• Dimitri Payet and Luis Alberto will face each other this Thursday evening for the third day of the Europa League with Olympique de Marseille and Lazio Rome (6:45 p.m.). 

  • The two midfielders are among the three players in Europe who have created the most dangerous actions since the 2017/2018 season. 

Dimitri Payet and Luis Alberto, among the three best players of the five major European leagues.

On the eve of facing each other on Matchday 3 of the Europa League in an already decisive match for OM against Lazio Rome, the two midfielders figure at the top of the European gratin.

That of the number of shares created since the 2017/2018 season, according to the Squawka site.

OM number 10 even won this ranking with 383 actions created in 9,165 minutes played (3.76 per match).

He is ahead of Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne with 366 hot actions in 9,147 minutes (3.6 per game) and Luis Alberto with 364 actions in 10,957 minutes (3 per game).

They are all three ahead of a certain Lionel Messi.

"Make a decisive pass rather than scoring"

No wonder Kevin de Bruyne, known to be one of the best players on the planet. Much more for Dimitri Payet and Luis Alberto, far from being considered the crème de la crème of European football, in “second line” clubs like OM and Lazio. “I'm not surprised by this statistic because Luis Alberto, when he is in good shape, is one of the best midfielders in Serie A. He was crucial for Simone Inzaghi's Lazio, and he remains very important for the team. team thanks to its ability to play vertically. He is the kind of player who prefers to make an assist rather than to score, ”says Andrea Montolivo, Rome correspondent for the Spanish media Efe Deportes.

Since the start of the 2017/18 season, Dimitri Payet has created more chances than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.



You can't deny the talent.

✨ pic.twitter.com/ZdO5eTuYH5

- Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 17, 2021

A description that seems to stick to the Spanish international (1 selection) as much as to its French counterpart (38 selections).

Although the Reunions are also fond of scoring, as when they were repositioned closer to the attack since the start of this season.

“Frankly, I had a great time in False 9 because I had total freedom.

I could play where I wanted, I was not glued to the opposing central defense, I touched a lot of balls.

Well, it was still felt in my stats because I did not have a single assist.

It's not normal !

“, He explained last week in a long interview with the Team.

Character

Against Lorient on Sunday, he had the opportunity to make up for it by offering three assists in a completely successful match as number 10. “After that I find myself in the heart of the game, less in front and less as a false nine, so I was more in my passer register tonight and so much the better if it was effective, it allows us to score, ”he was satisfied at the end of the meeting.

A rebirth for Dimitri Payet after a very complicated last season, punctuated by disagreements with his trainer André Villas Boas and criticism of his weight.

“I was less well, I don't know, maybe I let myself go.

You have to know how to take me.

I am not an easy person, even if I have the impression that over time I mellow.

But it is true that I have a strong enough character and that it could be stretched at certain times ”, he advanced as an explanation.

This did not prevent him from scoring 10 goals and delivering 9 assists in 41 games.

"He needs to feel important for the team"

An alternating current that also characterizes Luis Alberto's career. “That's probably his biggest weakness, especially at the start. He was considered one of the best talents in Spain when he was young, but then he needed time. And we always keep the impression that he could be even more decisive for his team, ”adds Andrea Montolivo.

Because these two old-fashioned numbers 10, fueled by affect.

Luis Alberto's debut at Lazio was very painful as he only played 10 throughout the season.

To the point of asking to leave the club.

“It was the most complicated moment of my career.

I had lost my mind, I didn't even want to go to train anymore.

Something that had never happened to me ”, explained the person concerned to Rivista Undici.

“He needs to feel important for the team and his coach.

Inzaghi did a fantastic job with him.

After that poor first season, he made great strides in becoming a leader at Lazio.

It was he who allowed the club to return to the Champions League last year after 13 years of absence, ”says the Lazio specialist.

" Be happy "

And this start of the season is diametrically opposed for Luis Alberto and Dimitri Payet. After this roller coaster season under André Villas Boas, the Reunionese has come back to life since the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli. “He just asked me to be myself and to be happy,” says Dimitri Payet. And with five goals and four assists (he had omitted one in his interview) in just seven games, because of a small physical glitch, he has been smiling broadly since the start of the season.

After five seasons of romance with Lazio, Simone Inzagi, considered "as a friend, a father for all of us", according to Alberto, has decided to renew himself on the side of Inter Milan. Maurizio Sarri, one of the most prominent coaches in Europe in recent seasons, took over. "He had some difficulties this summer, and he missed part of the preseason," says Andrea Montolivo. He was also not titular last Saturday for the Serie A clash between defending champion Inter and Lazio.

“We have 11 players in the starting XI, he sees the way they train during the week and makes his choices based on that.

His system is based on a high press, where all 11 must make the correct movements.

As soon as one of these players does not, it becomes a problem for the rest of the team, ”explained Lazio sporting director Igli Tare, implying that Luis Alberto did not necessarily provide all the necessary effort. .

"He had a sluggish start to the season, but he should be in the starting 11 tomorrow," predicts Andrea Montolivo.

Dimitri Payet is well in the group, it remains to be seen whether Jorge Sampaoli will take the risk of starting him three days before the shock against PSG.

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