By Sam Tighe, World Football Tactics Lead Writer Feb 20, 2014

We saw four incredible games on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain all emerged victorious and took genuine advantages back to their home grounds.

Which individuals impressed the most? Read on to find out!

• GK: Thibaut Courtois, Atletico Madrid

With 20 minutes gone, Thibaut Courtois was the only reason AC Milan weren't 2-0 up against Atletico Madrid at the San Siro.

He tipped Kaka's early shot onto the bar and pushed Andrea Poli's deft header onto the post, stemming the flow of the Rossoneri attack and defying the home crowd.

Incredible elasticity and athleticism.

• RB: Dani Alves, Barcelona

Dani Alves was phenomenal against Manchester City, providing a constant presence on the right flank and driving Aleksandar Kolarov back.

He showed good restraint after picking up an early yellow card and began exerting his influence more and more following Martin Demichelis' red.

He scored the second goal to give Barcelona a big lead going into the second leg.

• CB: Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid

They were under pressure early on, but Atletico Madrid did what they do best on Wednesday night at the San Siro, grinding out a result and claiming a clean sheet.

Diego Godin was key to this, standing firm in central defence as he has done all season long for Los Colchoneros. He was dominant in the air, tidy in his passing and assured in his dealing with punts up to Milan's front line.

• CB: Gerard Pique, Barcelona

Gerard Pique may divide opinion at times, but there's no question he's stepped up this season when it comes to the big, big games for Barcelona.

He was spotless on Tuesday night at the Etihad Stadium, keeping Alvaro Negredo on a leash all night and looking physically up to the task.

A very good showing, and a far-cry from the last time we saw him in the Champions League knockout stages.

• LB: Maxwell, Paris Saint-Germain

Maxwell is the least flashy player in our Team of the Week, but he did a good job at the Bay Arena against a tricky opponent in Sidney Sam.

Renowned for his searing pace, the German winger was nullified easily by the Brazilian, who played a reserved role on the left to keep him in check.

• DM: Philipp Lahm, Bayern Munich

Philipp Lahm was probably the best right-back on show, but Dani Alves' great display earned a spot and the German did play 45 minutes in midfield.

On the right, he was fantastic, bombing forward and creating sustained pressure by never relinquishing the ball. In midfield, he opportunistically overloaded key areas and kept the ball rolling very well.

• CM: Blaise Matuidi, Paris Saint-Germain

Blaise Matuidi put on a strong showing at the Bay Arena on Tuesday night and opened the scoring for Paris Saint-Germain.

Simon Rolfes failed to follow the Frenchman's mazy run and it produced a clear chance on goal. He swept it home with ease, then held the ball up later in the half to set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic's golazo.

An all-action, box-to-box performance.

• CM: Toni Kroos, Bayern Munich

"Death by passing"—that's what B/R's Alex Dimond called it while on location at the Emirates.

Toni Kroos monopolised the ball for long periods against Arsenal, scored the opening goal with a sumptuous first-time strike and hit the post late on with another.

As a flatter CM in Pep Guardiola's 4-3-3/4-1-3-1, he was remarkably good.

• AMC: Adel Taarabt, Milan

If you never thought you'd see the day Adel Taarabt made a UEFA Champions League Team of the Week, fair enough.

We never thought it would happen, either.

He's edged out Kaka here in a close contest for the attacking midfield position in our diamond, with his excellent footwork and poise on the ball prevalent throughout.

• ST: Diego Costa, Atletico Madrid

Diego Costa didn't pull up any trees at the San Siro, but he was more clinical than opposite number Mario Balotelli (who wasted chance after chance).

The Atletico Madrid star managed to score the winner in a tight affair and looked menacing in and around the box throughout.

He also benefits from Lionel Messi's poor game at Manchester City, Mario Mandzukic's quiet showing against Arsenal and Yaya Sanogo's struggles in the second half.

• ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in the form of his life.

He's continually stepping up in the UEFA Champions League to defy criticism of the past, and his two goals at the Bay Arena were his ninth and 10th of the competition already.

One, in particular, was an absolute belter into the roof of the net.

• Bench

Manager: Laurent Blanc

GK: Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich

CB: Thiago Silva, PSG

FB: Jordi Alba, Barcelona

CM: Marco Verratti, PSG

CM: Thiago Alcantara, Bayern Munich

AMC: David Silva, Manchester City
CF: Lionel Messi, Barcelona.

Soure : B/R stats from whoscored.com.

I posted it before, and it was removed for no reason...

Please FR tell me why as mods dont seem to know much about this issue.

I think Neuer should be ahead of Courtois, because Neuer saved a penalty, and Courtois only had to make 2 saves the entire match against Milan.

Agreed with Dynastian. Neuer proved why he's the best goalie in the world against Arsenal.

@Dynast

http://fr.uclratings.uefa.com/Player/Profile/250011668/2011859

He was elected best player of wednesday with Kroos ( 9 ), Courtois got 9.7 by the UCL expert.
But either him or Neuer are in a great form.

Kompany should be there.

^ Where ? :D Instead of who ? We have 4 teams with a clean sheet, and you expect a player from a team almost eleminated ?

Ibra and Kroos were the best this week. Ozil and Demechelis flops?

