Branco van den Boomen has set an impressive record. The 26-year-old Toulouse midfielder gave his 21st assist of the season in the French Ligue 2 against Niort on Monday evening, following in the footsteps of some greats. He thereby helped his club to promotion to the highest level.
Since Opta collected the data (2014), only two players in the five major football countries (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) managed to provide 21 assists at the top or second level of football. Lionel Messi prepared 21 goals for FC Barcelona in 2019/20, while Thomas Müller was at the basis of as many goals at Bayern Munich in the same season. After tonight, Branco van den Boomen from Eindhoven can also join that list.
The midfielder gave the decisive pass on the second goal against Niort, helping his side to a 2-0 victory. The victory brought Van den Boomen’s club back to Ligue 1, from which it was relegated in 2020 after the French federation decided to regard the ranking as the final position a few rounds before the end. The competition was suspended due to the coronavirus.
,,It’s a wonderful evening, the best moment of my career”, the midfielder reacted afterwards in conversation with French media. ,,It was nice to be able to celebrate this with the fans. We are going to Ligue 1 with this big club. That is amazing.”
Van den Boomen, who has scored twelve times this season, made his debut in professional football on behalf of Young Ajax and played himself in the spotlight of SC Heerenveen at FC Eindhoven. Via Willem II and again FC Eindhoven, he ended up at the relegated Toulouse in 2020, where he has become one of the star players. Stijn Spierings is also under contract with the PhD student. The former Spartan has this season good for one goal and seven assists.
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