Izuchukwu OkosiThe matchday 3 round of games in the UEFA Champions League were concluded on Wednesday night across Europe and UEFA and some statistical websites in Europe released their Matchday 3 Best XI.
The eleven players are those who performed exceptionally well for their clubs midweek.
Prime Business Africa agrees with some of those choices but have a few objections.
So today we present to you our version of the UEFA lineup for the actions we witnessed.
Andre Onana (Man United)
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana produced a massive performance Tuesday night as the Red Devils defeated Danish side Copenhagen 1-0.
Onana pulled a last gasp penalty save to deny Copenhagen as they sought to restore parity with the last kick of the game.
It marked a remarkable evening for the Cameroonian who also made an elastic save in the course of the game to quieten the boo boys who always found the slightest chance to berate him.
DEFENDERS
Harry Maguire (Man United)
The Man United story of the rejected stones turning the chief corner was also the case of defender Harry Maguire in United’s heartwarming win against Copenhagen.
Maguire who is a stalwart for the English national team but derided for his catalogue of errors playing for United scored the only goal of the game in the second half with a header from a corner kick.
Nico Schlotterbeck (Borrusia Dortmund)
Towering centre back Schlotterbeck was a rock at the back for German Bundesliga side Borrusia Dortmund as they pippeed Newcastle United 1-0 at the King James Park.
Schlotterbeck made five tackles, three clearances and blocked one shot.
Joao Mario (Porto)
Portuguese right-back Joao Mario was a defensive rock and an attacking outlet in the team’s 4-1 win away win over Royal Antwerp.
Nigeria midfielder Alhassan Yusuf scored the goal that put the Belgians ahead but that seemingly awakemed the beast in 2003 winners Porto with Mario a key cog in that wheel.
The defender provided the assist for Stephen Eustaqio’s goal
to wrap up an impressive evening for the all-action defender.
David Raum (RB Leipzig)
It was indeed one of the best defensive and attacking performances in equal measure for German international, Raum.
The full back scored a goal and provided an assist in RB Leipzig’s 3-1 victory over FK Crvena Zvezda on Wednesday at the Red Bull Aren. The 25-year-old made one tackle, one clearance and one blocked shot.
Raum made six key passes (84.8% pass accuracy) and an incredible 15 crosses into the opposition box.
MIDFIELDERS
Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
At the base of a three-man midfield is PSG’s Warren Zaire-Emery who had two assists in the 3-0 thumping oc AC Milan at Parc de Princes.
One of the assists in particular was a thing of beauty as he waltzed past two defenders to set up Kylian Mbappe to finish with aplomb.
Fermin Lopez (Barcelona)
La Masia academy product, Lopez scored the second of Barcelona’s two goals in their 2-1 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Estadi Olimpic Luis Companys, the temporary home ground of Barcelona.
López’s performance for the Blaugrana shows an immense amount of talent he has.
The youngster was not fazed by the big occasion.
Hakan Cahanoglu (Inter Milan)
Turkish superstar Cahanoglu directed the game from midfield as Inter defeated RB Salzburg 2-1 at the Giuseppe Meazza on Tuesday evening.
He scored from th penalty spot and although his place was threatened by another player on the opposite side, Gloukh who scored a cracking goal, Cahanoglu’s overall play nicks it for him. He made four key passes and won one aerial battle.
ATTACKERS
Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus assisted one and scored a fabulous goal as Arsenal recovered from a better-forgotten 1-0 loss to Lens to defeat Sevilla 2-1 away on Tuesday night.
The Group B win victory took the Gunners back to the summit and although the Brazilian limped off with a suspected thigh injury, he did enough to make the cut.
Evalnilson (Porto)
The second Porto player on the list is Evalnilson.
The Brazilian scored a brace in the 46th and 69th minutes in the 4-1 win over Royal Antwerp.
Not many football supporters are familiar with the name but the two goal salvo has put him in the consciousness of football faithful.
Santi Gimenez (Feyenoord)
Completing the lineup is an emerging striking talent from the Dutch Eredevisie, Santi Gimenez.
The Mexican was on target as he scored a brace in Feyenoord’s 3-1 win over Serie A side, Lazio.
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Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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