European Football Weekend Round-Up By Zach Lowy

The first ‘Clássico’ of the 2021/22 season, and the first with fans since February 8, 2020, saw Sporting host Porto at the Estádio José Alvalade. As usual, it was a cagey affair that saw three yellow cards doled out within the first four minutes, culminating in a total of 12 yellow cards, 40 fouls, and one expulsion.

The Lab – Stats Centre

Clássico

The defending champions took an early lead as Pedro Porro latched onto a cross-field pass from Matheus Nunes and delivered a cross to Nuno Santos, who got a slight touch to poke it into the goal. Porro was being marked by his compatriot Iván Marcano, a 34-year-old centre back who, after spending the 2020/21 season on the sidelines due to an ACL injury, has started on the left side of a back four in three consecutive matches. Marcano received a booking early on and was reluctant to step in and tackle Porro, and as such, allowed the Manchester City loanee the time and space to pick out a pinpoint cross.

Porto manager Sérgio Conceição realized his error and hauled off Marcano for Wilson Manafá in the 39th minute, as well as Bruno Costa, who looked completely out of his depth in midfield, for Sérgio Oliveira. Sporting had the bulk of opportunities, with 9 shots compared to Porto’s 5, and 5 shots on goal compared to Porto’s 1, but they failed to add to their margin due to some sloppy finishing as well as an immense performance in goal from Diogo Costa.

Diogo Costa

Born in Rothrist, Switzerland to Portuguese parents, Costa moved to Portugal at the age of seven and joined Porto’s academy in 2011, developing in the Olival ranks and eventually being named the club’s Newcomer of the Year in September 2018. He soon gained the praise from Iker Casillas, who dubbed him his successor: 

“I try to do things well to help FC Porto, because there is a lot of competition, especially with Vaná and Fabiano, who are great goalkeepers. But right after that comes an ace, Diogo Costa, who seems to me to be a great goalkeeper.”

Costa led Porto to victory in the 2018/19 UEFA Youth League but found playing time hard to come by at the professional level, with Conceição preferring Argentine veteran Agustín Marchesín following his arrival from América. That has changed this season, as Marchesín continues to recover from a meniscus injury, and Costa has rewarded Conceição’s trust with several impressive performances between the sticks, resulting in a debut for the Portuguese national team. Costa, whose contract expires next summer, is a player who rises to the biggest occasions as evidenced by his performances against Sporting and Germany in this year’s U-21 Euros Final, and with Rui Patrício approaching 34 years of age, he could be starting in goal for Portugal sooner rather than later.

If I was in charge of Porto, I’d sell Agustín Marchesín and give Diogo Costa the starting spot in goal next season.

Marchesín is 33, is coming off a good season and has two years left on his deal, so if there’s any time to make a profit on the €7.2m they paid for him, it’s now.

— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) July 28, 2021

Luis Díaz

Less than 48 hours before the Clássico, Matheus Uribe and Luis Díaz started for Colombia in a World Cup qualifier against Chile; Uribe played the full match in Barranquilla, whilst Díaz scored the third and final goal before being hauled off for Gustavo Cuéllar in the 92nd minute. Both players were in the starting line-up against Sporting, and Díaz’s individual quality came to the rescue for a Porto side that was outplayed and outfought. Latching onto a pass from Tecatito Corona — who also scored and started for Mexico in their World Cup qualifier on Wednesday — Díaz delicately trapped the ball, cut inside and zoomed past Porro and Luís Neto before launching a golaço past Antonio Adán.

Despite being mainly used as an impact sub last season, Díaz delivered a world-class performance for Los Cafeteros in last summer’s Copa América, finishing as the competition’s top scorer alongside Lionel Messi with 4 goals and attracting interest from Roma and Everton, the latter of whom unsuccessfully tried to sign him for €30 million in addition to sending James Rodríguez the other way on loan. Instead, the left-sided winger remained put in Portugal and has since recorded three goals and one assist in five games for the Dragões, proving that his breakthrough tournament in Brazil was far from a fluke. From James to Radamel Falcao, from Jackson Martínez to Fredy Guarín, various Colombian footballers have polished their skills at the Estádio do Dragão before earning big moves, and at 24, Díaz could very well be the next.

Monaco and Kovac

“Failure to qualify for the Champions League combined with a lack of results at the domestic level — Monaco face Troyes, Marseille, Nice, Saint-Ètienne and Clermont Foot over the next month — could land in hot water and in threat of losing his job just over a year after taking the position. If Kovač wants to avoid the same sophomore slump that he suffered in Bavaria, he needs to turn things around at the principality, and fast.”

I wrote about Monaco’s early struggles under Niko Kovač in my second weekly round-up for BET Central, and after three weeks, it doesn’t seem that much has changed in their favour. They were unlucky to lose to Shakhtar Donetsk and miss out on qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stage, and whilst they managed to defeat newly promoted Troyes thanks to a brace from Sofiane Diop, they were once again outplayed and defeated against Marseille. It means that, as they prepare for next weekend’s Derby de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, Les Monégasques currently sit one point above the relegation zone.

