Unbreakable in the Lille central defense, Bafodé Diakité is not far from breaking a glass ceiling in the five major European championships.
LOSC has been on a breathtaking pace since the start of the season, with twenty-two outings already completed in all competitions, from the preliminary rounds of the Champions League to the usual Ligue 1 McDonald's games. One element brings together all its parts and it is called Bafodé Diakité, which has appeared twenty-two times under the Lille banner in recent months. This regularity could also allow it to reach an unprecedented milestone for the moment in Europe. If he plays more than 35 minutes against the Bretons this Friday, at 7 p.m., he would become the first outfield player from the five major European championships to reach the 2,000 minutes played mark in 2024-2025 (currently 1,965).
By continuing, Bafodé Diakité could stick out his tongue, especially at the end of the match. Installed as a central hinge in Montpellier, it was found wanting, without being the only one, in the two Montpellier achievements. However, this would not be due to fatigue. At least this is the clear opinion of Bruno Genesio: “I believe a lot in relaxation, confidence and the mental aspect. I will take a counter-example: penalties. When Jonathan David takes his second penalty in Montpellier (2-1, 54′), the goalkeeper goes to the right place. And if it is a little less well shot, there is no goal. The technical gesture depends on one's mind. He is sure of himself, relaxed, confident, that's how things succeed. There's nothing worse than overthinking consequences, it's the same in life. It’s not because he’s tired or not technically good that Bafo (Diakité) misses this clearance (2-2, 90+3′). It's just that there is tensiondoubt »explained Bruno Genesio at a press conference this Thursday.
This relaxation could therefore allow Bafodé Diakité to find a second wind in this breathtaking season during which he is, for the first time, definitively installed in the axis of the Lille central hinge. He still has to find his feet in this position where he shines intermittently, especially in duels.
The LOSC central defender is actually not one of the most dominant players in this area with, as revealed by the study carried out by @DTFootball_ on the social network X, barely more than sixty percent of his duels won. However, he is not the one who disputes the most, with an average of 5.5 duels per match. In comparison, Alexsandro is less alert (less than five duels per match), but is more efficient (a little over 70% of duels won).
However, it must be remembered that not all players compete in the same types of defensive duels, depending on the game played by the team. There are also other crucial qualities for a central defender. “A defender who performs well in defensive duels is not necessarily free from faults”specifies the specialist in statistical data.
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