42 G&As in 42 games
Liverpool’s loss, Bayern’s gain – Luis Díaz is showing his old club exactly what they’re missing
©IMAGO
Despite a grand total of 10 goals between the two clubs over the course of both legs of their Champions League quarter-final tie, it was Luis Díaz’s which counted the most. With just a few moments left of normal time at the Allianz Arena, the Colombian winger played a smart one-two with Jamal Musiala to tee himself up for a shot on the edge of the Real Madrid box. And with a power shot – that may have taken an advantageous deflection off a nearby defender – the Bayern winger saw the ball soar into the back of the net and break the deadlock between the two European giants.
Stats
Luis Díaz
Left Winger
Bayern Munich
27
15
14
Although fans of the LaLiga giants may pick through the manner of their team's defeat and struggle to get beyond the two yellow cards handed out to Eduardo Camavinga in the space of eight minutes, Bayern fans will still be celebrating the late winner from their star winger. Since making the move to Bayern last summer for €70 million – the club’s third-highest transfer fee of all time – Díaz has been nothing short of remarkable for the German giants. Following Wednesday night’s performance, the 28-year-old talent is now sitting on 42 goals and assists in 42 games. Only teammates Harry Kane and Michael Olise have bagged more across Europe’s top five leagues.
However, while Díaz may be enjoying life in Munich, things couldn’t be going worse for his old club. One night before the theatrics at the Allianz Arena, Liverpool were duly dumped out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, losing both legs by an aggregate score of 4-0. And while there are a number of issues in Arne Slot’s team that the Anfield club will have to fix in the summer, much of Liverpool’s problems this season could in fact come down to the club’s decision to sell Díaz to Bayern in the first place. In no uncertain terms, the Premier League giants desperately miss the Colombian winger and what he brought to their team last season.
Indeed, the stats for this season speak for themself. While Díaz is riding high on 42 goals and assists in as many games, the closest Liverpool player to that kind of attacking output is Hugo Ekitiké. However, while the French striker has done well in his debut season at Anfield, his 23 goals and assists in 45 games don’t quite compare to Díaz’s success in Bavaria. And, as we can see in the table above, Liverpool’s wide players like Florian Wirtz (16 goal contributions), Cody Gakpo (13) and certainly Federico Chiesa (13) simply haven’t been performing anywhere near the level of Díaz for Bayern this season. Even Mohamed Salah, the club’s famed talisman, is averaging roughly half as many goals and assists as his former teammate this season.
This gulf in attacking output is even more apparent when we compare the aforementioned trio of Liverpool wingers to Díaz’s stats for Liverpool last season. Over the course of his final year at the English club, Díaz picked up a solid 17 goals and eight assists in 50 games for the Anfield club. And while that certainly wasn’t as impressive as his stats for this season, it still stands in stark comparison to the form of Liverpool’s current attacking options. As we can see in the graphic above, Wirtz, Gakpo and Chiesa have only managed 10 more goals and assists than Díaz did last season, despite playing considerably more football than the Colombian winger.
Considering Díaz’s reported salary demands and the fact that he is now 29 years of age, few questioned the logic behind Liverpool replacing the winger with younger alternatives last summer. But, with the benefit of hindsight, it now seems clear for all to see that the Anfield club’s decision to sell Díaz hurt Slot and his team greatly, while benefiting Bayern in kind. And should the Colombian winger help guide the German giants to the Champions League this season, it will surely reflect poorly on the decision makers at Anfield ahead of a crucial summer transfer window.
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