Champions League Top Three of the Week: Joao Cancelo stars for Man City
The Champions League last 16 first leg matches have been completed, with huge wins for the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich.
In the first matches in the round last week, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland turned heads following their outstanding performances for PSG and Dortmund respectively, scoring five goals between them.
In the second week of first leg games, who impressed?
TOP CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PERFORMERS
With Kyle Walker being restored to the starting XI for Manchester City's game against Gladbach, Joao Cancelo was once again asked by Pep Guardiola to play on the left-hand side of the back four.
And, once again, Cancelo impressed out of position.
The fact that the Portuguese was facing down the left flank of the pitch meant that he was able to turn inside on to his right foot and pick out crosses and passes which proved an unconventional problem for Gladbach to deal with.
Indeed, it was from a situation like this which led to the opening goal, as Cancelo cut inside on his favoured right foot to whip a cracking cross to the back post for Bernardo Silva to nod home.
He completed 86/92 attempted passes, with 21 of them being sent into the final third.
Though Cancelo made five ball recoveries, he could have performed better in his duels as he only won 7/17.
While Cancelo disappointed in his duels, Cesar Azpilicueta was dominant in his as he won 9/11 versus Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
The Spaniard is flourishing playing on the right of a back three under new manager Thomas Tuchel, and continued his good form from the Premier League into European action.
Though Azipilicueta would impress in his passing as he completed 88/103 with 43 being sent into the final third, his defensive prowess was more vital to Chelsea gaining the vital 1-0 away win.
He won 100% of his tackles (2/2) and 100% of his aerial duels (6/6), while he also made four ball recoveries, one interception, and four clearances.
The pass master of this week's Champions League games was, naturally, Real Madrid's Toni Kroos.
With Atalanta going down to 10 men early on, that allowed Los Blancos to dominate possession throughout the game, which played right to Kroos' strengths as a ball player.
He completed more passes than anyone this week with 129, with more being sent into the final third than anyone, too, with 49.
Against the Italian side, he would touch the ball a remarkable 154 times.
He would send six successful crosses into the box, too, with some coming from set-pieces.
Defensively, he won 4/6 duels, 2/2 tackles, and made seven ball recoveries.