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Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku: One of the best non-Bayern

2021-11-07T09:43:12.205Z


He's dangerous for goals, creative and dribbles like Zinédine Zidane: Christopher Nkunku is a star in Leipzig - and a welcome house guest for his coach.


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A kiss for the fans: Christopher Nkunku

Photo: Jan Woitas / dpa

It was centimeters that prevented a goal of the month's goal in the 64th minute of the Bundesliga top game: first once, then a second time, Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku managed the pirouette with the ball at his foot, which his French compatriot Zinédine Zidane once did had made it his trademark.

Opponent Mats Hummels straddled into the void, as did Thomas Meunier.

In the end alone, Nkunku was not lucky, the ball hit the left post of the Dortmund goal.

In the traditional, straightforward power football of the RB school, »Christo«, as the 23-year-old is called, stands for such brilliant moments.

Moments that often not only remain small pieces but also give the club goals and points: In the 2-1 (1-0) home win against Borussia Dortmund, Nkunku not only demonstrated his light-footedness, he took the lead and did the preparatory work with a cross Winning goal by Yussuf Poulsen.

The applause that broke out in the Leipzig arena for Nkunku's strokes of genius was in no way inferior to that at the goals.

Nkunku's gala performance against BVB was not a surprise.

The offensive all-rounder trained at Paris Saint-Germain has been playing the stars of the sky at RB for weeks, Nkunku is in the best shape since he moved to Leipzig in 2019.

In the Champions League there was a hat trick at Manchester City, most recently a goal and two penalties won against the youth club from Paris.

In the Bundesliga, after five match days without a goal at the start of the season, Nkunku has ten scorer points from the last six games.

A different kind of neighborhood help

This not only pleases the Leipzig supporters, but also Nkunku's neighbors: Coach Jesse Marsch lives in the Gohlis district in the immediate vicinity of his attacking star.

Nkunkus and Marsch's relationship therefore doesn't end at the cabin door, the Frenchman goes in and out of the Marsch family.

"We enjoy our time together," said Marsch after the game - and hadn't even started with the sport.

The American also knew how to appreciate the athletic help that Nkunku had given to Marsch's assumption of office after poor results.

"Christo is outstanding now," praised the trainer.

He suspected early on that Nkunku would benefit from the change in style compared to Marsch's predecessor Julian Nagelsmann.

In Leipzig, the focus is now less on long periods of ball possession, but rather, typical for RB, "with intensity and verticality".

And because the opposing defenders now have less time to organize themselves, they are more and more often taken by surprise by Nkunku's tricks and speed actions.

From the left to the center

The latest increase in performance can also be traced back to a readjustment of Nkunku's role.

At the beginning of the season and in his first two years in Leipzig, Nkunku did not play exclusively, but often on the left.

Most recently, the Frenchman was often used as a hanging tip in the half-spaces, although Nkunku was again on the road a lot against BVB - but nominally a center forward.

Not only in terms of his importance for the team, but also in terms of his position on the field, Nkunku is becoming an increasingly central player at RB.

He can bring his strengths to almost any offensive position anyway: dribbling, deep runs, creativity, an efficient finish and a stubbornness against the ball that is taken for granted in Leipzig make Nkunku an all-rounder.

There has seldom been such a complete player at such a high level in the last few years in the Bundesliga beyond the big clubs from Dortmund and Munich.

Kai Havertz should be mentioned, perhaps the eternally underrated Andrej Kramarić.

But otherwise?

No invitation to the national team yet

The concern that Nkunku could gradually outgrow the club is currently rather low in Leipzig.

In any case, Nkunku has not yet convinced anyone who doubts.

The Frenchman is still waiting for his first invitation to the national team.

After all: world champion trainer Didier Deschamps recently certified Nkunku as "one of the serious candidates" for the first round of nominations in the coming year.

The best of all Nkunku will be able to watch the next game of the Équipe Tricolore for the upcoming international break during a TV evening with coach Marsch.

Marsch is already certain that his neighbor will stay with him for a while.

“I think he has a three or four year contract with the apartment,” said Marsch, “that is perhaps more important than with the club”.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-11-07

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