- Sofascore have published their best and worst XIs from the Champions League
- It was a difficult week for English teams as only Liverpool managed a victory
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Two Premier League stars made the Champions League’s worst team of the week after what was a difficult few days for English clubs in the competition.
The new format for Europe’s elite club competition is starting to take shape, with all 36 sides having played four of their eight matches.
Teams that finish in the top eight automatically qualify for the last-16 stage, with those from ninth to 24th competing in an extra play-off round, meaning the battle in the table is starting to hot up.
Aston Villa, Man City and Arsenal all suffered defeats, with Liverpool the only Premier League side to pick up a win as they dispatched Xabi Alonso‘s Bayer Leverkusen 4-0.
City suffered a particularly embarrassing loss as they were thrashed 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon in Ruben Amorim‘s final home game in charge of the Portuguese side before his move to Man United.
Sporting ran rampant in the second half, but City had a chance to pull a goal back at 3-2, yet Erling Haaland smashed his penalty against the crossbar.
And the Norwegian found himself in the unfamiliar position of earning a place in Sofascore’s worst XI from the fourth gameweek of action after racking up a score of just 6.1.
He was joined in the line-up by Arsenal’s Mikel Merino, with the Spaniard guilty of giving away a penalty for handball, before he was hooked at half-time against Inter Milan.
The midfielder has endured a slow start to his Gunners career and could only muster a 6.1 rating at the San Siro.
Elsewhere, former Man United star Daley Blind lined up at left back in a 5-3-2 formation for the worst XI, with the Girona defender also getting a mark of 6.1 after the LaLiga side were thumped 4-0 by PSV.
He was joined by his team-mates David Lopez (6.1) and Arnau Martinez (5.6), with the latter suffering the ignominy of being sent off in the second half.
The trio of Girona defenders were complemented by two from Red Star Belgrade, who were thrashed 5-2 by Barcelona on Wednesday.
Centre backs Nasser Djiga (5.5) and Uros Spajic (6.0) were in the team, with Slovan Bratislava keeper Dominik Takac (5.7) also making it in after the Slovakian side lost 4-1 at home to Dinamo Zagreb.
Joining Merino in midfield was another Red Star player, with Timi Elsnik (6.0) – who previously represented Derby County, Swindon, Mansfield and Northampton – lining up alongside Feyenoord’s Chris-Kevin Nadje (6.0), who was sent off.
Arne Slot‘s former side suffered a humbling reverse 3-1 at home against the previously point-less Red Bull Salzburg.
Completing the XI was Sparta Prague star Jakub Pesek (6.1), with the Czech side suffering a damaging 2-1 defeat against French minnows Brest, who continue to upset the odds in the Champions League.
To compound the difficult few days for English sides, only one Premier League star made it into Sofascore’s Champions League best XI of the week.
Given their win, Liverpool have the Premier League’s sole representative, with Luis Diaz securing a spot after a stunning display against the German side.
The Colombian netted a second half hat-trick at Anfield as he shone in an unfamiliar role as a centre forward to secure a 9.3 rating.
Diaz has taken his game to new levels under Slot, scoring nine goals and adding two assists in 15 matches this season.
He lines up on the left of midfield in what is a 3-5-2 formation for the stars of the fourth round of action in the competition.
The Colombian was joined across the midfield by Barcelona’s Raphinha (8.8), who has added 22 goal contributions in just 16 games in 2024-25.
Raphinha scored and assisted one as he played a key role in Hansi Flick’s side dispatching Red Star with ease.
The Brazilian has now netted five goals and added two assists in just four Champions League games this season.
Meanwhile, Malik Tillman scored an almost perfect rating with 9.9 after adding two assists and scoring a goal in PSV’s 4-0 thumping of Girona.
Making up the midfield were Shakhtar Donetsk’s Georgiy Sudakov (8.8) who netted the winner in their victory over Young Boys, and Nicolas Kuhn (8.8), whose brace helped to inspire Celtic’s 3-1 win over RB Leipzig.
Manchester United target Viktor Gyokeres (9.1) leads the line, with the Sporting Lisbon star adding a hat-trick against Man City.
This means the Swede has now scored a remarkable 23 goals in 17 games so far this season.
Dinamo Zagreb’s Sandro Kulenovic (8.8) joins Gyokeres up front after his brace in the Croatian side’s memorable 4-1 win at Slovan Bratislava.
AC Milan and France keeper Mike Maignan (8.9) secured the No 1 spot after a brilliant display against Real Madrid.
Paulo Fonseca’s side defeated Los Blancos 3-1 on a memorable night when Real had 23 shots.
In front of him, Kim Min-jae (8.1), Ryan Flamingo (8.2) and Berat Djimsiti (8.0) make up the back three.
All three defenders secured clean sheets in victories for Bayern, PSV and Atalanta respectively.
