World Team of the Week 2: Juan Mata the star of the show for the Red Devils

11 April 2014 11:48

The second edition of the World Team of the Week is here with players featuring from huge games this week. Chelsea surprised everyone by dumping PSG out of the Champions League whilst Real Madrid avoided a scare against Borussia Dortmund. Manchester United crashed out to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid continued their dream season with victory over Barcelona.

GOALKEEPER

Roman Weidenfeller – Germany – Borussia Dortmund

Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund can take pride from their performance against Spanish giants Real Madrid crashing out on aggregate after an inspired performance at the Signal Iduna Park. Madrid led 3-0 after the first leg and should have sealed the tie in the 18th minute but Weidenfeller was on hand to save Angel Di Maria’s penalty. The German provided a solid performance although Marco Reus’ two goals were not enough to send BVB through.

DEFENDERS

Pepe – Portugal – Real Madrid

Pepe makes the team of the week following his performance in La Liga where Real beat Real Sociedad 4-0. The Portugal international was strong and aggressive at the back for Carlo Ancelotti’s men and prodded home the third goal of the game from Sergio Ramos’ headed knockdown.

Miranda – Brazil – Atletico Madrid

Miranda put in a fantastic performance as Spanish league leaders Atletico Madrid stunned Barcelona and progressed to the semi-final of the Champions League knocking out Barcelona. Diego Simeone’s side were helped by an outstanding defensive performance from Miranda who made nine clearances against the Blaugrana.

John Terry – England – Chelsea

John Terry was masterful at the back for the Blues as Chelsea knocked out Paris Saint-Germain. PSG have been potent in front of goal and despite the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic had an array of attacking talent. Terry was a rock at the back as Jose Mourinho’s men progressed to the semi-finals.

MIDFIELDERS

Andre Ayew – Ghana – Marseille

The Ghana winger ended his goal drought in style after grabbing a hat-trick for OM in their Ligue 1 match against Ajaccio on Friday night. The 24-year-old scored the first goal in the 4th minute, before striking two in the second half to put Marseille back on track for European football.

Star of the Week: Juan Mata – Spain – Manchester United

Juan Mata has finally found his feet at Old Trafford in the absence of Robin Van Persie. Mata has been isolated in a wide role for the Red Devils but in his favoured central role has flourished. After opening his account for the club last week, Mata scored a quality free kick and another tidy finish against Newcastle. He set up young winger Adnan Januzaj with a lovely back-heel late on to cap his best display in the red shirt. If Mata had not been cup-tied for the midweek game against Bayern Munich, the tie could have been very different.

Camacho – Spain – Malaga

Defensive midfielder Camacho grabbed a brace as Malaga crushed Granada 4-1 at home to move them seven points clear of the relegation zone. The Spaniard opened the scoring heading home a cross in the 15th before doubling his side lead heading from a corner in the 37th minute.

Clint Dempsey – United States – Seattle Sounders

Seattle Sounders looked down and out being 4-2 down in the 85th minute. However, the MLS’s top paid player Clint Dempsey had other ideas; netting an eventual hat-trick in the thrilling 4-4 draw with Portland Timbers. He levelled the scoring with a penalty and claimed the MLS Player of the Week award.

FORWARDS

Mattia Destro – Italy – Roma

Roma’s Italian striker Mattia Destro scored another hat-trick for his side in their 3-1 win over Cagliari. Destro opened the scoring before completing his trio in the second half. Gervinho found the striker in the 32nd minute and the Italian coolly finished. Destro added his second and third finishing Radja Nainggolan’s pass and firing in Alessandro Florenzi’s low cross.

Salomon Rondon – Venezuela – Zenit St. Petersburg

Andre Villas-Boas’ Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon capped off his manager’s impressive start to life in Russia as Zenit were victorious 6-2. Rondon came off the bench to play 24 minutes of proceedings and bagged himself a remarkable hat-trick in that time.

Paco Alcacer – Spain – Valencia

Valencia were on the brink of a Europa League exit after losing 3-0 away to quarter final opponents FC Basel who have impressed in this season’s competition. It seemed there was no way back for Valencia but Unai Emery’s side were sensational to complete an astounding 5-0 win at the Mestalla. The spearhead of the win was young 20 year old striker Paco Alcacer who completed a memorable hat-trick to send the Spanish side through the Europa League semi-finals.

Source: DSG