Marcus Thuram has developed into one of the best strikers in Europe at Inter Milan. The Frenchman is (not only) the man for something special. In the semi-final second leg of the Champions League (Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. here in the live ticker) in Barcelona, he is again particularly in focus.
If you look at Marcus Thuram’s highlights from this season, you will inevitably wonder why this striker is not part of every conversation about the best nine in the world.
Thuram shoots dream goals on the assembly line
Against FC Barcelona, Thuram made a wonderful hack gate in the 3: 3 in the semi-final first game after not even a played minute, in the before he made the goal of Lautaro Martinez with the same hoe against the Bayern, in the round of 16, he left two opponents against Feyenoord and swiled the ball into the angle after he hit the first game by outside. had.
These are just a few of the many spectacular goals and templates that the Frenchman played in the various competitions this season. In the league he is with 14 goals (without a penalty) – it is already the best season of his career in this regard. And if it weren’t for an interim short, one or the other blessing that ensured that he only has “only” 26 start-up operations in Serie A would have been much more possible. There are also four goals and two assists at nine starting starts in the premier class.
The “promise” is now also redeemed
You can think of the “XG value”, which put a number of goals between 0 and 1 depending on the “goal probability”, you can think of what you want, but Thuram has an outstanding quota in this regard. In the league, he “only” expected 9.8 goals, but because he also successfully (and worth seeing) with his athletics and shooting technology, he significantly exceeded this value. For comparison: Hugo Ekitiké, who scored 15 goals in the Bundesliga, should have scored 20 goals, according to the statistics portal “Fbref”.
The potential of the 1.92 meter tall Frenchman Thuram was already agreed in Mönchengladbach, where he played from 2019 to 2023. But it was not always easy to deal with, showed how unusual, fluctuating performance for young and tall strikers. For this purpose, he was negative, among other things, by spitting by Stefan Posch in the Corona era and was blocked for a long time.
Especially in his last season 2022/23, he finally brought his skills onto the street consistently and scored 13 goals in the Bundesliga and gave six templates. This was followed by the transfer -free move to Inter, where Thuram became an elementary part of the championship in the first year and is again the top scorer of the “Nerazzurri” this year.
Little goes without Thuram with Inter
At the age of 27 he is one of the best strikers in Europe at the previous high of his career – and because his speed is part, but not a condition of his game, a good “aging” is also likely in the next few years. In the four league games in which he was not used this season, Inter only scored two goals, one of which was a penalty. The result of Thuram’s latest injury break was the loss of the lead to Naples.
For Inter, Thuram is an absolutely elementary column. Because he sets balls and puts them out cleverly because he also helps in pressing because he represents a steady physical presence in the penalty area and thereby creates spaces and because he also affects difficult situations.
Lautaro is missing – even more focus on Thuram
As part of a double tip next to the lively Lautaro, he can best play his strengths, but exactly that congenial storm partner is likely to be missing in the second leg against Barcelona with a thigh injury.
Inter Milan Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram cheer the goal
However, the alternatives for trainer Simone Inzaghi are numerous and quite well known: Marko Arnautovic and Mehdi Taremi have already met in two digits in large European leagues. Joaquin Correa would also be an option for the position next to Thuram, because it is absolutely set and should be the biggest topic in the Cabin of FC Barcelona before the second leg.