Cristiano Ronaldo again came up with a famous moment in the Champions League this week, as the forward rescued a late point for Manchester United against Atalanta BC in Italy on Tuesday night.
The fourth gameweek again provided plenty of twists and turns, and it is set to be a fascinating conclusion to the group stage, with a number of sections still wide open ahead of the final two matchdays.
In Group A, Manchester City beat Club Brugge 4-1, while Paris Saint-Germain drew 2-2 with RB Leipzig, leaving the Citizens one point clear of the French giants at the top of the section.
Liverpool top Group B with 12 points, meanwhile, and the Reds booked their spot in the round of 16 with a 2-0 success over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday; Porto are now second in that particular section, having picked up a point away to Italian giants AC Milan.
Ajax are also through to the knockout round, having won all four of their Group C fixtures, including a 3-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, while Sporting Lisbon joined Dortmund on six points courtesy of a 4-0 win over Besiktas.
In Group D, Real Madrid beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1, while Inter Milan recorded a 3-1 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol; Los Blancos are now top of the section on nine points, while Inter have moved into second, one point ahead of third-placed Sheriff.
Bayern Munich managed to advance to the knockout round by beating Benfica 5-2 on Tuesday, while Barcelona moved into second position in Group E courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev.
As mentioned, Ronaldo secured a late point for Man United against Atalanta on Tuesday, and the 2-2 draw has left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side top of Group F, level on seven points with Villarreal, who recorded a 2-0 victory over Young Boys on the same night.
In Group G, Red Bull Salzburg remain top despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg, while Sevilla have now dropped to the bottom of the section, having suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Lille, who occupy second.
Chelsea are also on the verge of booking their spot in the knockout round following a 1-0 win over Malmo, but Group H leaders Juventus are definitely though, having beaten Zenit St Petersburg 4-2 on Tuesday.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Champions League Team of the Week from the fourth set of fixtures in the groups stages of this season's competition.
DEFENCE
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Between the sticks, there is a spot for Malmo goalkeeper Johan Dahlin, who put in an impressive performance against Chelsea on Tuesday despite being on the losing side in Sweden. The 35-year-old made nine saves during the course of the match, and it would have been much more comfortable for the European Cup holders had Dahlin not been in such impressive form over the course of the 90 minutes.
Three of the back four come from English clubs, with full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joao Cancelo starring for Liverpool and Man City respectively; the former provided two assists in his side's 2-0 win over Atletico, while the latter registered three assists against Brugge in an outstanding full-back performance.
Eric Bailly made just his second Man United appearance of the season against Atalanta, meanwhile, and the Ivory Coast international put in a fine performance, making block after block, as the Red Devils were able to secure a point despite another underwhelming display. Alongside Bailly, there is a spot for Eric Garcia, who helped Barcelona keep a clean sheet against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night.
Ahead of the contest, Garcia had spoken of the need to improve his own performance, and the centre-back made two tackles and boasted a pass success rate of 96% during a strong display, as Barcelona recorded a huge three points in Ukraine.
MIDFIELD
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Midfield was a very competitive area during this week's Champions League fixtures, with Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek incredibly unfortunate to miss out, having starred for his side against Malmo. Meanwhile, Etienne Capoue was also excellent for Villarreal against Young Boys but just fails to make it.
The first spot in the middle of the park is handed to Marcelo Brozovic, who made the breakthrough in Inter's clash with Sheriff before turning provider for Alexis Sanchez in the 82nd minute. The Croatian also boasted a pass success rate of 92% during a dominant performance in what was a key European encounter.
There is also a spot for Sporting's Pedro Goncalves, who scored twice in his side's four-goal success over Besiktas on Wednesday night. Operating in an advanced area, it was a standout performance from the 23-year-old, who netted twice in the space of seven first-half minutes to take the match away from Besiktas.
Georginio Wijnaldum has thus far struggled to make his mark for PSG, but the Netherlands international starred against Leipzig in Germany, scoring twice for the French giants, who had to settle for a share of the spoils. Wijnaldum came up with two hugely important goals for Mauricio Pochettino's side, but it was his overall performance that made the biggest impression.
ATTACK
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There was so much competition in the final third of the field, and the fact that Paulo Dybala is left out after scoring twice for Juventus against Zenit is an indication of the competition for spots in the attack.
It was simply impossible to leave Cristiano Ronaldo out of the side considering that he came up with another famous moment in Europe, netting an incredible last-gasp volley to secure a point for Man United against Atalanta, while he also levelled the scores in the latter stages of the first half during another productive night.
Robert Lewandowski, meanwhile, scored a stunning treble in Bayern's 5-2 win over Benfica, and he actually also missed a penalty in the first half of the contest. The Poland international has now scored 22 goals in 16 appearances for the German champions during the 2021-22 campaign.
The final spot in the XI is awarded to Karim Benzema, who netted both of Real Madrid's goals against Shakhtar on Wednesday, and it was another standout performance from the Frenchman, who is also enjoying a wonderful campaign, scoring 13 times in 14 appearances at club level, in addition to providing eight assists.
SPORTS MOLE'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Champions League team of the week (4-3-3): Dahlin; Alexander-Arnold, E Garcia, Bailly, Cancelo; Brozovic, Wijnaldum, Goncalves; Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Benzema
Matt Law
