European Team of the Week: Romain Hamouma Proves a Saint as Griezmann Leads Line

Romain Hamouma is WhoScored.com's European player of the week this week after playing a starring role in Saint Etienne's 3-0 win over Evian, where he had a helping hand in each goal.

To go with his one goal and two assists from just three key passes, Hamouma also completed five successful dribbles in the victory to earn a rating of 9.72.

Sejad Salihovic comes in on the opposite flank, having impressed in Hoffenheim’s 5-0 thumping of Hertha Berlin.

The Bosnian was making just his second league start of the season, but he made an impact upon returning from injury with a first-half brace, with both goals coming from the penalty spot.

During his 85 minutes on the pitch, Salihovic also exhibited the defensive side of his game, making four tackles and three clearances to help his side to all three points.

Bundesliga counterpart Lars Bender joins Salihovic in midfield this week. The tough tackler impressed for Bayer Leverkusen in their double gameweek, earning an average rating of 8.66 from meetings with Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Over the two fixtures, Bender made 13 tackles, 12 interceptions and six clearances. And in the 1-1 draw with Eintracht, the 25-year-old registered an assist for Karim Bellarabi’s late equaliser to earn our man-of-the-match award.

Bender is partnered in the middle of the park by Palermo ace Franco Vazquez. The Argentine netted a brace and assisted another as the Rosanero maintained their seven-game unbeaten run in Serie A following the 3-3 draw at Atalanta.

Vazquez could have had more than the single assist to his name, as he played three key passes in the stalemate, while 20 of his 40 accurate passes were completed in the final third to cap off an effective attacking performance.

Alexandre Lacazette was our highest-rated attacker in Europe this week, with his demolition job of Bordeaux’s back line ensuring Lyon ended the calendar year second in Ligue 1.

Lacazette displayed his goalscoring prowess in the 5-0 win over Bordeaux, with his two goals coming from only four shots.

His double either side of half-time took his total for the season to 17; only Cristiano Ronaldo (25) has scored more goals in Europe’s top five leagues this term.

The 23-year-old also registered an assist in the win, which came from his only key pass in the encounter.

Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid partners Lacazette up front this week.

In the absence of Mario Mandzukic, the young France international was tasked with spearheading the Atletico attack against Athletic Club, and the summer signing netted a second-half hat-trick as his team romped to a 4-1 win.

Athletic were without key centre-back Aymeric Laporte, and Griezmann exploited his absence with ruthless efficiency, with his three goals coming from just three shots.

Griezmann led the attack with aplomb, winning five aerial duels in the victory for Diego Simeone’s side, and he defended effectively from the front, making two tackles and one interception.

Faouzi Ghoulam features at left-back this week on the back of his display in Napoli’s 2-0 win over Parma last Thursday.

With a majority of Napoli’s attacks coming down the left (38 percent), Ghoulam was tasked with providing an offensive threat from deep, which he did, playing two key passes and attempting seven crosses in the victory.

With a majority of Parma’s attacks coming down their right flank (41 percent), Ghoulam was required to showcase the defensive side of his game.

The Algerian repelled any threat with ease, however, making five tackles, five interceptions and one clearance to help Napoli to three points and a clean sheet.

Roberto Hilbert comes in at right-back on account of his man-of-the-match display in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 win at Hoffenheim last week.

The 30-year-old completed six successful dribbles and helped ensure the win and clean sheet with three tackles, four interceptions and five clearances at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.

After netting twice in two games, Naldo stars at centre-back, earning an average rating of 8.50 following notable outings against Borussia Dortmund and Cologne.

Over the two fixtures, the Wolfsburg defender won a combined 14 aerial duels and made one tackle, nine interceptions and 12 clearances, while his performance against Cologne won him our man-of-the-match award.

Cleber partners Naldo at the heart of the back line after two impressive showings for Hamburg against VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04.

The Brazilian made a combined three tackles, 10 interceptions and 14 clearances over the two fixtures, while Cleber won our man-of-the-match award as a result of his resolute defensive showing against Schalke.

Julian completes our European team of the week. The 23-year-old was making his first league start of the season for Almeria and turned out to be their saving grace in the surprise 1-0 win at Celta Vigo.

He made four saves in the victory, one of which was to deny a Fabian Orellana penalty, to earn a rating of 8.90.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team rankings.