Bayern dominate Champions League team of the round after Barcelona mauling
A round of upsets, late drama and plenty of goals. The quarter-finals of the Champions League had it all as PSG, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Lyon each booked their semi-final spot in the competition.
Here, we take a look at the team of the round...
Goalkeeper
Who could've seen Lyon beating Manchester City, then? Granted, when City's starting XI was announced, it raised eyebrows over Pep Guardiola's decision to name a defensive setup, yet Anthony Lopes still needed to shine between the sticks and he did just that as he gained a WhoScored rating of 7.79 for the French side. Six saves and two successful high claims contributed towards his inclusion in this team.
Defenders
The best place the start is the full-backs, with Joshua Kimmich (9.52) the second best rated player in the Champions League this round. The Bayern star scored their fifth in their resounding 8-2 win over Barcelona and provided the assist for Thomas Muller's second and Bayern's fourth 15 minutes before half time. Seven key passes was more than any other player as Kimmich features at right-back.
On the opposite flank, Alphonso Davies was the man who provided the assist for Kimmich's aforementioned goal after some fine work to get the better of Nelson Semedo down the Bayern left. In all, the Canadian completed five dribbles to help yield a WhoScored rating of 8.32 against Barcelona.
The sole RB Leipzig representative is Dayot Upamecano, who was solid at the heart of the defence in their 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid. The Frenchman was at his proactive best to keep the Atleti attack at bay as he made five clearances, three interceptions and two tackles to help the German side to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Marcal rounds off the defence and is the final Lyon representative in this team. The Brazilian garnered a WhoScored rating of 7.25 against City as he defended solidly as Lyon secured their spot in the next round of the Champions League, making four clearances, two interceptions and one tackle for OL.
Midfielders
The only non-Bayern player in this midfield is PSG man Marquinhos. The first of two PSG representatives, the Brazilian scored the crucial equaliser in their eventual 2-1 win over Atalanta and was dominant in the air in the late victory as he won more aerial duels (10) than any other player in the quarter-finals. In all, Marquinhos did enough to return a WhoScored rating of 8.10 to make this team.
Partnering the 26-year-old in the middle of the park is Bayern ace Leon Goretzka. The Germany international provided a superb assist for Serge Gnabry's goal and was a workhorse out of possession as he made four interceptions and three tackles for the Bavarian powerhouse to aid towards his inclusion in this XI with a WhoScored rating of 8.28.
Gnabry features on the right flank in this team as he had a direct hand in two of Bayern's eight goals against Barcelona. Gnabry provided the assist for Ivan Perisic's goal after 20 minutes, that coming from his only key pass in the resounding victory before getting on the scoresheet midway through the first half, his seventh in the Champions League this season and first outside of London, to garner a WhoScored rating of 8.57.
Completing the midfield, Coutinho was Barcelona's highest rated player on Friday night. It's a shame, then, that he put in a fine shift from the bench for Bayern Munich in Lisbon. The Brazilian replaced Gnabry with 15 minutes to play and ran rampant against his parent club as he provided the assist for Robert Lewandowski's goal eight minutes from time before netting twice in the space of four minutes to secure a WhoScored rating of 8.63
Forwards
Neymar is the second PSG player to make the cut in this XI and while he missed two clear-cut goalscoring chances against Atalanta, he provided the key assist for Marquinhos to equalise in the 2-1 win over the Italian's, that coming from four key passes. Atalanta struggled to stop the Brazilian when he did get going as he completed a whopping 15 successful dribbles, that more than any other player in a Champions League match since WhoScored started collecting data from 2009/10, as he returned a rating of 9.47.
.@esmuellert_ had a direct hand in 3⃣ of @FCBayern's 8⃣ goals in their 8-2 win over Barcelona
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) August 16, 2020
🏆 Having landed a perfect 🔟 in the victory, Muller is our #UCL player of the round 👏
Saving the best until last, Thomas Muller put in a perfect 10 WhoScored performance against Barcelona. Setting Bayern off on the front foot, Muller bagged his third Champions League goal of the season shortly after kick off and added his fourth in the competition on the half hour mark. Muller was on hand to register his second Champions League assist of 2019/20 late on to help land the player of the round award.
