Thomas Lemar has regained some pep with Atlético, when Olivier Giroud still has to prove to Chelsea: the two attackers have a common dream, the Euro in Blue this summer, but also the Champions League with their clubs, opposed on Wednesday in 8th return (20h00 GMT).
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Thomas Lemar has regained some pep with Atlético, when Olivier Giroud still has to prove to Chelsea: the two attackers have a common dream, the Euro in Blue this summer, but also the Champions League with their clubs, opposed on Wednesday in 8th return (20h00 GMT).
Wednesday, at Stamford Bridge, Giroud and Chelsea will be on a favorable waiver for the knockout stages of the Champions League after their success in Bucharest (1-0) thanks to a formidable acrobatic return from the French center-forward.
If the goal made the tour of European screens, it was not enough to guarantee playing time for the former Montpellier (34 years old).
Holder against Manchester United (0-0), he then remained on the bench against Liverpool, Everton and Leeds, Thomas Tuchel opting for the light cavalry with Timo Werner or Kaï Havertz.
The coaches pass, but history repeats itself for “Oli”: always responding but never completely convincing.
Ligue des champions: Chelsea – Atletico Madrid
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With 11 goals in 1066 minutes of play, he is nevertheless very much more effective than Timo Werner (10 in 2763 minutes) or Tammy Abraham (12 in 1516 minutes).
Like Frank Lampard before him, the German coach is full of praise for him, comparing him to another player he knows well, Edinson Cavani.
– Custom match for Giroud –
“He deserves to be the holder all the time!”, Even dropped the technician on the club’s website at the end of February. “He trains very well, he’s a leader in the group, he has a strong personality. Even when he’s not starting he deserves to start.”
French center-forward Olivier Giroud, goalscorer for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League in Bucharest, February 23, 2021
Daniel MIHAILESCU – AFP / Archives
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The center forward (105 caps, 44 goals) knows that his matches on the bench are due to the review of the troops that Tuchel had to perform on his arrival, as well as the need to revive Werner and Havertz, bought from gold award this summer.
But the return match against Atlético, where spaces will be as rare as the physical fight will be intense, seems made for him.
It is up to him not to be missed, Tuchel having specifically asked his attackers at a press conference on Tuesday to be “more precise”.
“We do not point the finger at anyone. We do not blame anyone but we clearly say what is good and what we can improve. In the finish, we can clearly improve,” he added.
His absence at the kickoff would be a bad sign for the weeks to come, despite his love rating with Didier Deschamps.
In front of him, he will find a transfigured Thomas Lemar, passed from “flop” to the spearhead of the leader of La Liga.
The first two seasons of the French international medium (22 caps), since his arrival in 2018 from Monaco for 72 million EUR (record for Atlético at the time) had been rather dull.
The “Colchoneros” have even tried to get rid of the 25-year-old during the last two mercatos. This frustration helped Lemar find the click.
“It took me a long time to adapt to Atlético’s system and style of play,” he admitted in France Football at the end of January.
– “The DNA” of Atlético –
“Now (…) I feel that I have this DNA in me. I have in me the fact of always having to be on all the balloons, to be conqueror, to always want to win, to be all the time in pressing, being in duels all the time, playing forward. “
The 2018 world champion, replaced in the axis, has become “untouchable” since January for Diego Simeone, according to Marca.
“Legend”, “idol”, “the lighthouse of Simeone” … The Spanish press competes with superlatives to evoke his resurrection in Madrid midfield in 2021.
Author of 2 goals and 5 assists in 30 matches in all competitions, his absence due to the Covid-19, mid-February, had caused a serious decline in Atlético …
What reopen the doors of the France team for the Euro, a year and a half after his last selection?
In any case, it is an additional motivation for him: “The France team is very important to me. I used to go there. It touched me not to be there anymore (…) But it also boosted me a lot. I really want to go back, to surpass myself to find this jersey and achieve my goal which is the Euro, “he said in France Football.
It goes through a great performance Wednesday in London.
By Frédéric HAPPE, Patxi VRIGNON-ETXEZAHARRETA / London (AFP) / © 2021 AFP
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