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Europa League Team of the Round: Cherki shines for Lyon as Hojlund and Kubo also impress

Rayan Cherki celebrates scoring his first goal for Lyon
Rayan Cherki celebrates scoring his first goal for LyonGuillaume Horcajuelo / EPA / Profimedia
The final round of the year in the Europa League featured some notable individual performances, including one that stood out in Lyon's 3-2 victory over Frankfurt.

Based on Flashscore's rating system, we've picked the 11 best players of the round, lined up in a 3-4-3 attacking formation.

Europa League team of the week
Europa League team of the weekFlashscore

Goalkeeper

Marcin Bulka (Nice) 8.0

French side Nice have failed to live up to expectations this Europa League campaign. Franck Haise's side are second-bottom after suffering another defeat, this time away to Royale Union. The hosts had an xG of 3.78 and only goalkeeper Bulka's saves kept the score respectable.

Defence

Nemanja Stojic (Maccabi Tel Aviv) 8.2

Maccabi Tel Aviv notched their second consecutive win in the competition after four straight defeats. The Israelis won 2-1 against Latvia's RFS, with one of the standouts being full-back Nemanja Stoijc, who scored in the 69th minute to give his side all three points.

Mario Hermoso (AS Roma) 8.2

It was a round in which players coming off the bench influenced the final results, and first on that list is Mario Hermoso. Introduced by Claudio Ranieri late on against Braga, the Spanish centre-back scored in the first minute of stoppage time to make it 3-0 to the Italian outfit. Unbeaten in four games, AS Roma climbed to 14th.

Odin Bjortuft (Bodo/Glimt) 9.0

After giving Manchester United a big scare at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, Bodo/Glimt bounced back on home soil to record a win that gives them a great chance of at least reaching the play-offs. One of the highest marks of the round went to full-back Odin Bjortuft, who not only put in a solid defensive performance, but also scored the winning goal for his team.

Midfield

Rayan Cherki (Lyon) 9.1

Olympique Lyon and Eintracht Frankfurt played out one of the most exciting games of the round, with Rayan Cherki the star of the show. The French midfielder netted a goal and two assists and received Flashscore's highest score of the round. Lyon occupy a comfortable fourth place and have every chance of going straight through to the last 16.

Sergio Pena (Malmo FF) 8.8

Galatasaray were leading 2-1 away in Sweden when coach Henrik Rydstrom decided to send on Sergio Pena and the Peruvian repaid his faith by scoring the equaliser in the 92nd minute to keep the Swedes in the playoff race.

Kiril Despodov (PAOK) 8.7

PAOK produced the performance of the night as they beat Ferencvaros 5-0. The hosts were 2-0 up when Despodov was thrown into the fray by coach Razvan Lucescu and any doubts about the victor were quickly dispelled. The Bulgarian midfielder provided an assist just three minutes after coming on and put his name on the scoresheet in the 89th minute.

Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad) 8.9

Real Sociedad were another one of the dominant teams in round six of the Europa League. The San Sebastian side ran out 3-0 winners over Dinamo Kyiv, and Japanese striker Kubo was one of the standouts of the evening, alongside team-mate Mikel Oyarzabal, also included in this round's team of the round. The midfielder provided the decisive assist for his team's second goal.

Attack

Philip Zinckernagel (Bodo/Glimt) 8.6

The second Bodo/Glimt player to make the team of the round is striker Philip Zinckernagel. He was the star of his team's comeback, scoring the equaliser in the duel with Beșiktaș before his cross from the corner was turned into the net by Bjortuft.

Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United) 8.8

Ruben Amorim became the third Manchester United manager to win his first two games in major European competition, joining Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson. Trailing 1-0 to Viktoria Plzen, United needed the energy of Rasmus Hojlund, who came on in the second half and scored a brace to take all three points for his side.

Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) 8.8

Oyarzabal starred in his team's win over Dinamo Kyiv. He took a poor penalty that was saved by goalkeeper Bushchan, but luck was on his side as he managed to score the opening goal after the rebound came back to him. In the 33rd minute he made it 3-0, helping his team climb to 12th.