Shakhtar Donetsk vs Bayern Munich: Post Match Awards and Player Ratings

Tip Of The Cap: David Alaba

Most of the Bayern possession came through his side of the pitch. Alaba had an impressive 94% passing accuracy with the second most passes on the team including being five for seven on long balls. He played his classic box to box game. He tracked back well, made a few timely interceptions and also blocked a shot that could have been dangerous, hockey style. All in all, not a bad game.

Golf Clap: Arjen Robben

Bayern weren't able to muster their trademark dangerous attack this game, but whatever they were able to generate came through Robben. He commanded the respect of the Shakhtar defenders and looked very strong on the ball. He had a few passes that led to goal scoring chances that either went JUST wide, or were blocked by the defenders hand. It wasn't the prettiest offensive display, but Robben still kept them on their toes.

Standing Ovation: Fernando

The 22 year old member of Shakhtar's "Brazil East" contingent very quietly played a very strong game. He had a game high 7 tackles, made several successful long passes, and also made timely breakups in the defensive zone while completing over 90% of his passes. What little percentage of Shakhtar's possession came through him.

Meister Of The Match: Rafinha

It was a pretty good game for Brazilians all around. Outside of Rafi's stupid yellow card in which he picked up the ball preventing the Shakhtar player from taking a free kick, he had a very strong game. He had the second highest amount of touches in the game behind only he-who-got-a-red-card-and-shall-not-be-named and completed a staggering 97% of his 80 passes, 4 of which were of the "long" variety. He also led the team in tackles, made a few timely clearances and despite getting booked, didn't commit a single foul. He played hard, and outside of one poor judgmental call, he played smart. If you had told me before the game that Bayern would get 5 cards, one of them being red, I'd have bet that Rafinha would be the one getting sent off. I have never been more pleasantly surprised by his performance.