The PSG, Manchester City and Real Madrid stars all played massive roles in their sides picking up vital wins in the first legs of their last-16 ties
The UEFA Champions League knockout stage is underway, with the first four matches of the last-16 having completed their first-leg ties. Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain all took important leads from their opening European matches from 2024 and know what they have to do to keep their campaigns alive.
After a strong performance in Denmark, City will host Copenhagen in the second leg confident that they can hold onto the two-goal lead they secured thanks to a 3-1 win. Madrid, on the other hand, secured a narrow victory from their trip to face RB Leipzig but will be determined to make sure they keep that one-goal lead when they meet again in the Santiago Bernabéu.
From Wednesday's matches, Bayern suffered a second consecutive setback when they were beaten 1-0 by Lazio in Rome, while it was business as usual for Kylian Mbappe as he helped fire Paris Saint-Germain to victory against Real Sociedad.
It was an interesting week of matches in Europe's most prestigious competition, but who were the standout performers? With the help of the FedEx Performance Zone, GOAL takes a look at the stars of the UCL this week.
GettyPhil Foden | Manchester City | 75 points
The Manchester City star played a pivotal role in his team's away win against Copenhagen on Tuesday. He helped them off to a fine start with his part in a brilliant team move that ended with him finding Kevin De Bruyne for the Belgian to lash in the opening goal just 10 minutes in.
Then, after Copenhagen drew level and Bernardo Silva restored City's lead, it was the Englishman who ensured his team left Denmark with a two-goal cushion from the first leg right at the end of the match. He once again combined perfectly with De Bruyne, feeding the attacking midfielder deep in the box and got into a great position to receive the return pass and smashed in a stoppage time goal.
AdvertisementGetty Images Andriy Lunin | Real Madrid | 66 points
Real Madrid may have escaped their visit to Leipzig with a 1-0 win, but the Spanish side were far from dominant throughout the match. In fact, the two teams had a right good go at each other for the first 45 minutes, but things took a distinct turn in the second period.
Even though Madrid took an early lead after the restart, it was the German side who seemed much more direct and efficient in the second period. They forced goalkeeper Andriy Lunin into six saves in the second-half, adding to the three he pulled off in the opening 45, making a total of nine saves over the course of the game. If Madrid owed the win to anyone, it was the magnificent Ukraine international more than it was goalscorer Brahim Diaz.
GettyKylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain | 65 points
It can hardly be a surprise to see that Kylian Mbappe was instrumental in Paris Saint-Germain starting their last-16 tie with a victory. The French forward has now scored in four of the Ligue 1 champions' seven Champions League game this season.
His goal had been coming for some time, too. He had a total of seven shots over the course of the match and four were on target. Breaking the deadlock just before the hour mark gave his team a big lift – they really took control of the match afterwards – and gave them the platform to go on and make it 2-0 and take a huge advantage in the tie overall.
GettyBenjamin Sesko | RB Leipzig | 51 points
RB Leipzig drew a blank on home soil against perennial European giants Real Madrid, but the German side put their opponents under immense pressure throughout the 90 minutes.
Benjamin Sesko was at the forefront of their attack against Carlo Ancelotti's team. They amassed a total of 14 efforts overall against their visitors and Sesko had as many as six of those, four of which were on target – more than any of his team-mates. He may have been on the losing side, but the Slovenian put in an amazing performance against the likes of Nacho Fernandez and Aurelien Tchouameni.
