On March 10, 2018, on the back of a gruelling, sleepless flight from Washington D.C. to Paris, I watched my first, and to this day, my only Ligue 1 match up close in person, as Paris Saint-Germain, the eventual champions, faced off against Metz, the eventual bottom-placed team. Three and a half years have passed, hundreds of Ligue 1 matches have been watched by yours truly, and yet, I still remember this game like it was yesterday. I remember watching the likes of Thiago Silva, Marco Verratti and Ángel di María demolish a hapless Metz side and make life a living hell for Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, I remember desperately shovelling espressos down my throat to keep myself awake, I remember trotting down to the vendor and buying a black “Kylian Mbappé – 29” jersey, and I remember listening to The Weeknd’s “Kiss Land” whilst trying to hail a cab back to my hotel. More than anything, I remember the star of the show: 20-year-old academy product Christopher Nkunku, who scored a brace to lead PSG to a 5-1 win.
Nkunku Makes A Bold Move & Thrives
Born and raised in the Parisian suburbs to Congolese parents, Nkunku made his professional debut on December 8, 2015, but it wasn’t until the second half of the 2017/18 season when he became a semi-regular first-team player under Unai Emery. However, no sooner than a year after his breakthrough season under Emery, Nkunku elected to depart the capital and join RB Leipzig on a five-year contract, who paid a fee of €13 million for the French youth international.
“The arrival of Tuchel made me think,” said Nkunku in an interview with Canal Plus. “The fact of starting a season without really knowing what role you are going to have, it’s quite complicated. There comes a time when you come to the end of your contract and you have one year left, either you extend or you leave. I made the choice to simply leave.”
The opportunities that eluded him under Tuchel were soon found in Saxony under the helm of Julian Nagelsmann, with Nkunku registering 5 goals and 15 assists in 32 Bundesliga appearances and playing a key role as Leipzig finished third and reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals. He yielded a similar return the following season with six goals and seven assists in league 28 appearances, leading Leipzig to a second-place finish and providing the sole assist in a 1-4 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal Final.
Slow Start Under Marsch
It has been a transitional season for RB Leipzig, who have lost manager Julian Nagelsmann, captain Marcel Sabitzer and star defender Dayot Upamecano heading to Bayern Munich, whilst Ibrahima Konaté has joined Liverpool as well. The results have shown; whilst Bayern have enjoyed a near-perfect start under Nagelsmann, winning their past eight matches, RB Leipzig have stumbled to mid-table with two wins, one draw and three losses, as well as a humiliating 3-6 loss to Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. Despite a hat-trick from Nkunku, Leipzig’s defensive frailties were exposed in a loss that warranted even more criticism for American coach Jesse Marsch. A 1-1 draw to Köln, who narrowly stayed up last season after defeating Holstein Kiel in the relegation play-off, did little to silence the 46-year-old Wisconsin native’s many detractors.
Leipzig Finally Have Wings & Nkunku Stars
Nevertheless, their first win in over a month came on Saturday, with Leipzig thrashing Hertha Berlin 6-0 at home. An early attacking onslaught was finally rewarded in the 15th minute when Yussuf Poulsen masterfully dummied a ball into the path of Nkunku, who brushed past Marvin Plattenhardt and flicked it over Alexander Schwolow to open his account for the Bundesliga season. Shortly after, he charged onto a pass from Amadou Haidara and quickly found himself one on one with Schwolow, but rather than attempting a shot, he deftly slid it towards Poulsen who made no mistake with the finish. Leipzig made it three before halftime as Haidara volleyed home a free-kick from Angeliño; truth be told, it could have been as many as five before the break.
The humiliation continued for Pál Dárdai’s side as Nkunku capitalized on an errant backpass from the manager’s 19-year-old son Márton Dárdai and blasted over from close range, but the Frenchman made amends in the 58th minute, shrewdly holding his run to avoid the offsides trap, before charging into the box and forcing Niklas Stark to hack him down for a penalty that was converted by Emil Forsberg. The icing on the cake came in the 70th minute as Nkunku curled a free-kick into the top-right corner, before being subbed off for Benjamin Henrichs.
Whilst his excellent performances under Nagelsmann typically came on the left side of a 3-4-2-1, Nkunku operated on the right flank of the trident, at least on paper. As is customary with the Frenchman, he would drop into the central areas with ease and trackback to help his team win the ball back and evade Hertha’s pressure. It is hard to define him as a player; he isn’t quite a winger, he isn’t quite a #10, and he isn’t quite a central midfielder either. He is an anomaly, perhaps a modern reincarnation of the ‘mediapunta’ role, a player with the speed and close control to befuddle any defence, a player who is equally capable of unleashing forwards and wingbacks into space with well-worked through balls as he is driving forward and carving up midfields with his sharp runs.
