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Champions League: 5 players who were poor in mid-week

FC Barcelona v Manchester United - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg
FC Barcelona v Manchester United - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg

There were a few upsets in this week's Champions League quarter-final matches, with Juventus and Manchester United performing the worst out of the lot.

United's defence is, to put it bluntly, dreadful. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are nowhere near good enough to be wearing the shirt, let alone be expected to operate in the heart of the Red Devils' defence. Both full-backs were susceptible to attacks, too, and failed to prevent the likes of Messi from heading on through to goal - a crucial error.

The same can be said for Juventus, whose defensive shape was all over the place and pretty much allowed Ajax to play the stunning football they wanted to without a care in the world. Juventus held back and let Ajax pile on the pressure, and that's how the Dutch side eliminated them.

Here are five of the worst players from this week's fixtures.


#5 Paulo Dybala

Juventus v Ajax - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg
Juventus v Ajax - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg

Make no doubt about it, Paulo Dybala was very poor in this match. The frustration on the face of his teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo, was clear for all to see - Dybala was cancelled out of the game and never made any real impact.

As a result, much of the work was left for Ronaldo to do, and although he bagged a goal to put Juventus ahead, it wasn't enough in the end.

Dybala only had one sucessful dribble in the whole game, was dispossessed four times, and had just the one shot on target.

He came away from the match with a weak 6.6 rating (WhoScored), illustrating just how ineffective the Argentine was in this pivotal fixture. It's games like these where players prove how good they are; it's all well and good looking great against a side who are odds-on favourites for relegation, but if you can't perform in big matches, you are mediocre.

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