Euro 2012 Team of the Week: Buffon & Benzema make their debuts as Robben & Piszczek return

30-Mar-2012 1:30:00 PM

Each week, Goal.com selects the best performers from Europe's top leagues, honouring the best players eligible for Euro 2012

Euro 2012

Team of the Week

EURO 2012 NEWS

GOALKEEPER

Gianluigi BUFFON
Juventus
& Italy
TOTW Apps: 1

Italy international Buffon has earned a billing as one of the finest shot-stoppers in the game in the last decade, and he makes his first appearance in our Euro 2012 Best XI after an eye-catching display against Inter in the Derby d'Italia. The 34-year-old played a huge role in Juventus' 2-0 victory as he kept out attempts from Diego Milito, Diego Forlan and Dejan Stankovic to keep a clean sheet.

DEFENDERS

Lukasz PISZCZEK Borussia Dortmund & Poland TOTW Apps: 2	Philippe MEXES AC Milan & France TOTW Apps: 1	Gerard PIQUE Barcelona & Spain TOTW Apps: 1	Luca ANTONINI AC Milan & Italy TOTW Apps: 1
Piszczek makes his second appearance in our best XI after turning in a strong display in Borussia Dortmund's 6-1 thrashing of Koln, netting a goal and providing two assists for the Bundesliga leaders. France international Mexes has featured infrequently for AC Milan this season, but he proved over the course of the week that he is making a serious push for Euro 2012 with two convincing displays, first against former club Roma and then against Barcelona when he limited the threat of Lionel Messi. Spain centre-back Pique helped 10-man Barca secure three important points in La Liga against Mallorca by scoring the second goal of the night, and he built on that display in midweek against Milan in the Champions League as he frequently got the better of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the air. Antonini has yet to feature for Italy at senior level, but he seems likely to secure a place in Cesare Prandelli's squad if he continues to perform to the level he showed against Barcelona. The 29-year-old played in both full-back positions and was the Man of the Match as he made several timely challenges to keep out the European champions.

MIDFIELDERS

Arjen ROBBEN Bayern & Netherlands TOTW Apps: 2	Ognjen VUKOJEVIC Dimano Kiev & Croatia TOTW Apps: 1	Rafal MURAWSKI Lech Poznan & Poland TOTW Apps: 1	James McCLEAN Sunderland & Ireland TOTW Apps: 1
Bayern Munich star Robben continued his excellent run of form in Tuesday's Champions League victory against Olympique de Marseille by scoring his side's second goal. At the weekend previous, he supplied an assist for Toni Kroos to help the Bavarian giants secure a 2-1 win against Hannover in the Bundesliga. Croatia veteran Vukojevic claims his place in midfield as a result of his combative display in Dinamo Kiev's 1-0 victory against Illichivets, which allowed the club to stay three points clear at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League table. Poland international Murawski was an unused substitute in Lech Poznan's 2-0 victory against Slask Wroclaw at the weekend, but helped his team defeat Gornik Zabrze by notching the winning goal in midweek. Sunderland winger McClean proved once again that he is the player of the moment for Republic of Ireland after scoring one goal and assisting Nicklas Bendtner for the other as the Black Cats defeated QPR 3-1. An impressive display from the 22-year-old, who was playing in the League of Ireland just one year ago, as he continues to convince Giovanni Trapattoni to take him to the European Championship.

FORWARDS

Karim BENZEMA
Real Madrid
& France
TOTW Apps: 1

Fernando LLORENTE
Athletic Bilbao
& Spain
TOTW Apps: 1

Benzema confirmed in the last seven days that he is one of the most in-form strikers in Europe at present as he netted four times, two in Madrid's 5-1 hammering of Real Sociedad in La Liga and two more in the 3-0 Champions League win over APOEL.

Llorente joins the Frenchman in attack after scoring a double in Athletic's 4-2 victory against Schalke in the Europa League, to redeem himself after failing to find the net in his club's 1-1 draw against Sporting Gijon at the weekend.

TOTAL NOMINEES BY COUNTRY (THIS WEEK)
Spain 8 (2) France 8 (2) Netherlands 5 (1) Poland 4 (2) Italy 4 (2) Germany 4 (0)	England 3 (0) Ireland 2 (1) Greece 2 (0) Ukraine 1 (1) Russia 1 (0)