Ever BANEGA and Facundo FERREYRA shine in Champions League

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Ever BANEGA and Facundo FERREYRA both shined in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The big match in Spain on Wednesday was Manchester United’s visit to Sevilla in the first leg of their Round of 16 match. While the match ultimately ended 0-0 (thanks to some world class save by Manchester United goalkeeper David DE GEA), Ever BANEGA was put in a stellar performance for the home team. Here were BANEGA’s statistics following the match:

87 passes – most on the pitch
10 key passes – most on the pitch
1 big chance created

8 duels won – 2nd most on the pitch
5 tackles won – most on the pitch

A driving force for his club, should BANEGA be able to maintain his form during the World Cup, he can be a fantastic asset for Jorge SAMPAOLI.

Elsewhere in the Champions League, Facundo FERREYRA ensured that Lionel MESSI wasn’t the only Argentine to score in the competition this week. FERREYRA scored for Shakhtar Donetsk in their 2-1 victory against AS Roma. Chucky scored the equalizer in the 52nd minute after Roma took the lead late in the first half.

FERREYRA has now been directly involved in five goals in seven matches this season in the Champions League tallying three goals and two assists.

61 Comments

  1. I watched the match Banega was not that extremely sensational against MU as reported here. IMO Vasquez looks like he can offer more to the NT. The fact of the matter is Man Utd are not at the level of Barça, Bayern, Real, PSG or Man City. So one match against a mediocre Man Utd doesn’t make him Iniesta or Rakitic. Can he compete consistently against top class midfielders? It’s not about how accurate is his passes are. How many of his passes end up in assists or creating chances for the NT? Does he he make Messi, Di Maria or Aguero perform better like Iniesta, Kroos, Rakitic, Modric, Gundogan or Verrati do for their attackers? The answer is a big No. Whenever an Argentine player performs well in one game, they are overhyped here on Mundo. I will take Lo Celso, Lanzini, Vasquez, Parades or Battaglia over Banega

    • @Sabellisat, I agree with you.

      When Banega faces top midfielders he looks nothing. The perfect example is the recent Madrid vs Sevilla. The midfield was completely dominated by Madrid midfielders and their team scored five goals in the first half. Is such a player who disappears against top midfielders help Argentina win a WC? He will never ever do that!

      • 1 good midfielder against 3 world best to go with the best fullbacks so the domination was expected yes he is not among the best but he is decent midfielder and top 3 or 4 mid we have right now I don’t think Argentina has better midfielder than him in his position otherwise we have to play dimaria or dybala in midfield that I don’t think sampaoli will do and Messi in midfield means repeat of 2010 wc result so banega is an important player for us because of the dearth of quality in midfield

      • I find it weird only Banega is targeted in that Sevilla game against Real Madrid. His midfield partners Guido Pizarro and Franco Vazquez were equally bad. The whole engine room was bad.The whole team was bad. I think if you ask most Sevilla fans Banega has been one of their most consistent performers this season.

        I think the performance of both Vazquez and Banega against Matic and Pogba was excellent. I wouldn’t pick them or not pick them one performance. I think on the whole a Pizarro,Banega and Vazquez midfield would be able to hold their own against any other international teams midfield not just because of each players qualities but because they play and train week in week out.

        I prefer to focus on the midfield as a whole and how they function together and the dynamics between the different players. I still think the best midfield we have had over the last 4 years was the Copa 16 midfield Mascherano, Augusto and Banega. That just clicked beautifully.When Augusto was injured and replaced with Biglia it just didn’t work. I think a player similar to Augusto (say Enzo Perez ) may have been a better option. Ok I’m reminiscing about what could have been but now to the present.

        I can’t see a midfield of Mascherano Augusto and Banega leading us all the way. Mascherano and Augusto have gone backwards, it’s natural they’ve aged. I hope Sampaoli finds this midfield combination that works, he just has no time.I do think basing our midfield around Sevilla is our best bet to victory in Russia.

        • No wrong concept Sevilla is not a top team their midfield will struggle against top international sides midfield imagine France or brazil or Germany or Spain midfield they will annihilate that Sevilla midfield quite easily only banega from Sevilla can play in our system we have better options than pizzaro and Vazquez I believe

          • I don’t think we have many midfielders playing at the best clubs. Lo Celso is probably the only one and him in place of Vazquez actually does strengthen the midfield as his a more complete midfielder.

            In terms of number 5s we have Pizarro,Ascacibar,Kranevitter and Battaglia . I think individually Ascacibar is maybe slightly the best but I would go with Pizarro because of his club connection with Banega.

            In reality Sampaoli will probably go with Mascherano and 2 others. Probably Lo Celso , I’m not sure who the other one is.

            I can’t believe Mascherano will be the main guy in the middle again. I can’t see us winning with him there.

