It's a nice surprise for Sevilla FC!
With 13 goals already on the clock, Youssef En-Nesyri has established himself as one of the best strikers in the Spanish league this season.
He has also become the number one offensive asset of the Andalusian club.
The Sevillians are even somewhat dependent on their Moroccan striker, who has concluded just over a third of the club's La Liga achievements since the start of the year.
So, logically, the 23-year-old is eagerly awaited before facing FC Barcelona this Saturday (5 p.m.) in a match that could be decisive in the race for the podium.
Jules Koundé's superb goal against FC Barcelona
A start to 2021 on the hats of wheels
Arrived in Andalusia in January 2020 from Leganès, Youssef En-Nesyri had to find his place.
During his first months in Seville, the Moroccan international came off the bench, behind Luuk de Jong.
He scored 4 goals in 18 league appearances, as many as in the first part of the season with El Lega, where he started.
His stats, while not impressive, aren't that bad for a player with limited playing time.
With his new club, he finds the net every 197.5 minutes in La Liga.
He also participates in the club's European epic.
If he is decisive in the knockout stages of the Europa League against AS Rome, his playing time crumbles as the competition progresses.
He entered the final against Inter Milan for a few minutes and then lifted the first trophy of his career.
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Its first part of fiscal year 2020-2021 is quite similar to its first months.
He alternates between tenure and entries during the game. He scored several goals, some of which were decisive, such as against Levante (1-0).
But it is especially from the month of January that it really reveals itself.
On January 9, he offered the victory against a direct competitor, Real Sociedad, by scoring a hat-trick (3-2).
He continued with an important goal against Alavés on January 19 (1-2) then scored three more goals against Cadiz (3-0).
He also shakes the net in the Sevillian victory over Getafe (3-0) in early February, bringing his total to 13 goals, well above his personal best (9 in 2018-2019).
His performances are surprising.
It must be said that the center forward was not expected at this level.
Often mocked for his clumsiness in front of goal, he also suffered from his profile apparently ill-suited to the demands of La Liga.
The 1.89m player is above all a pugnacious player, fast, who puts in the impact and who excels by his head game, less able however to play in small spaces like other attackers of the Spanish championship.
But the native of Fez is a worker, who never gives up, as explained by his former teammate in Malaga Bakary Koné: “He was not the strongest technically, but in the work, he was always there, always motivated, always with the same desire.
He showed that he was really hungry to join the team, ”explained the former Olympique Lyonnais player to
So Foot
.
He has not yet scored against the big guys
If he managed to make a name for himself, Youssef En-Nesyri still has a lot to prove;
starting with its ability to score in major events.
Author of a beautiful goal against Spain at the 2018 World Cup, the striker did not stand out this season against Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Atlético, the three "ogres" of the championship.
Same thing in the Champions League, where his four goals were scored in the group stage against Krasnodar at Stade Rennais, and not against Chelsea or against Borussia Dortmund, in the round of 16 first leg (2-3).
The member of the Atlas Lions is probably not the only one responsible.
Julen Lopetegui's men have a little more trouble when the level rises this season.
They have not won a meeting against a big team this season with the exception of the semi-final first leg of the Copa del Rey against the Blaugrana (2-0).
But this Saturday, against the Catalan club, Youssef En-Nesyri should again have the opportunity to thwart the forecasts.
And lead on the podium?
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