UEFA’s first “team of the week” for the 2026/27 Champions League has arrived, and Spain’s footprint on the opening matchday is impossible to miss.
Three Spaniards make the XI: Marc Bartra, Pau Torres and Ferran Torres. They are joined by Barcelona captain Raphinha and Real Madrid’s returning giant, Thibaut Courtois, in a side that reads like a roll call of early-season statement makers.
Courtois back under the lights
At the Santiago Bernabéu, Courtois reminded Europe exactly who he is.
Real Madrid beat Inter Milan with their goalkeeper at the heart of it, and UEFA’s Technical Observers Group needed little convincing. Courtois faced eight shots and stopped seven of them, a performance that mixed sharp reflexes with the familiar calm that has anchored Madrid in so many Champions League nights.
He is the only Madrid player in this first ideal XI, but his inclusion carries the weight of a marquee signing. For a club that lives on European nights, their No. 1 already looks in mid-season rhythm.
Bartra leads Betis’ return in style
For Betis, this Champions League campaign began with a statement of their own, and at the centre of it stood Marc Bartra.
UEFA’s report underlined him as “Betis’ defensive leader,” and the description fits. In Lille, Bartra showed “tactical maturity and dominance in the air,” marshalling the back line and then breaking the game open in the opposition box. Two headed goals, both from a centre-back, turned a solid performance into a defining one as Betis celebrated their return to the competition with a victory.
This was not just about numbers. It was about presence. Bartra owned both penalty areas and turned a tricky away tie into a showcase.
Pau Torres, everywhere for Aston Villa
If Bartra ruled the skies in Lille, Pau Torres covered every blade of grass for Aston Villa.
Up against Club Brugge, the Spain international “had a significant impact at both ends of the pitch.” The defensive metrics alone were impressive: eight clearances, the most in the match, underlining how often he read danger before it escalated.
But his night didn’t stop there. Torres stepped into midfield, picked passes, and repeatedly broke Brugge’s lines. He created four chances and supplied two assists, a remarkable attacking output for a central defender and a key factor in Villa’s win. It was the kind of all-court display that turns a good centre-back into a European talking point.
Raphinha sets the tone for Barcelona
At Barcelona, the armband seems to have sharpened Raphinha rather than weighed him down.
Against Feyenoord in a 5–1 win, the Barça captain delivered the complete modern forward’s performance. UEFA highlighted how he “led the press with impressive intensity,” harrying defenders, forcing mistakes, and setting the tempo without the ball. When Barcelona had possession, he mixed clever movement between the lines with those darting runs in behind that stretch a back four to breaking point.
The performance needed an exclamation mark, and he provided it: two “magnificent goals” to cap a commanding display. On a night when Barcelona wanted to send a message about their ambitions, Raphinha spoke loudest.
Ferran Torres explodes in Paris
New club, same instinct. Ferran Torres wasted no time announcing himself at Paris Saint-Germain.
Up against Slovan Bratislava, the forward produced his first hat-trick in PSG colours. UEFA’s observers praised not only his finishing but the intelligence that underpinned it: “excellent movement” that kept dragging defenders out of position and ensured he arrived “in the right place at the right time.”
This was not a poacher stumbling onto chances. It was a forward reading the game a step ahead, timing his runs, and punishing every hesitation in the Bratislava back line. For a player looking to cement his role in a star-studded attack, there could hardly be a clearer opening statement.
The full XI
UEFA’s inaugural team of the week for the 2026/27 Champions League, selected by the Technical Observers Group, lines up as follows:
- Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Defenders: Serginho Dest (PSV), Marc Bartra (Betis), Pau Torres (Aston Villa), Archie Brown (Fenerbahçe)
- Midfielders: Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal), Martin Baturina (Como)
- Attackers: Michael Olisé (Bayern), Ferran Torres (Paris Saint-Germain), Raphinha (Barcelona), Ermedin Demirovic (Stuttgart)
From Courtois’ authority in Madrid to Ferran’s ruthless finishing in Paris, the opening week has already sketched out a new cast of Champions League protagonists. If this is the standard on matchday one, the race for the next team of the week will be brutal.
