The scoreboard gave it away; Malik Tillman played a jack of all trades Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League. His two goals in the closing stages were accompanied by unparalleled statistics. In fact, the midfielder has the most key passes to his name in the entire competition.
For the second game in a row, the American was named Player of the Match. Although things in the first half did not go as Peter Bosz would have liked, the American stood out both defensively and offensively.
Top scorer
The midfielder is PSV's top scorer in the UEFA Champions League this season. With three goals from five games, Malik is extremely productive at the highest European level, especially since he has also declared two goals. With that, only Ismael Saibari comes close to him. The Moroccan has been directly involved in a goal three times so far.
Stand-in-the-way
Malik excelled not only with his two goals, but also with his defensive work: he recorded 11 tackles. Although he made two fouls in the process, he himself was also stopped illegally once. He was extremely dangerous in the transition, successfully dribbling past an opponent four times. The American proved to be a real tormentor for Shakhtar Donetsk, partly because he also blocked two shots. In doing so, he managed to prevent a possible goal.
Passing
Malik additionally acted as the ideal link between defense and attack. Of his 48 passes, 24 went forward, speeding up the tempo of the match at key moments, while at other times bringing calm. He also sent a successful cross pass and delivered five key passes. With that, he now stands at a total of 18 key passes in the UEFA Champions League and no one in the entire competition can match him. Only six passes did not arrive, resulting in an impressive 87.50% success rate. The American lost the ball a total of eight times, making him the most ball-proof base player in our side after Luuk de Jong.