Ranking the 5 best players from Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League
Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League saw some shocking results. European giants Real Madrid and Barcelona were humbled by FC Sheriff and Benfica, respectively. Meanwhile, PSG and Juventus came out on top in the round's two biggest fixtures, beating Manchester City and Chelsea in their respective games.
The Champions League group stage is now starting to take shape, with the likes of Liverpool and Bayern Munich already taking a commanding lead in their respective groups. Meanwhile, Manchester United finally got themselves on the board with a last-gasp win against Villarreal at Old Trafford.
This round of fixtures also saw some solid individual performances. This article will list the top five performers from Matchday 2.
5 best players from Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League
#5 Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
Gianluigi Donnarumma had an imperious performance in his UEFA Champions League debut with PSG. The Italian was impregnable between the sticks as the French giants beat Premier League champions Manchester City 2-0 on the night.
Donnarumma commanded the box well and constantly frustrated the Manchester City attackers. He made seven saves on the night, stopping the likes of Ruben Dias, Raheem Sterling and Riyadh Mahrez from scoring for the visitors.
Donnarumma was the last line of defence for PSG and helped his side keep a clean sheet against one of the most fearsome attacks in Europe. If he continues to play at this level, there will no longer be a debate about who should start in goal for the French heavyweights.
🔎 | FOCUS
Gianluigi Donnarumma vs Manchester City:
🧤 7 saves
📥 4 saves from inside the box
🥊 3 punches
✈️ 1 high claim
🏃♂️ 1/1 successful runs out
👌 44 touches
🧼 1 clean sheet
📈 9.1 SofaScore rating
He was immense for Paris Saint-Germain tonight! 👏👏
#PSGMCI #UCL https://t.co/26TasNZXkS
#4 Darwin Nunez (Benfica)
Never in his wildest dreams could Darwin Nunez have imagined scoring a brace against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League. However, that is exactly what the Benfica striker did as the Blaugrana lost 3-0 once again.
Nunez was electric for the Portuguese side as he humiliated Sergi Roberto down the left flank. His pace and movement were too much for the Barcelona defenders to handle.
The Uruguayan took three minutes to score the opening goal of the game, getting past Eric Garcia far too easily before slotting the ball home.
Nunez then showed great composure to score his penalty in the 79th minute, coolly sending Marc-Andre ter Stegen the wrong way to make it 3-0 to Benfica.
He was taken off in the 86th minute to great applause from Benfica supporters as he helped his side to a historic win in the UEFA Champions League.
Darwin Núñez for Benfica since returning from injury:
✅7 games
⚽️6 goals
This is gonna be his season. 🦅🇺🇾 https://t.co/YwegKTOPzu