Week 4 in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League Group Stage had a lot of action between Tuesday and Wednesday. Unlike past matchweeks, this time it was extremely hard to choose only five players that stood above the rest on an individual basis.
Here are the top five performers during Week 4 of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Rodrygo Goes – Real Madrid
When Vinicius Jr. joined Real Madrid last season, there was a lot of talk about him as a future stud and being the second coming of Neymar Jr. What many Real Madrid fans didn’t know was that Los Merengues also signed another Brazilian who was one year younger, and equally talented as Vinicius. And that Brazilian forward, who goes by the name of Rodrygo Goes, had his “coming out party” on Wednesday against Galatarasay.
In front of a heavily-packed Santiago Bernabeu and with Real Madrid itching to get a win, the former Santos star stepped up to the challenge. He scored three goals and delivered one assist during Madrid’s huge 6-0 win over Galatasaray. The win not only puts Madrid quite close to reaching a berth on the knockout stages. It also signals the beginning of the Rodrygo era with los Merengues.
Heung-Min Son – Tottenham Hotspur
The South Korea international has had quite a lot of action over the past few days. From the Andre Gomes injury to his rumors about his mental state coming into this game, it was mentioned Son might not even play at all until after the international break so he could “recover” from the trauma that he was supposedly dealing with after the Gomes scare.
Son, however, played Wednesday against Crvena Zvezda. It was a must-win game for the Spurs, and the Korean was the Man of the Match after scoring two goals. Son Heung-Min rose to superstar status last season with his exploits in the UEFA Champions League, and he seems to be doing it again this term. His two goals certainly lifted Tottenham to a much-needed win on Serbian soil.
Achraf Hakimi – Borussia Dortmund
Achraf Hakimi is on loan at Borussia Dortmund from Real Madrid until the end of the season. And if the Bundesliga giants continue to doubt whether they should sign him on a permanent basis – hint: they should – then Tuesday’s outing against Inter Milan should clear every single doubt about that idea.
The Morocco international scored a brace in a pivotal game for Dortmund. The Yellow Bees had their backs against the wall against Inter Milan, and Hakimi saved the day with two goals, including the winning streak in the 77th minute. At 21 years of age, Hakimi is one of the most promising full-backs in Europe. And he was also one of the top performers during Week 4 of the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Ondrej Kolar – Slavia Praha
What else can we say about Ondrej Kolar? A not-so-familiar name for the average football fan, the 25-year-old goalkeeper had one of the best performances of his career Tuesday when his team, Slavia Praha, visited Camp Nou to take on FC Barcelona.
The match ended with a scoreless draw, and one of the main reasons why that happened was the performance of the Czech international. Aside from the clean sheet itself, Kolar ended with six saves, including five from inside the box. He was magnificent time and time again, and that draw against the reigning Liga champions kept Slavia alive on the race for a knockout stage or a UEFA Europa League berth. If they do finish Top 3 in the group, probably it would be because of Kolar’s heroics between the posts.
Jorginho – Chelsea
Jorginho must be one of the most consistent central midfielders in Europe. He rarely has a bad performance, but he also rarely stands out in a team where other players tend to take most of the credit and the spotlights. But the Italy international – who was born in Brazil – made his presence felt during Tuesday’s 4-4 draw against Ajax in the UEFA Champions League.
At one point, Ajax were up 4-1 against Chelsea. However, things changed when Ajax suffered two red cards in a two-minute span. Jorginho, who had scored a first-half penalty, added a second one and played a key role on the turnaround. He controlled the tempo of the game, slowed things down when he needed to, and paced Chelsea to a thrilling three-goal comeback that resulted in a 4-4 draw. He definitively proved his worth and showed why most of the top teams in the world wanted to sign him during the summer of 2018.
