UCL Top 5 Matchweek Pick – Real Madrid vs Ajax

The UEFA champions league round of 16 encounters began on Tuesday in a rather subdued manner due to a lot of injury issues among top clubs. The biggest fixture of this matchweek was the clash between French giants PSG and Manchester United. A significantly weakened PSG lineup surprised everyone by defending astutely and attacking with grace as they notched up a 2-0 victory.

At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, teenager Nicolo Zaniolo’s brace set up a 2-1 win for Roma against Porto. On Wednesday night, Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur took on Lucian Favre’s Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund struggled to dominate without Marco Reus and clinical performance from Vertonghen and Son-Heung min resulted in a 3-0 victory for Tottenham.

At the Amsterdam arena, an Ajax side filled with young talents took on the current holders Real Madrid. Ajax dominated the first half of the game but missed some golden opportunities to take an early lead in the game. In the end, goals from Karim Benzema and Marcus Asensio sealed a 2-1 victory for the Los Blancos. Here are the top 5 picks of this UCL matchweek.

#1 Best player – Angel Di Maria

Di Maria had a fruitful night at Old Trafford

The clash between PSG and Manchester United turned out to be a memorable night for Angel Di Maria as he put up a splendid show against his former club. Right from the starting minute, United fans booed him mercilessly but he kept a calm head and delivered one of his career-best performances in the UCL. Due to the absence of Neymar, he played higher up the pitch on the left flank and combined well with Juan Bernat to trouble Ashley Young and Lindelof in wide spaces.

At the 53rd minute, his pinpoint delivery into the box from a corner kick was converted superbly by Kimpembe to give PSG the lead. A few minutes later, he made a swift run down the right wing and found Mbappe to perfection with a neat pass. Mbappe fired in from close range to extend the lead as PSG went on to win the game.

#2. Best goal – Son Heung Min’s Volley against Borussia Dortmund

In the absence of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, Spurs had to rely a lot on the pace and skill of Son Heung Min to get them through against Borussia Dortmund. He fulfilled the expectations of the fans by working hard and creating chances in the first half and capped off a wonderful night with a stunning volley from close range.

The key takeaway from this goal was Son’s off the ball movement as he followed Vertonghen’s overlapping run down the left wing and suddenly burst into the box with a lot of paces. Vertonghen delivered a perfect cross and in one fluid motion, Son shifted his weight and timed his jump to perfection to meet Vertonghen’s cross. In the blink of an eye, the ball flew from Son’s right leg into the back of the net and Tottenham took a 2-0 lead in the match.

#3. Best match – Ajax vs Real Madrid

Vinicius combined brilliantly with Benzema to give Madrid the lead

United vs PSG might have been more hyped but this game was a treat for football lovers as neither side gave up easily and fought hard to control the match.

In the 1st half, Ajax midfielders outsmarted Madrid’s famed trio of Kroos, Casemiro, Modric by passing accurately in tight spaces and playing out long balls to the forwards. Luckily for Madrid, the Ajax forwards failed to convert any of the opportunities into goals. Tadic came close to opening the score as his shot deflected off the post and there was a lot of drama as Tagliafico’s header was overruled by VAR.

Real Madrid relied a lot on Vinicius Junior during attacking plays and he responded with a brilliant run into the Ajax defence as he outsmarted Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind and more importantly made an unselfish pass to Benzema to give Madrid the lead. Ajax hit back through Savic’s goal but Asensio scored the winner to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory.

#4. Best Manager – Thomas Tuchel

Tuchel's master plan helped PSG to a 2-0 win

After he took over from Unai Emery, Tuchel guided PSG to a record-breaking winning streak. When the Round of 16 fixtures were announced PSG were the clear favourites against an under performing Manchester United. But injuries to Neymar, Cavani, Meunier and United’s resurgence against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meant that the odds were heavily stacked against PSG at Old Trafford. But as the match got over one thing was pretty clear, Tuchel had completely outsmarted Solskjaer by shuffling his players and had made two key decisions which enabled PSG to control the match.

He deployed Marquinhos in a versatile role in the midfield as he man-marked Pogba and during United’s counter-attacks, he dropped into the box to clear the crosses. His decision to play Dani Alves higher up the pitch confused the opposition as he regularly dropped into the midfield to outnumber the United midfielders. This was a perfect night for Tuchel as Pogba’s red card means that PSG are the clear favourites to win the 2nd leg.

#5. Masterstroke of the week – Pochettino’s decision to deploy Vertonghen as a left wing-back

Pochettino's decision to play Vertonghen up the field worked wonders

Pochettino has always been praised for his tactical shrewdness and for his ability to adapt according to the opposition. Against Borussia Dortmund at the Wembley stadium, His decision to move Vertonghen deep into the Left flank paid rich dividends for Spurs as they completely dominated the match and won 3-0.

Due to the absence of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, Pochettino decided to scrap his 4-2-3-1 formation and decided to play with a three-man defence as Vertonghen and Serge Aurier played as attacking full backs. Vertonghen played like an experienced left back and barely put a foot wrong as he was exceptional with his crosses and created a lot of trouble for Dortmund with his pace and intelligent passes. He managed to keep the youngster Jadon Sancho quiet for the majority of the game.He also tracked back well to help his team during transitions and played a crucial role in his side’ victory.

Edited by Ben Roberts