Two Celtic stars feature in a Champions League Team of the Week after the Hoops biggest result since the competitions revamp in the 1990s. Stats site Sofascore has included both Liam Scales and Arne Engels in their Champions League Team of the Week…
Belgian midfielder Arne Engels became only the second Celtic player to score and assist in the same game in the competitions history. The 21 year-old put it on a plate for Liam Scales who headed home for Celtic’s first. He then cooly dispatched Celtic’s third of the match from the penalty spot making it two goals in two games for the record signing.
Engels was given an impressive overall rating of 9.2 by UEFA. The midfielder has been ranked the second joint highest performer alongside Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman turned the game around in Madrid with a goal and an assist against German side RB Leipzig as Diego Simeone’s side kickstarted with three points in the new League phase.
Player of the Match Liam Scales was Celtic’s second player to feature in this Team of the Week. The Irish defender won more duels than any other player in matchday one. Also bagging the first goal for Celtic in the campaign, Scales had a performance to remember as he kept the dangerous David Strelec quiet all evening.
The 26 year-old was given a rating of 8.1 for his perfect performance on Wednesday night. The Team of the Week consists of a back three in defence and Scales has been paired with Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol (8.7) and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterebeck (8.0) after the Germans convincingly defeated Club Brugge in Belgium 3-0.
Celtic duo Scales and Engels are in elite company. Leading the way with an imperious 10 rating, Harry Kane is matchday one’s Player of the Week. The Englishman scored four of Bayern’s nine as they put Dinamo Zagreb to the sword on Tuesday evening. The Hoops matchday six opponents Zagreb immediately sacked their manager Sergej Jakirovic following the humiliating battering in Germany. The Croatians currently sit third in their domestic table after six matches.
The entire Champions League matchday one Team of the Week can be seen below:
Dmytro Riznyk (Shakhtar Donestk) – 8.3
Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City) – 8.7
Liam Scales (Celtic) – 8.1
Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund) – 8.0
Arne Engels (Celtic) – 9.2
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) – 8.7
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) – 9.0
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) – 9.2
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich) – 9.1
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) – 8.5
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) – 10
🌍| Team of the week
After a historic win on Tuesday, it’s no wonder Bayern players lead the way in our first UEFA Champions League TOTW of 2024/25! 🟥⬜️
Unsurprisingly, Harry Kane’s perfect 🔟 Sofascore Rating was enough for him to earn our #UCL Player of the week award. 🏅 pic.twitter.com/8GWJ36IDSw
— Sofascore Football (@SofascoreINT) September 20, 2024
Conor Spence