Champions League group stage worst XI: Six Man Utd flops in Premier League-based team
The Champions League group stage has finished and only half of the Premier League’s representatives have qualified for the next round.
Dominated by Manchester United, here is the worst XI of the group stage, consisting of players from English clubs only.
Players must have over 100 minutes played or four appearances made and the line-up is based on ratings taken from WhoScored.
GK: Andre Onana (Manchester United) – 6.15
The performances of United’s new No. 1 in Europe were questionable to say the least. He had two errors leading to a goal and was extremely shaky across all six matches, sparking fear in Red Devils fans across the world whenever the opposition attacked his goal.
Making this XI and losing his place in the Premier League team of the season has to sting a bit.
RB: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) – 6.49
Fair play to Dalot, who is the highest-rated player in this team.
The Portuguese defender featured in all six group stage encounters, winning a little over one aerial duel per game and completing 78% of his passes.
CB: Victor Lindelof (Manchester United) – 6.18
In four appearances in Group A, Lindelof failed to help the Red Devils out of a group they really ought to have qualified from with little fuss.
Out of every outfielder in the group with Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray to play more than 150 minutes, Lindelof had the worst average match rating.
CB: Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal) – 6.36
Kiwior is the only Arsenal player in this XI, with Cedric Soares’ 61-minute cameo on matchday six not enough game time to merit a place.
The Polish international – who is reportedly wanted by a host of Italian clubs – started one match, coming off the bench on three occasions, as Arsenal topped Group B ahead of PSV, RC Lens and Sevilla.
LB: Sergio Gomez (Manchester City) – 6.35
Gomez started twice in Group G for the reigning European champions, failing to take his chance.
DM: Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United) – 6.29
We are obviously not completely sure what Erik ten Hag thought he was signing in Amrabat, but what he has seen so far must have fallen short of expectations.
He hasn’t looked great in the Premier League and he did not look great in Europe either.
CM: Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United) – 6.16
A 63.4% pass completion rate is not ideal for a central midfielder and that is what Tonali recorded in the three appearances he made for the Magpies.
Despite his below-average performances in the Champions League, Tonali was a big miss for Newcastle as they lost to Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, and drew at Paris Saint-Germain.
CM: Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) – 6.25
Having secured top spot in their group, Guardiola did the unthinkable on matchday six: he started Phillips.
The midfielder scored a penalty against Red Star but struggled on the night, earning a poor average match rating across four appearances and 127 minutes in total.
RW: Facundo Pellistri (Manchester United) – 6.22
Pellistri just qualified for a spot, playing 109 minutes across three appearances, failing to impress as United crashed out of the Champions League.
ST: Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) – 6.08
He might have had no goals going into the crucial clash against AC Milan on the final day of the group stage, but Wilson was given the start ahead of £60million Alexander Isak.
Wilson could not make an impact against the Italian giants and Newcastle finished bottom of the group of death.
LW: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) – 6.41
Anthony Martial had a worse rating than Garnacho, but as a lazy striker rather than an uninspiring winger, we did not see the need to move the Frenchman over in place of Garnacho.
The 19-year-old played in all six matches, scoring once.