  2. lanzini dont have messi auguero… otamendi dimaria…etc… west ham is poor team he always defend… dont judge him … with the better team… just watch.. how many time he loose the ball.. what he is doing with the ball.. then judge him…

  3. Lanzini’s strength is he can create chances and shoot he is very useful when team play offensive.He is very clinical in front of goal and he always beats goalkeeper by very big margin

    • I remember previous season, lanzini was playing behind payet in westham ,PAYET IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CREAT CHANCE FOR HIMSELF AND OTHER TEAMMATES.LANZINI SUPPORTS PAYET THAT MEANS HE IS NOT A TRUE NUMBER 10.

      YES HE CAN SHOOT BUT WHAT ARG NEEDS TODAY? WE NEED A TEAM WHICH CAN SUPPORT MESSI . WHO CAN SUPPORT MESSI WE NEED SUAREZ(AGUERO) ,INIESTA(WE HAVE NONE) ,RAKITIC(FRANCO VAZQUEZ) AND BUSQUETS(MAY BE BANEGA ) TOGEHTER WITH TWO OFFENSIVE RB LB .

      BUT WE HAVE DI MARIA ,J CORREA AS A WINGER AND ACUNA AS LB . SO WHAT WE NEED IS AN OFFENSIVE RB AND A PLAYER WHO CAN BE INIESTA.

      LANZINI IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A INIESTA TYPE PLAYER .

      • We don’t have iniesta level player we don’t have busquets level player so formation should be different in Argentina we don’t have alba or alves level fullback also

      • I AM NOT SAMPAOLI.BUT IMO LANZINI IS A SPECIAL PLAYER NOT SUITABLE FOR TODAY’S ARGENTINA NATIONAL TEAM .

        1. HE IS NOT DI MARIA ,J CORREA TYPE WINGER
        2. HE IS NOT MESSI OR DYBALA TYPE
        3. HE IS NOT A TRUE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD
        4. COMPARED WITH BANEGA OR PAREDES OR LO CELSO ,HIS CREATIVITY IS NOT ENOUGH
        5. COMPARED WITH ENZO PEREZ ,OR RODIGO BATTAGLIA HE IS TOO SHORT AND TOO WEAK

        YES WHEN HE IS FIT ENOUGHT LAST SEASON ,HE CAN SHOOT BUT THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TO EARN A PLACE IN NATIONAL TEAM

    • Can you even imagine what kind of a situation a player can be in when he returns from an injury?

      This Liverpool team destroyed City’s midfield let alone West Ham.

      Lanzini has only one problem which is lack of fitness. Other than that he is n excellent player.

      The likes of Lanzini and Taglifiaco are the ones the NT needs but they didn’t get the chance they deserved to show their qualities. I hope Sampa will offer both of them the chance they deserve this time.

      • In world cup he will face far stronger midfield than this Liverpool side and man city is quite overrated let them face a strong side first then will see how good they really are

  4. any chance paredes and lanzini getting the call for march friendlies?? even just returned from injury shithouse funes mori also rumoured to be called up

    • PAREDES IS A VERY SPECIAL NUMBER 5. HIS WEAKEST LINK IS TOO SLOW AND NOT THAT MUCH DEFENSIVE . BUT HIS DRIBBLING ABILITY IS VERY GOOD. HE CAN BE BANEGA’S SUBSTITUE BUT I PREFER LO CELSO . LO CELSO IS NOT FAST BUT FASTER THAN PAREDES .LO CELSO IS NOT THAT MUCH DEFENSIVE BUT IMPROVING IN PSG . DEFINITELY LO CELSO IS MORE CREATIVE THAN PAREDES. AS A PLAYMAKER I THINK LO CELSO HAS MORE POTENTIAL THAN PAREDES

  5. my lineup

    —————-AGUERO

    JOAQUIN CORREA — MESSI —–DI MARIA

    ———-VAZQUEZ

    ———-BIGLIA ——-BANEGA

    —-OTAMENDI—-FAZIO——–MERCADO

    IT LOOKS LIKE A 3331,or 3241, FRANCO VAZQUEZ PLUS J CORREA AT LEFT ,MESSI ATTACKS FROM RIGHT TO CENTRAL JUST GIVE SPACE TO DI MARIA. BANEGA is playmaker and biglia is no 5.

    when we defend,J CORREA AND DI MARIA SHOULD ASSIST THOSE 3 CDs .VAZQUEZ ALSO CAN HELP BANEGA ,BIGLIA. IT WILL BE A 5311WHEN DEFEND

    —————AGUERO
    —————-MESSI

    –FRANCO VAZQUEZ–BIGLIA—-BANEGA

    J CORREA–OTAMENDI-FAZIO—MERCADO–DI MARIA

    If we need to be more conservative ,use ENZO PEREZ REPLACE BANEGA

  6. How is maximilliano meza?? Is he good?? What kind of player he is?? Rumour going on that he may be called up for march friendlies

  7. PLEASE NO MORE DYBALA,ICARDI,BENEDETTO,PAPU GOMEZ,RIGONI .ALL OF THE HAD NOT PLAYED EVEN A GOOD GAME FOR US. IMO SEVILLA+MESSI+DIMARIA+AGUERO ARE ENOUGH