At 23 years old, Nkunku is no longer the new kid on the block, but an experienced star who is showing the way for Leipzig’s new arrivals and young prospects. The 6-0 win was a cathartic result for a team who has struggled to find the right balance under Marsch, but after showing glimpses of a prime Nagelsmann side against a lowly Hertha, the onus is on them to build on that performance in their upcoming fixtures against Club Brugge and VfL Bochum. In order to do so, they’ll need their French magician to remain at the top of his game.
Atletico’s Outstanding Transfers Window…
On August 31, Atlético Madrid capped off a historic European transfer window with one of the most shocking deadline day moves of the past decade: two years after joining Barcelona for an eventual fee of €135 million, Antoine Griezmann returned to the Spanish capital on a one-year loan with the option to extend it by a further year, with an obligatory purchase clause of €40 million to be activated by 2023. From Barcelona’s point of view, it seemed to be an admission of defeat and a statement that getting Griezmann’s crippling salary off the wage bill and alleviating their financial difficulties was more important than challenging for trophies in the short term.
Whilst Griezmann always seemed to be a square peg in a round hole, the fact remains that he scored a respectable 35 goals and 17 assists in his two seasons in Catalunya. Luuk de Jong, who joined on loan from Sevilla to replace Griezmann, had mustered just 19 goals and five assists across his two seasons under Julen Lopetegui, but the Dutchman’s net salary of €2 million was far more palatable. As for Atleti, it seemed like the icing on the cake for a transfer window that had seen Rodrigo de Paul and Matheus Cunha join on permanent transfers, an immense reinforcement that would only raise their chances of winning back-to-back league titles for the first time since 1951.
Or Not…
So far, it’s been anything but. Diego Simeone started Griezmann in the first match after the September international break but subbed him off for João Félix in the 58th minute as they searched for an equalizer. Yannick Carrasco came to the rescue, twisting and turning past a sea of Espanyol defenders and slotting past Diego López, before deftly flicking a one-two into the path of Thomas Lemar, who completed the remontada and scored the decisive winner in the 99th minute. Griezmann came off the bench for Félix in the following match against Porto but was unable to make his presence known in 40 minutes as the Rojiblancos were held to a stalemate at home.
Simeone opted to tweak his system in the following match against relegation battlers Getafe, with Griezmann operating as the #10 in a 4-2-3-1 and playing in between Ángel Correa, Luis Suárez and Carrasco at the heart of attack. Once again, Griezmann was subbed off in the 67th minute for Cunha as Atleti searched for an equalizer, and after Carles Aleña’s expulsion reduced the Azulones to ten men, El Pistolero saved their blushes by latching onto a cross from Mario Hermoso and finishing past David Soria, before eventually heading home a cross from Šime Vrsaljko to snatch a 2-1 victory.
After narrowly defeating Getafe, Atlético Madrid faced off against the only other team to have not picked up a single point across their first five matches in Deportivo Alavés. For the fourth league match this season, Atleti conceded first as Víctor Laguardia headed home a corner kick from Rubén Duarte in the fourth minute, a goal that was met with roaring cheers throughout the Mendizorroza. Alavés dug deep, conceding 72% possession and 14 shots — one of which was on target — for Atleti, but in terms of quality, clear-cut chances, the Basque side were closer to doubling their lead than the Rojiblancos were to equalizing. As they held onto a 1-0 win against the defending champions, Simeone refused to take off Suárez or Griezman from the misfiring attack.
Griezmann Firing Blanks
Unlike Luuk de Jong, who opened his tally for the Catalans on Sunday in a 3-0 win over Levante, Griezmann is yet to score for Atlético Madrid in his first five appearances. What’s more, he is yet to register an assist or even a shot on goal so far. Of the 23 passes that he completed against Alavés, only two were forward passes, of the 33 balls that he received, 11 were coughed up to the opposition. Not only are his wages and transfer fee an enormous burden on Atleti’s finances, but the sheer cost of the operation and his star status has also meant that Simeone feels obligated to play him over Ángel Correa — a forward who was vital in the club’s league title and who is in far better form than Griezmann at the moment. Correa, who came on for Kieran Trippier in the 59th minute, registered 27 actions with the ball, 11 of them being in the opposition penalty area; out of Griezmann’s 34 actions on the ball, only 4 were in the box — it is little surprise that Atleti’s sole shot on target came via the boots of the diminutive Argentine. He is clogging up the central areas that Marcos Llorente found such efficiency in exploiting, he has slowed down Atleti’s pace and intensity in attack, and he has forced an unnatural fit with Suárez.
