LIGUE 1 – Marseille – Monaco – Aurélien Tchouaméni – Mattéo Guendouzi: Who is the strongest?

They have the same age (22), the same position (midfielder) and the same rise (international since the end of last year). This Sunday, Mattéo Guendouzi and Aurélien Tchouaméni will meet face-to-face during Marseille – Monaco. The opportunity to return to the course and the qualities of two players destined for a destiny with the Blues. Behind the untouchables Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, and while Adrien Rabiot is having an average season at Juventus, Eduardo Camavinga is patient on the Real Madrid bench, or Corentin Tolisso is not recovering from his injuries , they now embody the next generation in the midfield.

Unlike their direct competitors, their season pleads in their favor. The Marseillais has become an essential link in the Sampaoli system, which he embodies through his generosity. “Beyond Matteo’s youth, he transmits a special energy, due to his will to win. He is a natural leader“, commented a Sampaoli thrilled by his summer recruit. Tchouaméni, elected best hope of L1 last May, has also taken another step. “He is the best midfielder in France“, marveled his former coach Niko Kovac last December. When they meet again, we tried to decide between them in the company of a reference when it comes to talking about midfield: Alain Boghossian, Eurosport consultant and middle of the 1998 world champions.

Guendouzi has grown but…

The emergence of Guendouzi was earlier and more spectacular than that of Tchouaméni. At Arsenal from 2018, it stands out as obvious and a bit to everyone’s surprise. Rising very quickly very high, the former Lorient, loaned to Hertha Berlin will experience a real period of stagnation until his arrival in Marseille last summer. “He took a big stepnotes Alain Boghossian. He became the boss of the environment, of the team. In his performances, he is regular. It can still evolve. He has a grip on the game and on his comrades.“Today, Guendouzi holds a good part of OM on his energy and his flawless state of mind.

“But the international level is still abovenuances the 1998 world champion. He has great qualities but he is too ‘monorhythm’. He runs a lot and sometimes carries the ball too much. And he needs to be more structured in his movements, he still has some tactical shortcomings. You can’t have two players like him in a team. He is like his coach who loves confusion. Conversely, Tchouaméni is poised, thoughtful: he runs with his head.”

For Alain Boghossian, the Monegasque, his club’s best player this season without question, is now one step ahead of his teammate with the Blues: “He is the best French midfielder of the season. He has all the qualities of a midfielder: he goes to the duel, recovers and comes out clean. Tchouaméni has the technical qualities and the regularity for the very high level. And he is mature and never does anything. He deserves to have playing time in Blue. Even Didier is aware of it since he made him play. It is to him that we will give the keys to the truck little by little.“Dredged by FC Barcelona and especially Real Madrid, Tchouaméni has taken on a crazy dimension in recent months. He will have the opportunity to prove it once again and widen the gap on Guendouzi on Sunday at the Vélodrome.