    WE NEED FRANCO VAZQUEZ,JOAQUIN CORREA,FACUNDO FERREYRA OR MAY BE ANGEL CORREA

  8. JUST WATCHED SEVILLA VS MU, ALL ARGENTINIAN PLAYED REALLY WELL,ESPECIALLY JOAQUIN CORREA AND VAZQUEZ, J CORREA–MESSI-DIMARIA-AGUERO-VAZQUEZ COMBINATION SHOULD BE ENOUGH WITH BANEGA AND BIGLIA SUPPORT THE MIDFIELD

  9. IMO I THINK THE BEST LINEUP SHOULD BE

    —————————AGUERO

    JOAQUIN CORREA —-FRANCO VAZQUEZ—–MESSI——DI MAIRA

    —————–BIGLIA————BANEGA

    ——OTAMENDI———FAZIO—————MERCADO

    ——————–ROMERO

    OR

    ——————–AGUERO

    JOAQUIN CORREA——–MESSI———DI MARIA

    ———-FRANCO VAZQUEZ——BIGLIA

    ACUNA——OTAMENDI——-FAZIO——-MERCADO

    —————–ROMERO

    MY 23 LIST:

    STRIKER: AGUERO , HIGUAIN , FACUNDO FEREYRA
    MF: MESSI,JOAQUIN CORREA,FRANCO VAZQUEZ,DI MARIA, BANEGA, BIGLIA, PAVON,PEROTTI
    LO CELSO , ENZO PEREZ
    DF: ACUNA , FAZIO ,OTAMENDI,MERCADO, FUNES MORI,MANMANNA, MASCHERANO
    GK: ROMERO ,GUZMAN,CABALLERO

  10. I completely shocked to see that some of you mention Banega in NT. He shouldn’t even be in the 23. Until that someone proves otherwise I am convinced that Benega and DiMaria are the reasons we are playing so poorly. PLEASE GUYS, GIVE US A CHANCE LETS FORGET ABOUT BANEGA.

    • how abt this one ?
      Romero
      Mercado-Pezella-Otamendi-Tagliafico
      Di maria – Biglia – Banega – Acuna
      Messi – Aguero

      Depending on situation this can be a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 with Acuna coming up

      Subs can be
      Bustos – for Mercado
      Funes Mori ( assume he gets back to match fitness) – for Pezella
      Rojo – for Otamendi or Tagliafico
      Mascherano – for Biglia
      Parades – for Banega ( when role is deep playmaker
      Lanzini or Lo Celso – for Banega when u want more attacking midfielder
      Papu Gomez – for Acuna when in 4-3-3 mode
      Dybala – for Messi ( just to conserve him for the big matches)
      Icardi – for Aguero
      Pavon/ Angel Correa/ Lamela – for Di Maria ( if we are chasing a game & moving to 4-3-3)

      so my final 23 is
      GK – Romero , Gauzman, Armani
      Defense – Mercado,Pezella,Otamendi, Tagliafico,Bustos,Funes Mori, Rojo
      Midfield – DiMaria, Biglia, Banega, Acuna, Pavon, Mascherano,Lo Celso,Gomez
      Forward – Messi , Aguero, Icardi, Dybala, Higuain

      Other contenders – Caballero, Fazio, ACorrea,Lamela,Parades, Lanzini,Lautaro

      Why is that Di Maria plays right wing in clubs & always only Left Wing for Argentina. Is it bcos he interferes with Messi’s movements. Quite surprising considering we don’t have to much of right midfield options

  11. What I love about Banega this seadon is how deep he’s playing.

    But the issue with him is always the consistency. If he plays like him, we’d have a midfield…otherwise we wouldn’t.

    • He actually played quite well against Nigeria what you think?? But we need a solid defensively astute dm otherwise teams will kill us in counters

      • “He actually played quite well against Nigeria”

        You must be kidding, man.

        Did you even watch the game? If you watched the game pls rewatch it and if you didn’t watch it pls watch it now and later tell us what you see with your eyes.

        Banega failed so many times when Argentina needed him most and now his chances in the squad or in the starting line-up are very small.

        • yes actually played well specially in 1st half quite fluid in passing and scored a goal aswell 2nd half was more mental block due to aguero injury yes he was horrible in tackling and defensive play in 2nd half but he will not play that role in wc anyway thats why biglia or masche is needed for defensive covering and with masche also injured in 2nd half it was a goal fest for nigerians and masche should be dm not cb. as a cb he is quite shaky plus not a good aerially is big minus

  12. La Gazzetta dello Sport have published a list of their Top 98 talents born in 1998 or later:

    Ezequiel Barco, Maxi Romero, Juan Foyth, Nicolás González (Argentinos Juniors) on thr list

    • They may have Italian ancestory but it’s impossible for Italy to have even a single player of the above mentioned names coz they simply are Argentina’s future.

      • In this category currently also AM Maxi Lovera (Rosario Central ’99), CM Gaston Lodico (Lanus ’98), CM Nicolas Dominguez (Velez ’98) are worth mentioning.

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