- There were plenty of talking points from the Champions League opening round
- But only one Premier League star was selected for the team of the week
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Only one Premier League star has been named in the Champions League team of the week following what’s been a busy few days for European football’s premier tournament.
There have been plenty of talking points from the opening round of the tournament, with many supporters voicing their opinions on the competition’s new format.
The new ‘Swiss’ model has been met with some backlash by fans while players including Manuel Akanji, Alisson and Rodri have recently raised concerns over the already crammed fixture schedule.
Meanwhile, it was an underwhelming start for Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, who were both held to 0-0 draws against Inter Milan and Atalanta, respectively.
Aston Villa returned to Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 41 years, and Unai Emery‘s side came back with a bang, claiming a 3-0 victory away to Young Boys.
Despite that, no Villa players or Arsenal players were included in Sofascore’s team of the week, with Man City full-back being the only Premier League star making the cut for their team of the week, with a score of 8.7 out of 10.
Gvardiol was a standout on Wednesday night, cutting out several dangerous attacks from Inter Milan with some neat interceptions.
He slots into a back three that also includes Celtic’s Liam Scales and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, who scored 8.1 and 8.0.
Further up the field, it is no surprise to see a raft of Bayern Munich players in the team of the week, following their 9-2 victory against Dinamo Zagreb.
Joshua Kimmich, who scored an 8.7 for his controlled performance against the Croatian side, slots into midfield alongside Celtic’s Arne Engels.
Engels, who arrived at Celtic in an £11million deal this summer, was the star of the show, oozing class in midfield and also getting on the scoresheet against Slovan Bratislava.
Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise have also both been included in the team of the week, with the former Crystal Palace man scoring twice against Zagreb.
Antoine Griezman was handed a 9.2 rating for his performance against RB Leipzig, with the Atletico Madrid man scoring and providing an assist for Jose Maria Gimenez to seal a 2-1 victory.
Florian Wirtz takes up the left win position after netting a brace of goals in Bayer Leverkusen’s dominant 4-0 win against Feyenoord on Thursday night.
But the star of the week was none other than former Tottenham striker Harry Kane who has been handed a high score of 10/10 for his exploits against Zagreb.
The 31-year-old dazzled at the Allianz Arena, scoring four times during Bayern’s victory, notably finding the back of the net from the penalty spot three times.
His first strike meant he surpassed Wayne Rooney’s record as being the highest English goalscorer in the Champions League and European Cup history, with 33 goals in 45 games.
‘Whenever you’re in a conversation with Wayne Rooney, it means you’re doing something well,’ Kane said after the match, per The Independent.
‘He’s one of the greatest English players and one of the best players there was in the game. It’s a nice achievement.’