Whilst Monaco enjoyed 51.3% possession and completed 409 passes to Marseille’s 385, they failed to register a single shot on goal at the Stade Louis II. Marseille were missing Dimitri Payet and Arkadiusz Milik due to injury, whilst Steve Mandanda, Konrad de la Fuente, Pape Gueye and Gerson were rested, but they nevertheless came out on top by a 2-0 margin thanks to a brace from Bamba Dieng.

Bamba Dieng

Born in Pikine, Senegal, Dieng began his career with Diambars in the Senegal Premier League and finished as the top scorer in the 2019/20 season with 12 goals in 14 matches, earning a move to Marseille on October 4, 2020. Dieng scored one goal in 136 minutes of action for the first team, often being shifted from the reserves to the first team. It seemed that he would join Dijon in the final weeks of the summer transfer window, only for Jorge Sampaoli to veto the move due to a lack of a proven understudy for Milik. 

Dieng was included in the starting line-up for the first time since February 17 and quickly made an impact, receiving a pass from Mattéo Guendouzi, sprinting into the box and narrowly missing the target. With new signing Amine Harit operating in a false 9 role, Dieng would often cut inside from the left and made himself a nuisance in the opening proceedings, picking up a through ball from Harit, breezing past Chrislain Matsima and firing at goal, only for his effort to be denied by the post.

After being cruelly denied by the post on another occasion, Dieng finally got his deserved goal before halftime, receiving a long pass from Luan Peres, leaving Matsima in his dust and calmly slotting into the left corner of the net. Whether capitalizing on poor communication between Monaco defenders and intercepting a pass, or teeing up a dangerous cross, or winning the ball at the edge of his own box and causing Sofiane Diop to foul him and pick up a yellow, Dieng exhibited composure, efficiency, and intelligence well above his 21 years. And in the 60th minute, he completed his brace, turning past Axel Disasi and firing the second goal past Alexander Nübel. 

It has been arguably the craziest transfer window in football history, one that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

I wrote about my top 10 favorite transfer windows in Europe for @betcoza. https://t.co/s3t5z9isnP pic.twitter.com/YxInWAB9MJ

— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) September 6, 2021

Marseille

In last Monday’s weekly round-up, I included Olympique de Marseille in my top 10 transfer windows in Europe, citing the work that Pablo Longoria has done to bring in a crop of promising young players such as Konrad de la Fuente, Pol Lirola and Cengiz Ünder. The club have taken three wins and one draw from their first four games this season, and although it is early, it seems that Sampaoli has them clicking on all cylinders. If he can build on his impressive full debut under the Argentine manager, keeping hold of Dieng may end up being one of their best moves of the year. After Souleymane Diawara, Mamadou Niang, and Habib Beye, Dieng could very well be the next Senegalese sensation to light up the Stade Vélodrome.

Sandro Tonali

The summer of 2020 saw Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan fight it out for one of the biggest talents in Italy: Sandro Tonali. Despite suffering relegation with Brescia, his performances in the top-flight did enough to convince the Rossoneri to go the extra mile and sign the midfielder on a five-year contract. Whilst Milan returned to the Champions League for the first time in eight years thanks to various impressive new signings such as Simon Kjær, Fikayo Tomori, and Ante Rebić, Tonali struggled to convince and eventually found himself behind Franck Kessié, Ismaël Bennacer and loan arrival Soualiho Meïté in Stefano Pioli’s pecking order. Nevertheless, Milan decided to take up their purchase option on Tonali — unlike Meïté, who they have since replaced with Tiémoué Bakayoko — albeit at a discount. 

Milan reached an initial agreement with Brescia last summer to sign Sandro Tonali for a fee of €35 million.

They’ve just renegotiated and signed him for an initial fee of €17 million + €3 million in bonuses, with Giacomo Olzer heading the other way.

Paolo Maldini is a boss. pic.twitter.com/o7vM0MYxTW

— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) July 8, 2021

After an underwhelming campaign for club and country — he played just 84 minutes in the U-21 Euros before being sent off for stomping on Ondřej Šašinka’s leg — Tonali has bounced back with a promising start to the 2021/22 campaign. He played the full 90 in Milan’s opening day victory over Sampdoria and opened the scoring in their 4-1 victory against Cagliari before heading off to international duty, where he would register two assists against Luxembourg’s U-21 side in a 3-0 victory. Kessié returned to the starting line-up against Lazio after recovering from a hamstring injury, but Tonali maintained his starting spot at the expense of Bennacer.

Going up against a midfield trio of Lucas Leiva, Sergej Milinković-Savić and Luis Alberto, Tonali delivered a complete midfield display, constantly placing himself in the right position to intercept opposition passes, quickly weaving his way out of pressure, and breaking the lines with ease. After Rafael Leão opened the scoring before halftime, the Rossoneri nearly doubled their lead from the spot, only for Kessié’s penalty to bounce off the upper post. The second goal came when Tonali, receiving a short pass from Alexis Saelemaekers, played an inch-perfect, first-time pass to Rebić on the left flank, who cut inside and teed up Zlatan Ibrahimović, and the Swede made no mistake in front of an empty net. It means that, as they prepare for their first Champions League match since March 11, 2014, Milan currently sit level with Roma and Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.