There’s a distinctly Senegalese flavour to proceedings in club football’s elite competition tonight.
There are eight matchday 3 Champions League fixtures scheduled and we’ve got our eye on a few African stars as they take their places in starting XIs around Europe.
Tonight is very much about Senegal’s stars. Here are the key points of focus.
🌍 African stars to watch out for in the #UCL tonight:
🇸🇳 Demba Ba
🇲🇱 Hamari Traoré
🇲🇦 Naif Aguerd
🇳🇬 Emmanuel Dennis
🇸🇳 Idrissa Gueye
🇸🇳 Edouard Mendy
🇸🇳 Alfred Gomis🧤A battle of Senegalese goalkeepers at Stamford Bridge. pic.twitter.com/s3YTfivK4z
— Futaa.com (@Futaacom) November 4, 2020
Chelsea vs Rennes throws up a tantalising all-Senegalese goalkeeping battle with in-form Edouard Mendy aiming for five consecutive clean sheets across all competitions; that’s a feat that Chelsea hasn’t achieved in over ten years. His opposite number Alfred Gomis is likely to be a busy man against Chelsea’s attack bristling with quality in numbers.
Ex-Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Hoffenheim, Besiktas & Shanghai Shenhua striker Demba Ba will lead the line for Istanbul Başakşehir hoping to cause problems for a Man United defence that has conceded just once in two group stage matches against PSG and RB Leipzig. Ba will need to find his shooting boots soon; the Turkish side has suffered consecutive 2-0 defeats in their maiden UEFA Champions League group stage appearance and failed to score in six of nine competitive games in 2020-21.
The competition for midfield places at PSG is intense and that has seen Idrissa Gueye have to play second-fiddle to Ander Herrera, Danilo Pereira and even loan signing Rafinha. Pereira was deployed in the centre of defence in their win in Istanbul on matchday 2 and with Marco Verratti still out injured, Gueye should take his place in the centre of the park.
Thomas Tuchel will need all of his industry and smartness in possession in a rematch of last season’s semifinal against RB Leipzig. The Parisians will be without superstar attacking trio Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Mauro Icardi, so this might be a night where they have to roll up their sleeves and grind out a result. Idrissa Gueye is an ideal player in that environment.
culled from futaa.com
