Champions League round-up: Shakhtar star steals the show
12 spots down, four to go. The remaining teams for the last-16 stage of the Champions League are all but set, but a handful of places will need to be decided on the final gameweek of the group stages. One of those is Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk, who are still in with a chance of leapfrogging Lyon into second place in group F after their 3-2 win over Hoffenheim, coupled with Lyon’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
The duo face off in Ukraine next month and Shakhtar will be hoping for another man of the match display from star man Taison. The Brazilian was in superb form in midweek for Shakhtar as he had a direct in all three goals goals scored in their victory, scoring two and assisting one. It was the first time the 30-year-old had contributed to any goals in the Champions League this season, picking the opportune time to turn on the style, with his two goals coming from four shots and assist from three key passes, doing enough to return a WhoScored rating of 9.95.
Taison isn’t the only group F representative in the top three top performers in the Champions League this week as Lyon ace Maxwel Cornet also makes the cut. Like Taison, the Ivorian also netted twice as City twice came from behind to hold Lyon to a 2-2 draw in France. Cornet hit the back of the net with two of his four shots on goal, while additional returns of two tackles, two key passes and three successful dribbles helped land a WhoScored rating of 9.53.
Rounding off the top three best performing players from the Champions League is Barcelona star Lionel Messi, who secured a WhoScored rating of 9.47 from Barcelona’s 2-1 win over PSV. The Argentine had a direct hand in both goals, scoring one and providing the assist for what turned out to be Gerard Pique’s winning goal. Messi’s goal came from six shots and his assist from five key passes, with the 31-year-old’s strike his 106th goal in the Champions League for Barcelona, making him the top scoring player for a single club in the competition’s history.
While the trio impressed, it was a gameweek to forget for AEK Athens’ Marko Livaja. The 25-year-old was making his first appearance in the Champions League this season following his return from a four-match ban, but rather than positively cap the return to action, he instead received his marching orders after 67 minutes for a second yellow in their 2-0 loss to Ajax. In his spell on the pitch, Livaja had just one shot and returned a pass success rate of 68.8% as he proved to be a hindrance rather than a help, landing a WhoScored rating of just 4.57.
