• Champions: Atlético lives another tragedy in Lisbon

Every time a multimillion-dollar fortune takes control of a European club, it reproduces the classic model of those who seek rapid and exponential growth: to sign the best footballers the market offers at the stroke of a checkbook. There are examples of Abramovich's Chelsea , Emirati City and Qatari PSG , to name those who have enjoyed the longest journey in recent times. Red Bull , the most famous energy drink company in the world, opted instead for an alternative model, which had already paid off in its foray into Formula 1 : sign very young promises and develop them calmly in their teams, well in the SalzburgEither in Leipzig , first in one and then in the other.

Tonight, both models confront, with a positional duel that will serve as a thermometer and that will also largely define who is the first finalist of the strangest Champions ever. Facing Neymar and Mbappé , who are aiming for ownership after playing for a few minutes against Atalanta , Leipzig will place Dayot Upamecano , the 21-year-old central defender who represents Leipzig's successful management model like no other.

Because the French defender, imperial in the quarterfinal match against Atlético , entered the Red Bull soccer structure when he was 16 years old and already stood out in the lower categories of the French team. Salzburg paid 2.2 million euros for him and after half a season on loan in the Austrian Second, he has already recruited him for his first team. It took him two half courses at Salzburg to climb the pyramid of the club conglomerate and be transferred to Leipzig when he was just 18 years old.

Thus, he repeated the jump made by Naby Keita -now at Liverpool- and Peter Gulacsi or the one that Konrad Laimer, Amadou Haidara and Hee-Chan Hwang would later give , all of them fired in the Austrian subsidiary before making the jump to Leipzig. And, as in the case of Keita, it is a matter of time before Upamecano convinces a great club in Europe and his transfer serves to fill the coffers of the entity, thus allowing his model to continue working. Some of them, starting with Real Madrid, are already very awaiting an operation that would rise to a maximum of 45 million euros , their termination clause after the renewal until 2023 that they signed in July.

Because Upamecano has almost all the qualities that are required of a center-back in modern football. He is strong, powerful, quick, skilled with the ball at his feet ... "He has exceptional defensive talent and incredible potential," says his coach, Julian Nagelsmann . Perhaps his pending issue is placement, a lack of his youth that is concealed when Leipzig is betting on a three-man defense, as it seems they will do tonight in Lisbon against PSG without Keylor Navas and perhaps without Gueye . At stake, for both teams, is the first European Cup final in their history.

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  • Real Madrid
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