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Newcastle news: Star joins Neymar and Barcelona ace – not Messi – in stats Team of Week
NEWCASTLE may be languishing near the foot of the Premier League, but one of their stars is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Neymar and co. in the European Team of the Week based on stats.
Newcastle enjoyed a welcome win over Cardiff this weekend to help lift them out of the relegation zone and give their survival hopes a massive boost.
Rafael Benitez’s side had only won four Premier League matches this season heading into their clash with the Bluebirds but ran out comfortable 3-0 victors.
Two goals from Fabian Schar were key in securing the points at St James’ Park, with an overall match rating of 9.1 seeing him named in the WhoScored.com European Team of the Week, based on statistics.
However, Schar was not the stand-out performer in the elite side with three players managing perfect 10.0 scores, generated using using a complex collection of detailed on-field stats.
Paris Saint-Germain stars Neymar and Edinson Cavani are both included following the French giants’ 9-0 hammering of Guingamp.
Cavani bagged a hat-trick and two assists while Brazilian superstar Neymar scored twice and created another.
Kylian Mbappe also achieved a perfect 10 match rating but misses out on the Team of the Week due to Duvan Zapata’s four goals for Atalanta against Frosinone.
Meanwhile, Barcelona continued their La Liga title charge with a 3-1 win over Leganes, but it’s not Lionel Messi who picked up the plaudits despite a brilliant display off the bench.
GK: Michael Esser (Hannover 96) – 9.4
RB: Daniel Caligiuri (Schalke) – 9.2
CB: Gianluca Mancini (Atalanta) – 9.3
CB: Fabian Schar (Newcastle United) – 9.1
LB: Aaron Martin (Mainz) – 9.5
RM: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona) – 9.1
CM: Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – 10.0
CM: Sebastian Cristoforo (Getafe) – 9.3
LM: Luis Muriel (Fiorentina) – 9.0
ST: Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain) – 10.0
ST: Duvan Zapata (Atalanta) – 10.0