Check out the best and worst moments from the midweek action in the UEFA Champions League.
Team of the week
Game of the week
Arsenal 6 Braga 0
If you are looking for free-flowing, easy-on-the-eye football, Emirates Stadium was the place to be on Wednesday night. Arsenal were at their purring best as they put Champions League debutants Braga to the sword. It took the Gunners to just nine minutes to break the deadlock as Cesc Fabregas slotted home from the penalty spot after Marouane Chamakh was felled in the box. Andrey Arshavin then doubled their advantage, rifling in at the near post. And Chamakh helped himself to another strike on Arsenal's home turf as the Moroccan rolled in following a wonderful exchange with English teenager Jack Wilshere. Fabregas scored his second of the night early in the second half, heading in unmarked from close range. Carlos Vela entered the fray just after the hour mark and made a swift impact as he executed a cheeky dink of Braga keeper Felipe. And the rout was completed with six minutes remaining as Mexican forward Vela nestled a shot in at the near post.
Players of the week
Lionel Messi/Cesc Fabregas
Hard, if not almost impossible, to pick between these two, so the gong is shared. First, Barcelona star Messi, who netted a brace in his side's 5-1 demolition of Panathinaikos. The Argentine was pretty much faultless (penalty miss aside) as he bamboozled the opponents' backline. He helped Barca restore parity at the Camp Nou, latching onto a wonderful Xavi through ball to calmly hit the back of the net. Messi's piece de resistance came just prior to the interval. The footballing wizard weaved towards goal, exchanged one-twos with Xavi and Pedro, before finishing off a seemingly impossible move. Fabregas, meanwhile, also ran the show for Arsenal. As mentioned, he scored twice against Braga, but on top of his goals his overall play was first-class as he turned provider on two occasions. The captain led by example.
Goal of the week
Tino Costa
There were several contenders for this award, and Costa is only narrowly the victor by virtue of his wonder-goal. Indeed, the Valencia midfielder hit a wickedly vicious strike against Bursaspor that whistled through the air in a blink of an eye and nestled home. Sublime. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich striker Thomas Muller's outside-of-the-boot effort that swerved in off the post was a joy to behold, while we have already touched on the quality of Messi's second goal, such was the neatness of the interchanging on display.
Pass of the week
Djibril Cisse
The level of creativity on show in the Champions League this week was exceptionally high. Barcelona's Xavi surprised few with his dissecting pass that assisted Messi' first, Tottenham new boy Rafael van der Vaart found Peter Crouch with a hugely inviting cross while Wilshere's aforementioned improvisation for Arsenal to feed Chamakh was super. But Cisse is this week's victor for his assist against Barcelona after the Frenchman controlled and passed a high punt forward all in one flick of the boot as it sent Sydney Govou scampering in on goal. The audacious nature of Cisse's pass was terrific.
Controversy of the week
Hapoel penalty appeals
Hapoel Tel-Aviv were arguably unfortunate not to be award at least one penalty in their 2-0 loss against Benfica at Estadio da Luz, after having three separate appeals turned down by referee Aleksei Nikolaev. The strongest case of the trio came in the 15th minute when former Chelsea forward Ben Sahar looked to have a decent shout for a spot-kick when he appeared to be pulled down by Luisao, but the officials (there are now five of them, or six including the one patrolling the dug-outs) saw nothing untoward. Elsewhere, Rangers also had a possible spot-kick claim at Old Trafford when Chris Smalling clipped Kirk Broadfoot in awkward fashion.
Save of the week
Hugo Lloris
There were not too many world-class stops on show this week, so credit must go to Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for his demonstration of fine reflexes against Schalke. Christoph Moritz must have thought his low, rasping drive was destined to find the back of the net when it left his boot. Alas, Lloris leapt and stretched expertly to get a strong hand to the effort, tipping it around the post. Elsewhere, Roma keeper Julio Sergio pulled of a top-notch save as he flung out a hand to deny Bayern's Muller.
Miss of the week
Lionel Messi
Ah, so he is human after all. Messi had a chance to seal a hat-trick on Tuesday night, but he missed from the penalty spot. What was most surprising was the poorness of the spot-kick as the Argentina international weakly struck rather centrally. It made keeper Alexandros Tzorvas' job far too easier. Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo was also guilty of missing a golden chance when he completely fluffed a square ball, swiping at thin air with the goal a-gaping.
Gaffe of the week
Benedikt Howedes
Not a good outing at all for Howedes at Lyon. The Schalke player first attempted to make amends for a torrid Moritz backpass, only to inadvertently help the ball into his own net. Then seven minutes before the half-time whistle, the 22-year-old was handing his marching orders after his high-footed challenge caught Jimmy Briand. It was harsh call, but nonetheless capped a forgettable 38 minutes of Champions League action for Howedes.
