A regular feature on our website is the Talent Radar Team of the Week with the best young players compiled into an XI from across Europe’s top seven leagues. You can read this for all details on Talent Radar, who is eligible under it and what else we publish within this feature.
[Eligibility: As of 1st June 2016 – 21 years old and below for outfield players // 22 years old and below for goalkeepers]
Another gameweek passed us by, and further stratifcation has taken place across the top European leagues. While the top 4 seem to be drifting away in England, with all of them getting victories, Real Madrid too have opened up a 6 point gap on their rivals. Juventus of course, copped a heavy loss, but Leipzig, the surprise leaders of the Bundesliga, continued their march forward.
Defence: In the Eredivisie, Ajax managed to move level atop the standings with Feyenoord, after the latter could only draw 3-3 . Ajax, on the other hand, won a hard fought 3 points away at Heerenveen. An important player for them was their keeper, Andre Onana. The youngster, trying to replace the recently departed Jasper Cillessen, took to his job very well this weekend, with 3 good saves to keep the clean sheet.
The defence consists of 4 players from 4 different clubs, and the first of the 4 is Nico Elvedi. The youngster has taken some time to return to these lists after being a regular last season. A solid defensive performance against the still unbeaten Hoffenheim secured his spot this week. Alongside him is one of the stars of this list from last season. Making it into the team ahead of Stefan Savic, Jose Gimenez reignited his terrific partnership with Godin, and the Uruguayan duo ground out a clean sheet for Atletico as they returned to winning ways.
The other spot at center back is the star from Leverkusen’s midweek, Jonathan Tah. The youngster has got an extended run in the team this year, and he’s making the most of it. Leverkusen secured their spot in the round of 16 with a draw away at CSKA. Tah was a mountain in the midst of this match, with 3 tackles and 6 clearances to keep the home team out. Also performing very well in the same Champions League group was Benjamin Mendy along with a host of Monaco players as they secured top spot and dumped the much fancied Spurs out. The left back picked up an assist for his troubles on the night.
Midfield: Along with him, his teammates were also on fire. The now regular Thomas Lemar and Tiemoue Bakayoko once again dominate this team. If Mendy was a terror down the left hand side with his pace and dribbling, it was his partnership with the ever impressive Lemar that really set Monaco on their way. The midfielder got the match winning goal, and was troubling as usual. Again, this flair-filled attack was built on the defensive platform provided by some excellent midfield work, especially from the tireless Bakayoko. Alongside Fabinho (another excellent youngster) he’s made a name for himself, and his 4 tackles and 3 interceptions went a long way in kicking Spurs out of the Champions League.
While Monaco did very well, Borussia Dortmund defenders cannot claim to have had a good week. The defeat ot Frankfurt came after they conceded 4 at home to Legia. However, young Ousmane Dembele cannot personally complain about his week. He picked up 4 assists in the league and midweek, and got a goal as well, contributing to over half the goals Dortmund scored.
Sticking to the Bundesliga, we move up the table to a team that has now got 6 wins out of 6. RB Leipzig are one of 3 unbeaten teams left standing in Europe, and with good reason. They ensured they would top the table again with a brilliant 4-1 win away at Freiburg. Their 2 influential youngsters, Keita and Werner had roles to play. Keita scored one, but was more useful at the back, making 7 interceptions. When you consider the playing style that Leipzig usually adopt, you will realise that interceptions are very important to them.
Strikers: His teammate, Timo Werner has been a regular on this team, and makes his way into it again this week with an impressive brace to win the points and table topping domination for his team. Alongside him Giovani Simeone, who scored an impressvie brace as a ferocious Genoa tore through Juventus in one of the more surprising results of the weekend.
Talent Radar Team of the Week // Performance Rankings
