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Olympique Marseille and its new man, Jonathan Claus, receive, on Tuesday, at the Velodrome, Sporting Portugal, on the occasion of the third day of the group stage of the Champions League. A crucial match for the France international and his teammates, great in the league, but they have already lost in their first two European matches.
Olympique de Marseille, who host Sporting Portugal on Tuesday 4 October for the third day of the Champions League, are already back at the wall in the competition. Having been defeated within the first two days, the Olympians will be able to count on the valuable contribution of Jonathan Klaus in this crucial match for their European future, which will be played behind closed doors.
To face their group leader, who scored two wins in two matches against Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt, all without conceding a goal, Marseille’s right-hander is in brilliance.
Croatian coach Igor Theodor has sought a lot from the very honest start to the season, and Jonathan Klaus had started to score physically before the recent international break. Didier Deschamps called up the France team to play, on September 22 and 25, the last two matches of the Blues before the 2022 World Cup, the former Lincois, despite being selected twice, came back fully recovered.
The perfect piston for the Tudor system
On Friday, he was OM’s driving force during the victorious trip to Angers (0-3), marking the ninth day of Ligue 1. He lined up in the left lane to make up for the absence of the usual defending champion, Portuguese Nuno Jonathan Claus, Tavares, made an excellent copy of During the signing of the opening and two assistants.
He participated in the three goals of his team, and was logically elected the best player of the match. His coach said in a post-match press conference: “Jonathan Klaus is a great player, I’ve known that since the first time I saw him. He’s a good boy, it’s a pleasure to play. Be his coach.”
Quickly adopted by the demanding Marseille fans, who appreciate his fighting spirit and ability to repeat efforts throughout the match, the France international (30 years and six caps) has become an indispensable part of OM. It must be said that his tireless piston profile fits perfectly into the highly offensive system developed by Igor Theodor.
Extremely toned, he struggles in his lane, in the offensive or defensive phase, and doubles races, sometimes at supersonic speed Since I sprinted at 35.28 km/h this season in the Ligue 1This makes him one of the fastest players in the tournament behind Kylian Mbappé (36 km/h).
Decisive defender… offensive
But Jonathan Klaus is not just a racing sequencer, he is above all a key player in Marseille’s attacking animation with sharp calls and cross passes, causing opponents’ defenses to sweat. He is decisive, in addition to the goal he scored against Angers, he is the best passer for his team in the Ligue 1 with four performances in nine matches.
In total, since August 2020, the Strasbourg native, who scored five goals and provided 11 assists in the colors of RC Lens last season, seems determined to create panic in the statistics: he is involved in 30 Ligue 1 goals (9 goals and 21 assists) . ), the highest total for a defender in the five major European leagues during this period.
All that remains for him is to confirm his talent against Sporting on the European stage, where, like his team unbeaten in nine league matches (second in the standings with seven wins and two draws), Jonathan Klaus has not yet shown the same competence.
A matter of time Marseille supporters are quite fascinated by the induction of their squad this summer for nearly €7.5m by President Pablo Longoria, even as Manchester United tried to lure the player from Lens to England.
It is true that Jonathan Klaus, from the amateur world, has shown that he knows how to patiently take his time. After passing Raon Latip or Avranche, he did not know the elite until he arrived in Lens, in the summer of 2020, after stints in the professional environment at Quevilly-Rouen (L2) and Bielefeld (D2 German). An unusual career has not stopped him from catching the attention of coach Didier Deschamps, who appears to be on his way to Qatar in a few weeks.