Atleti scored five goals in their first three games — all of which came with Griezmann still at Barcelona — they have scored four in their past five. It is hard to see just what the 30-year-old brings to the attack; he isn’t linking up with his teammates, he isn’t dragging defenders out of position or making off-the-ball runs to exploit space, he isn’t even showcasing the same relentless pressing that he exhibited during his time in Barcelona. He is grinding the speed of attack to an unnecessary halt, taking three touches on the ball when only one is needed, dropping deep into midfield rather than remaining on the shoulder of the last defender, and robbing the team of the deadly connection between Marcos Llorente and Kieran Trippier on the right flank that proved so effective last season.
Griezmann’s arrival was expected to be the icing on the cake. Instead, he’s knocked the cake to the ground and brought out an ant infestation.
Conceição Giving Youngsters A Chance At Porto
Whisper it softly, but there seems to be an air of change at Futebol Club do Porto. Sérgio Conceição, a manager widely marked for his reluctance to give consistent opportunities to academy products of the heralded Olival academy line, has started three academy players in Porto’s past two matches against Moreirense and Gil Vicente. Diogo Costa has emerged as the first choice between the sticks as Agustín Marchesín recovers from a meniscus injury, whilst Vitinha and Fábio Vieira, two of the architects behind Portugal’s run to the U-21 Euros Final this past summer, have started in midfield alongside Matheus Uribe. And whilst João Mário came off the bench against Gil Vicente, he has been a regular at the right-back position this season.
Of course, not every promising Olival talent has made the cut. Romário Baró has been shipped out on loan to newly promoted Estoril, Tomás Esteves remains in Porto’s B team after failing to secure a transfer to Braga, whilst others such as Gonçalo Borges and Rodrigo Pinheiro have been unable to make the jump to the first team. After struggling for opportunities under Conceição, Diogo Leite joined Braga on deadline day, arriving on loan with an option to buy for €12 million.
Diogo Leite
Born in Porto, Leite joined the Olival academy at nine years of age and quickly progressed through the ranks for club and country, winning the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship with Portugal as well as the 2018/19 UEFA Youth League with Porto, but he was never able to solidify himself as anything more than a fourth-choice or fifth-choice centre back at his boyhood club. If the loan arrival of Malang Sarr from Chelsea didn’t convince him to push for a departure, the signing of Fábio Cardoso on a permanent transfer from Santa Clara was the writing on the wall.
It didn’t take long for manager Carlos Carvalhal to usher him into the starting line-up, with Leite playing on the left side of the back three in a 0-0 draw against Paços de Ferreira and a 1-2 loss to Red Star Belgrade, before slotting in alongside Paulo Oliveira in a new-look 4-2-3-1 as a late attacking onslaught gifted a 3-1 victory to Braga over relegation struggles Tondela. Carvalhal shifted back to his traditional 3-4-3 formation against Santa Clara, only this time, with Leite playing as the middle centre back between Nuno Sequeira and Paulo Oliveira.
Leite delivered his finest performance so far in the Azores, keeping Luiz Phellype and the rest of Santa Clara’s attackers under wraps, stopping dangerous counter-attacks and impressing on both ends of the ball, winning three out of five aerial duels, completing five out of eight long balls, blocking three shots and registering four interceptions and five clearances. It was a performance only spoiled by the final result, as a 95th-minute free-kick from Lincoln gifted a precious 1-1 draw to Santa Clara in their early relegation fight.
It is still early days at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, but it is clear that Leite’s arrival has helped Braga improve their leaky defence, one of their most problematic areas heading into the new season, and with David Carmo set to return from a horrific leg break, there is potential for Carvalhal to form a defence of two of the most promising central defenders in Portugal. It remains to be seen whether Leite’s performances will be enough to convince Braga to splurge a club-record fee of €12 million to sign him on a permanent deal, but it is clear that he needed regular minutes at the top level to improve and mature as a football; this loan move could have a similar effect on him as it did with João Palhinha, who returned from Braga and has since emerged as Sporting’s midfield linchpin.
At 22 years of age and with a contract at Porto until 2024, Leite could very well return to his boyhood club as a more polished and refined central defender and establish himself as a regular in defence. Pepe is 38 years old, Iván Marcano is 34, Fábio Cardoso is yet to play a single minute for his new club and Chancel Mbemba’s contract is set to expire next summer. What’s more, as Portugal search for a long-term partner to Rúben Dias in the heart of defence, Leite has what it takes to become a key figure for club and country over the next decade.
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