^ Stop blaming Ozil for Arsenal's poor performances. He unnecessarily gets all the blame, and his confidence is going lower and lower. He's going to hit rock-bottom confidence right now, and those scumbag Arsenal fanboys are just jeering him on and saying that they overpaid for him. If you're going to blame someone, blame Wenger for not knowing how to handle Ozil (which is pretty damn easy to do) and for not getting enough squad depth to rest his players.

@tiki_taka
idk. I didn't really watch the Atletico-AC Milan match to see whether Godin did enough but I think Kompany did quite well against Barcelona.

IMO...

Abiati/Neuer
Alves-Thiago-Pique-Dante-Maxwell
Matuidi - Lahm - Kroos
Taarbat
Zlatan

@dynastian

Completely agree . Why is everyone bashing on Ozil ? I could not believe even Wenger showed frustration with Ozil openly to the press . Not sure how this is going to help Ozil to find his early season form . It is team sport and making Ozil as scapegoat is completely unfair . Here is my suggestion if Arsenal does not want him anymore then sell him . I always wanted Ozil to join Chelsea since his Werder Bremen days .

This is reminds me the quote from Ibrahimovic " You bought a Ferrari , but drive it like a Fiat " . Fits perfectly in Ozil's case . Learn to use him , Mr Wenger .

Little off topic when Wenger offered trial for Arsenal , Ibra response was " Zlatan does not do auditions " hahaha
Ibra maybe one of the most arrogant players when interviewed ( i am sure he is different off work life ) but he has that special charm and aura that makes you like him no matter what .

If Atletico won it, it was thanks for their goalkeeper. They really didn't deserve it. Plus, I don't think referee helped Milan. I also believe that Arsenal should have got at least one goal. The red card was bullshit.

Wenger demands too much of Ozil, and puts a lot of dependency on him. He doesn't realize that Ozil has been extremely exhausted and needs to rest. Ozil to me is the type of player that needs his other teammates to be playing well in order for him to make an impact, and with all these injuries Arsenal is lacking the quality that Ozil needs around him to shine.

@Dynastian: completely agree, I refuse to understand why everyone blaming Ozil, especially some Arsenal's fan. Those jeering would never help and would downgrade his confident's massively. Are they delusional enough to think they are better than Beyern or Ozil is the reason why they lost...???

@Marcus: lolzz, Zlatan is a boss, you gotta read his biography too, its funny. this guy is one crazy legend

@Dyna , Why blame Wenger? He is not playing with them on the pitch isnt he? We all know Ozil played vs Bayern very poor. He missed a penalty (also a good save for Neuer) and when he has the ball after a long possesion by Bayern , he didnt even pass it to his teammates. So he played Poor and he was abit selfish.. So just ADMIT it that he played sh1t vs Bayern.. He actually plays very bad the last weeks at Arsenal. His form is losing.

Ozil just need a rest. He isn't playing that well but, everyone now expect too much from him.

@Iraqi

Remember when you were praising Ozil for his heroics back in 2011-12? When everything he touched turned to gold? You loved the man, but now you spit on him.

He didn't play sh*t against Bayern. He was the one who pulled off that clever backheel to win the penalty in the first place. I don't see any other Arsenal player making an offensive contribution like that all game. After the sending off, he was thrown in LM, a position completely alien to him. He's never played there before, and had to go up against Robben and Lahm, who are two of the best players in the world.

Wenger expects him to do "defensive work" and over-relies on him. As if the man can win games single-handedly. The only players capable of winning games all by themselves are Ronaldo and Messi, and even they get massive amounts of support from their teammates.

At Madrid, Ozil had Alonso and Khedira doing all the defensive work for him. He had di Maria and Callejon making quick sprints onto his passes, and had Ronaldo banging in goals for fun, which packed up his assists. He also had Benzema and Higuain making intelligent runs across the opposition's defensive line. Who does he have at Arsenal? Does Giroud ever make an intelligent run? He just stands there hoping for a cross (like wtf?). There's no intelligent runners on the pitch either, as Wilshere is positioned behind him, and Ramsey is out with injury. Ox and Walcott are HUGE downgrades from Ronaldo and di Maria (two of the world's best in the wings), and there is no world-class DM's behind him (only Flamini). Ozil is expected to do everything for the team, when in truth, the responsibilities should be divided amongst the players. But it's not. And Wenger should realize that. But no, he's too damn stubborn for that.

That Ars v Bayern was such a deja vu game..

Arsenal lacked Ramsey of first leg season and an in form Theo Walcott. That was not the same Arsenal we saw in first leg.
Plus, they were unlucky, Ozil shooting the PK was a mistake, he cant handle too much pressure on him, the reason he left Madrid with that competition level (Isco - Di Maria - Bale)...
Ozil is a star, but he is very Fragile. He went to Arsenal for playing time, but he got more than he can handle....
Arsenal problem is very clear, the squad is not big enough and they dont have quality replacements in key positions, that is why im very disapointed by their transfer mercato of January.
Signing Kallstrom who by the way could be useful but not enough to claim any ambitions, what they achieved in first leg was amazing. The direction could have helped the team with another world class player to try at least to win something.
We should stop blaming the player and the coach, the direction should take their responsabilities...

@Dyna , +1

''Here is my suggestion if Arsenal does not want him anymore then sell him . I always wanted Ozil to join Chelsea since his Werder Bremen days''

Okay man.