Champions League Team of the Week: Round of 16 first legs

The Team of the Week, presented by Crypto.com, is chosen by the UEFA Technical Observer Group, which has an experienced observer watching each match and is supported in its selections by the UEFA Game Insights Unit in Nyon, Switzerland.

Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid

Played the superb forward pass that freed Federico Valverde to score the opening goal against City and then maintained Madrid's three-goal advantage with a late save from Nico O'Reilly – one of four from four shots faced.

Josip Stanišić, Bayern

The 25-year-old full-back registered his first Champions League goal to open the scoring at Atalanta and further underlined his offensive qualities by creating three chances for his team-mates.

Robin Le Normand, Atleti

The Atleti centre-back was a dominant figure in their defence, showing strength in his duels – including winning all three in the air – and heading their fourth goal against Tottenham.

Robert Andrich, Leverkusen

Leverkusen's skipper led well from the back, choosing the right times to press in the midfield and also using the ball well – not least when he nodded in the opening goal against Arsenal.

Ismail Jakobs, Galatasaray

The Galatasaray left-back made a big contribution to their clean sheet against Liverpool, making more ball recoveries (ten) than any other player this week along with four clearances and three interceptions.

Federico Valverde, Real Madrid

The dynamic Uruguayan had a brilliant night against City, scoring his first Champions League hat-trick and excelling with and without the ball, connecting defence and attack and winning eleven duels.

Mario Lemina, Galatasaray

His first club goal of 2025/26 secured Tuesday's victory over Liverpool and he was impressive with his defensive work too, showing admirable intensity in his pressing and efforts to win the ball.

Sondre Brunstad Fet, Bodø/Glimt

Played a crucial part against Sporting as he won and converted the penalty for the opening goal and then sparked the sequence that brought their second with his interception.

Michael Olise, Bayern

Left Bergamo with two fantastic goals and an assist from the 6-1 win over Atalanta, having created many other openings with six key passes – the most this week – and even managed eight ball recoveries too.

Julián Alvarez, Atleti

The Argentinian international forward made an outstanding contribution against Spurs with two goals along with an assist – a cool lay-off for Marcos Llorente’s opener – and two key passes.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Paris

Kvaratskhelia came off the bench against Chelsea with the score at 2-2 and played a huge role in Paris seizing control of the tie, with the lay-off for Vitinha’s goal and then two terrific strikes of his own.