• At 24, Lucas Paqueta is turning a corner this season alongside Peter Bosz at OL.

  • Centerpiece of Lyon's offensive animation, the Brazilian international has just completed 216 minutes in three games with his selection during the international break in South America ... before returning to competition with his club on Saturday, just 42 hours after the match Brazil-Uruguay (4-1).

  • Not only did Lucas Paqueta come into play in the 67th minute on Saturday against Monaco (2-0), but he was decisive on both Lyon goals.

At Parc OL,

Two high-level matches chained in less than 48 hours, with 9,000 kilometers (and 10 hours) of travel, plus six hours of time difference, between one and the other. We would have liked to embark on a novel of anticipation about a World Cup for cyborgs in the year 4021 that we would not have gone so far in the scenario. Lucas Paqueta, however, has just shown us on Saturday that such sweet madness can be accompanied both by a daring and a passion for his sport contagious in an entire club, and a crucial success in the race for the podium in the League. 1.

"If he plays tonight, it's completely impossible for him to be in the group against Monaco," Peter Bosz said without bluff, Thursday at a press conference.

How, after 61 minutes played during this Brazil-Uruguay (4-1) completed in Manaus (gateway to the Amazon jungle

) on

Friday at 4 am (French time), the "completely impossible" it could turn into 26 minutes of

masterclass

of insolent ease against AS Monaco (2-0)?

"He traveled, he came back late and he was still exemplary"

“He is a high class player and also a soldier.

He traveled, he came back late and he was still exemplary, ”explains Karl Toko Ekambi, first scorer on the penalty spot on Saturday (1-0, 75th).

At the origin of this action concluded by a badly controlled tackle from Axel Disasi on Léo Dubois: a bright pass in the interval from Lucas Paqueta.

By entering the game in the 67th minute in a suddenly molten stadium just for him, and within a team short of ideas, the Brazilian has made the Monegasque side Caio Henrique live a nightmare.

#OL 2-0 #ASM


and the blind pass from @ LucasPaqueta97, we want more


(90th minute) #OLASM pic.twitter.com/kyFnnEQDFE

- OL + (@OL__Plus) October 16, 2021

Pass between the legs, small bridge, large bridge, feigned heel, blind deviation, the maestro of OL brought out his technical palette for great evenings.

But it is by going into exile for once on the left side that he reserves his ultimate treat for the 90th minute of play. After a two-handed corner with Houssem Aouar, the whole stadium thinks that Lucas Paqueta will quietly hand him over back in order to gain a few precious seconds.

The new Lisandro Lopez in the heart of the bends?

But while fixing Aouar with his gaze next to him, the former Milanese split with a caress from the outside of the left foot, as remotely guided in the race of Emerson, right between Gelson Martins and Ruben Aguilar.

Two seconds later, Jason Denayer doubled the bet (2-0, 90th) and the slow motion of the brilliant blow of Paqueta is intended to go around the world, and even beyond 9,000 km to Manaus.

"He's a fantastic player who brings a lot to the team," insists Jérôme Boateng.

I think it's great for our fans to see him play.

"

🗨️ "Today, the whole team deserved to win"



Peter Bosz's reaction after the Lyon victory #OLASM 🗣



▶ ️ https://t.co/zI9DZImw6X pic.twitter.com/6KpnLLRlzy

- Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) October 16, 2021

We were even facing a furious osmosis on Saturday between the Lyon maestro and the 50,585 Lyon spectators, which refers more to the popularity rating of Lisandro Lopez than that of Memphis Depay and even Alexandre Lacazette.

"Lucas Paqueta wanted to start when he had played 42 hours earlier before taking a plane," said Peter Bosz after the match.

I was not supposed to bring him in but I took a big risk and it ended well.

"

Argentina-Brazil shock in November offers way too much rest

This taste for risk of the number 10 Lyon (1,203 minutes played, all competitions, in 2021-2022), already rewarded a month ago with a nice goal against Strasbourg in L1, two days after a success against Peru (2- 0), says a lot about his attachment to OL. Like the Chuck Norris Facts a decade earlier, jokes have been blazing since Saturday evening on the extraordinary aspect of the fellow, that some imagine to continue his anthology week by giving a hand to the emergency room of the Edouard Herriot hospital or on the SaintéLyon.

Lyon supporters are at the same time very worried after consulting the schedule for the next international break.

The Argentina-Brazil shock is indeed planned for November 16, five days before OL-OM.

Do you see it coming, the lack of rhythm of the Lyon virtuoso, after such an endless period without a match?

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Why has Lucas Paqueta become the darling of Lyon supporters for good?

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"Lucas Paqueta knows how to be a warrior and Michelangelo", emphasizes Mauricio Barbieri, his ex-coach at Flamengo

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