The young full-back turned in an awe-inspiring display against Atletico Madrid to the pleasure of the England and Portugal football legends
RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano has got future ahead of him, according to Gary Lineker and Luis Figo.
The 21-year-old defender of Bissau-Guinean descent turned in an imposing display at centre-back during Thursday’s 2-1 defeat of Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.
Upamecano kept the Spaniards’ attacking line-up led by Diego Costa under constant check as Tyler Adams’ late minute strike ended Los Rojiblancos’ title aspiration.
Seeing every minutes of action, the Bundesliga side’s No. 5 had a 100% dribble and tackle successes, made 99 touches, five clearances and a passing accuracy of 92% to walk home with the man-of-the-match prize.
🥇 Dayot Upamecano gets the prize after THAT display 👏#UCLMOTM | #UCL pic.twitter.com/Nk7ITbtF8G
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 13, 2020
Awestruck by the performances of the former Red Bull Salzburg man, the respected football icons believe the youngster has a lot to offer in the future.
That @RBLeipzig_EN goal will liven things up. Highlight thus far has been watching the outstanding Dayot Upamecano. Massive future ahead for the young French defender. Superb with and without the ball.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 13, 2020
“That RB Leipzig goal will liven things up. Highlight thus far has been watching the outstanding Dayot Upamecano. Massive future ahead for the young French defender. Superb with and without the ball,” Lineker tweeted.
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Barcelona striker also rated him as the most outstanding player at Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Head and shoulders above every other player on the pitch. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/uPQ5mCHQHg
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 13, 2020
“Head and shoulders above every other player on the pitch.”
Accentuating this fact is 47-year-old Figo who won the Uefa Champions League title with Real Madrid in 2002, albeit, he summarised his thoughts in three words. “Great Young Player,” he tweeted.
Great Young Player 👏👏👏 https://t.co/MSdAfk8ilf
— Luís Figo (@LuisFigo) August 13, 2020
With Leipzig’s triumph, they become the first German side outside of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to reach the tournament’s last four since Schalke in 2010/11.
They will now focus their attention to their semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain which will be played on Tuesday as they look to pull off another upset.
Upamecano signed a contract extension with the Red Bulls, with the agreeing of fresh terms through to 2023 bringing an end to the rumours linking him to Premier League giants Arsenal.
In the recently concluded 2019-20 German elite division campaign, he featured in 28 games as Julian Nagelsmann’s side finished in third spot – 16 points adrift of Bayern Munich.
Despite representing France at the U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels, the defender is eligible to represent Guinea Bissau at the senior level.
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