Messi, PSG and Roma players feature in European team of the weekend

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  • Utterly sublime: Lionel Messi scores a wonder free-kick.

    After another round of spellbinding action across Europe’s five major leagues, a special group of players rose above the rest.

    Footballers made their mark from PSG to Barcelona, and Angers to Swansea.

    Here is our selection:

    GK: Jack Butland – Stoke City

    Butland deserves the gloves here after producing a superb performance against Southampton just one week on from his horror show against Leicester.

    The prospective England No.1 may not have been up against the most lethal of attacks in Europe, but produced a stunning save against Nathan Redmond in particular to secure a draw and keep Stoke’s survival hopes afloat.

    RB: Alessandro Florenzi – AS Roma

    It was always going to be a hard task to keep a high-octane Napoli off the scoresheet at home and while they scored two, Florenzi ensured his side would be returning to Rome with victory.

    The Italy full-back not only provided the assist for Edin Dzeko’s first goal, he made a vital clearance off the line – with his heel no less – as Roma ended the Serie A league leaders’ 10-match winning streak.

    CB: Benjamin Hubner – Hoffenheim

    Hoffenheim have not hit the heights of last season – a fourth-placed spot in the Bundesliga earning them a Champions League play-off place – but a key win away at Augsburg has them knocking on the door once again.

    Key to that performance was towering centre-back Hubner, who made four tackles, won six aerial battles, and even set up the first goal of a 2-0 victory.

    CB: Ismael Traore – Angers

    Angers only had a 35 per cent share of the possession but managed to emerge with a 3-0 triumph over Guingamp – no surprise that one of their defenders makes the cut here.

    The Ivory Coast international even capped off an impressive display with a goal in the third minute of injury-time, as Angers developed a three-point buffer between the relegation zone.

    LB: Layvin Kurzawa – PSG

    Kurzawa has battled summer arrival Yuri Berchiche for the left-back spot all season but he sent a another message to Unai Emery in PSG’s away-day success over Troyes.

    The 25-year-old had the left flank under lock and key as he chipped in with five tackles, three aerial duels won and was tidy in possession with a 91 per cent pass success rate.

    CM: Lassana Diarra – PSG

    While Troyes are certainly no Real Madrid, the story of Lassana Diarra is worth documenting given that his career looked dead and buried after mustering just four appearances with Al Jazira earlier this season.

    There is life left in the 32-year-old yet, clearly, producing an all-action man-of-the-match display – even featuring eight completed dribbles. Will he play some part against Real Madrid on Tuesday?

    CM: Ki Sung-yueng – Swansea City

    Carlos Carvalhal has transformed the fortunes of Swansea since December and Ki has been one of the main beneficiaries since his arrival.

    In a 4-1 win that took the Swans three points clear of the Premier League’s drop zone, the South Korean opened the scoring before sending in the corner that saw Mike van der Hoorn head in the second.

    RW: Franco Vazquez – Sevilla

    Manchester United, beware. Sevilla, who have been goal-shy for most of the season, have remained in winning form in La Liga – and Vazquez was the star in a crucial 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

    He set up striker Luis Muriel’s first before quickly adding the second with an exquisite header. Eight points behind fourth-placed Valencia, Vazquez and co take on Los Che this weekend.

    CAM: Lionel Messi – Barcelona

    This was not a Messi performance that will go down in the annals of history – save for one moment, which happened to produce his 600th career goal.

    Messi prised open the stingiest defence in La Liga with another free-kick that has to be seen to be believed, sealing a win against Atletico Madrid that surely takes them to a 25th title.

    LW: Erik Thommy – Stuttgart

    Who grabbed a hat-trick without scoring any goals? Thommy against Cologne. The winger set-up both of Mario Gomez’s goals and then Andreas Beck for good measure.

    All three proved vitally important as Stuttgart took away a 3-2 win from Bundesliga’s basement club.

    ST: Edin Dzeko – AS Roma

    Dzeko has decidedly been more miss than hit this season but he was on target in Roma’s shock win at Napoli on Saturday.

    He planted an expert header into the net for his first goal but his second was a thing of beauty – bringing the ball under his spell, beating two men and bending a shot around Pepe Reina outside the penalty box.

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