Kylian Mbappe to the rescue, Virgil Van Dijk shines: Champions League team of the week

Hard-fought wins for PSG and Liverpool while Manchester City dominate

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  Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid): The Belgian will be angry with himself at the late Mbappe goal, but, fact is Real would be facing greater deficit than 1-0 down against PSG without his agility, reach and calm. Made two fine saves from Mbappe and kept out a Lionel Messi penalty. AFP

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  Centre-back: Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool). For periods Inter kept the leader of Liverpool’s defence extremely busy. Came out on top in his duels with Edin Dzeko, and marshalled his colleagues with authority. Inter were better than their low yield of shots on target suggests in the 2-0 Liverpool win, but, thanks to VVD, were kept at bay. Getty

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  Centre-back: Oumar Solet (RB Salzburg). Seemed to have an uncanny sixth sense about where to be when danger threatened against Bayern Munich. Made several crucial blocks and interceptions to maintain Salzburg’s early lead and will be disappointed to have missed a header immediately before Bayern’s late equaliser. AFP

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  Centre-back: Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool). No less commanding than Van Dijk, the 22-year-old is still feeling his way in. He stood tall at San Siro to repel Inter. Used his strength, speed and reach to effect key interventions, helping Liverpool towards a place in the quarter-finals. AFP

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  Right-wing: Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City). Incisive and often unplayable in City’s 5-0 rout of Sporting, Mahrez scored his sixth goal in Europe this season within seven minutes of his seventh Champions League start. There was an assist, too, for Phil Foden. EPA

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  Right midfield: Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain). It’s not easy to set the tempo and command the midfield space up against Modric, Kroos and Casemiro, but Verratti took the battle to Real Madrid’s fabled trio. Off the ball he was tireless and pugnacious. In possession he was insightful and precise with distribution. AFP

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  Centre midfield: Mohamed Camara (RB Salzburg). A magnificent Camara pass set up Salzburg’s lead over Bayern. It was one of several highlights in a showreel performance from the Mali international. Firm in the tackle, quick to look forward after regaining possession. AFP

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  Left midfield: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City). A dazzling display to a soundtrack of regular booing that, as a former Benfica boy, Bernardo would have expected. One brilliantly taken goal, another to add to his growing collection and an assist are three more reasons why he will be among those in consideration as City’s most vital player. AP

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  Left-wing: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich). On a difficult night for Bayern in Austria, Coman was a continual source of threat. Quick and shrewd in his probing for flaws in a staunch Salzburg defence, he struck the equaliser that seemed to swing the tie back in favour of the German champions. AFP

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  Centre forward: Karim Adeyemi (RB Salzburg). Adeyemi’s electric speed is no longer a secret, ever since it propelled Salzburg through the Champions League group phase. Nor is Adeyemi’s precociousness. He turned 20 last month but already has three caps for his native Germany and is firmly on the radar of Bayern. AFP

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  Centre forward: Kylian Mbappe (PSG): Yet again, a late Mbappe goal delivered for PSG, on a night when he had been outstanding and close to scoring a number of times well before he wriggled through to nutmeg Thibaut Courtois. It was a triumph of clear-eyed focus too. He may well have been playing against his future employer. EPA

Liverpool put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals following a hard-fought 2-0 win at Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Late goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a significant lead ahead of the last-16 second leg at Anfield in three weeks' time.

In the other match on Wednesday, Kingsley Coman scored late to salvage a 1-1 draw for Bayern Munich at Salzburg in the first leg of their last-16 clash.

Coman, who scored Bayern’s winner in the 2020 final, equalised in the last minute to prevent the Bavarians from slumping to their second consecutive defeat after a 4-2 loss to promoted Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Earlier, Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with his team's performance as they beat Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe spared PSG a frustrating night as he skipped through the Real defence in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win.

Also, Bernardo Silva's double helped Manchester City secure a 5-0 win over Sporting Lisbon.

City were dominant from start to finish in the Portuguese capital to all but seal their spot in the quarter-finals, with the five-goal victory the joint-biggest winning margin in a Champions League knockout game.