This is how Rodrygo became one of the most dangerous footballers in Europe

On the return flight from Paris, with Real Madrid's fourteenth European Cup on board, Hazard grabbed the stewardesses' telephone and gave a brief thank you speech in which he named two players.

He pointed to Courtois, who had put on a prodigious display in the final.

And also to Rodrygo, competition above, and switch with his goals from the unusual comebacks at the Bernabéu against Chelsea and City.

The Brazilian finished the course with the rare status of a miracle worker, but without finishing settling in the eleven.

In the Paris final, close to the 90th minute, he had to approach Ancelotti to remind him that he had promised him that he would play: he came on for Vinicius in the 93rd minute, and the referee blew his whistle right away.

This season that has changed.

And a lot.

Rodrygo Goes is at 21 years old one of the most threatening footballers in the five major leagues, after having made a huge leap from last year to this one.

The Brazilian is the eighth player in Europe with the most contributions to goals per 90 minutes, 1.1 (goals plus assists), triple the 0.38 from last season.

The list of players ahead of him is eloquent to assess his progression: Haaland, Lewandowski, Neymar, Musiala, Firmino, Mbappé and Messi.

Rodrygo's progress cannot be attributed to a moment of greater aim alone.

The jump in the Brazilian's contribution is also seen in what he generates, for example, in the quality of the chances he has, what is known as expected goals.

According to the Statsbomb model, this season in the League it is at 0.45 every 90 minutes, almost twice as much as last year, when it was at 0.25.

This danger generation data has moved him from being among the attackers of the bunch to being in the areas where Messi appears, as seen in the graph below, which shows where the Brazilian is now, and where he would be with his data from last season.

Includes strikers who have played more than 400 minutes this season in their league and with more than 75% passing accuracy.

He is closer to the goal, and also closer to the goal to his teammates.

To measure it, Statsbomb uses what he calls expected assists, which gives an idea of ​​how dangerous the shooting situation is in which one player leaves another with a last pass.

Rodrygo's progression in what he generates for others is even greater: he has gone from 0.08 expected assists every 90 minutes to 0.36, more than four times more.

The Brazilian's greatest impact received the definitive push during Madrid's pre-season, when, according to sources close to the footballer, Carlo Ancelotti spoke with him about his expectations for the new course.

He wanted to use it more down the middle.

He saw that he had the appropriate characteristics to play in that area and combine more with Karim Benzema.

Rodrygo liked the idea of ​​getting closer to the goal, and the chemistry with the Frenchman works extremely naturally.

The coach gave the final blessing on Wednesday night, after the game against Shakhtar: "The top three have combined to do something spectacular," he said, also referring to Vinicius.

Ancelotti's intention to take Rodrygo more often to the central corridor of the field has been captured in the records of data analysis companies.

If you look for the plots in which the Brazilian receives the ball more often, you can see a substantial difference between last season and this one.

In 2021/22, the points that mark the maps as the most common places where he received the ball are found above all in the corridor that is attached to the right wing of the attack.

However, as seen below, so far this year, the maps collect more points in the parcel that extends in front of the area.

There, for example, on Wednesday he received a ball from Tchouameni in the 12th minute of the match against Shakhtar.

He tried a dribble, there was a rebound, the ball came back, he shot and scored 1-0.

And just a few meters back he received a pass from Valverde a quarter of an hour later that led to a play that seemed like a rehearsed dance, between the Brazilian, Benzema, and again the Brazilian, who assisted Vinicius almost at the penalty spot .

Rodrygo used to never be there, but appearing in that center aisle allows some of his characteristics to be more damaging than in the band.

This season he shoots more often on goal: he has gone from doing it twice per game to just over 3. He also dribbles more: he has gone from 1.5 successful dribbles per game to 2. And that, as his people explain, is directly related to spending more time near the goal.

Ancelotti's summer conversation was not the result of improvisation.

When the Italian arrived in Madrid and began to evaluate the squad in training, he agreed with his coaching staff in the conviction that Rodrygo had enormous potential.

They also agreed that they should not immediately push him to fulfill those expectations that they saw as within his reach.

They were giving him minutes throughout the course, and he memorably squeezed the last batch of those corresponding to the Champions League.

Despite that, the moment they considered opportune for the next step was this season.

And not only for what concerned Rodrygo himself.

Hence the announcement of the most common transfer to the center.

Although Ancelotti still sees more virtues in him on the wing, he was also convinced of the Brazilian's intelligence and versatility, of his ability to get along with Benzema, and of the options he could open up to the team when the Frenchman was absent.

When the Italian understood that the club was not going to sign a replacement striker for Benzema, he thought of the Brazilian, even if he started using Hazard, following the route of the hierarchies that he always respects.

But the field did its job as a judge, to which Ancelotti usually refers, and here he has Rodrygo released, closer to the areas where the Frenchman and Vinicius invent.

Also closer to where he can help short-circuit the opponent's ball out.

Because on Wednesday the coach said that he had assigned the Brazilian to the center to better cover the two centrals and that Shakhtar did not sleep the game.

He stirred it well.

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