOR PORTO WITH A BEAUTY IN THE LAST MINUTE! 🤯#UCL pic.twitter.com/rh3ZUbVtSP
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 21, 2024
Forward: In the battle of elite strikers at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, it ended up a goal each between Robert Lewandowski and Victor Osimhen. Both scored clinical strikes, with Lewandowski’s clipped in from the edge of the area but Osimhen, with pretty much his only attempt on goal, shook off Iñigo Martínez and crashed past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The younger man had looked tired from his AfCon exertions but on a chance-to-goal ratio sees out the Polish grandmaster.
Forward: His goal came from the penalty spot, but PSV’s Luuk de Jong showed why he is one of the most reliable yet still under-appreciated players on the continent. When PSV were struggling for an outlet against Dortmund, De Jong’s movement and awareness were always present. And the player who became a cult hero during his short spell at Barcelona was cool as ever at the penally spot, becoming PSV’s record goalscorer in the Champions League in doing so.
Forward: On as a substitute, Marko Arnautović continued the rather odd Champions League presence of ex-Stoke City players in scoring Inter’s goal against Atlético. To follow the contributions of Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, the former Potter and Hammer seized on Lautaro Martinez’s shot being parried to smash home a second goal in five days for a player who was scoring Champions League goals as far back as 2010.
