FedEx Performance Zone: Giuliano up there
Friday, December 9, 2016
Article summary
Giuliano scored his sixth of the group stage and Nikola Kalinić proved a good provider; final ambassador Patrik Andersson helps tracks the star performers.
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Patrik Andersson sees some thrilling changes in the FedEx Performance Zone rankings after a number of stellar individuals pushed their teams through to the UEFA Europa League's round of 32. Giuliano kept on the coat tails of overall leader Edin Džeko despite a Zenit defeat, while Nikola Kalinić sits fourth following an action-packed Fiorentina cameo.
2: Giuliano (Zenit)
After briefly slipping out of the top three – where he had resided for the whole group stage – the Brazilian returned to second place behind Džeko with a goal in his side's 3-2 loss at AZ. The strike takes him top of the scoring charts alongside Athletic's Aritz Aduriz on six goals – and he has four assists to his name too.
3: Raphael Holzhauser (Austria Wien)
A penalty and an assist helped the midfielder climb ten places in the standings, though his team surrendered a 2-0 lead and succumbed 3-2 at ten-man Plzeň, a result which spelt elimination.
He told UEFA.com: "I was pleased to score the opening goal and it's good to hear that my performance was appreciated, but it is good for nothing – my stats did not help us get the win we needed. The result is what matters and we didn't get it."
4: Nikola Kalinić (Fiorentina)
The Croatia forward came off the bench to make two assists in a 2-1 Viola victory at Qarabağ, rising two places in the charts. His final group stage tally was four goals and four assists.
"Scoring isn't everything," he said. "When my team win, I'm happy. Sometimes you score, sometimes you don't. We finished top of the group, and now we can look forward to the draw."
5: Guillaume Hoarau (Young Boys)
His 15th goal in 13 games in all competitions lifted the Frenchman into the top five, though his YB side were already eliminated before their 3-0 success over Astana.
"We wanted to end the campaign on a high," he said. "We knew we were out and it was hard to take, but scoring is always important for a striker, no matter what the circumstances, so it's good for my confidence."
16: Taison (Shakhtar)
Two attempts and two goals in Shakhtar's 4-2 triumph at Braga shot the Brazilian up 71 places to 16th overall. Just five of his 62 passes went astray – a superb 92% pass completion rate.
70: Tomáš Horava (Plzeň)
A goal and an assist helped his ten-man team rally from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Austria Wien, while the No7 misplaced just three of his 28 passes.
Patrick Andersson's view
Some great sides have gone through, some great sides have gone out – but that's the drama of football, and that's why I love it so much! Zenit are one of the seeded teams through to Monday's draw which gives Giuliano the opportunity to build on his incredible form that has kept him in the FedEx Performance Zone's top three since the early games of the season – although the unthinkable happened when he briefly dropped to fifth on 7 December. He still tops the goalscoring table thanks to his strike in the 3-2 defeat by AZ though he shares the accolade with Athletic's Aduriz. Credit to the pair of them – keep it up!
It was exciting to see some huge movement in the overall rankings too, as individual players gave it everything in an attempt to push their sides through. Shahktar striker Taison flew a staggering 71 places up the table to 16th position thanks in no small part to his stunning 92% pass completion rate. It just goes to show that, if you do the right things and play with the perfect combination of passion and precision, you can really make a name for yourself in the FedEx Performance Zone.
I'll be watching Monday's draw to see who faces who in the next round, and there's no doubt in my mind that there's still plenty of drama to come.
Patrik Andersson is a former Bayern München, Barcelona and Borussia Mönchengladbach defender. He won 96 caps for Sweden, reaching the semi-finals of EURO '92 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and was part of the Bayern side that won the UEFA Champions League in 2001 – he made the UEFA.com user's Team of the Year that year.
He retired in 2005 and now lives in Stockholm, venue for this season's UEFA Europa League final. He is serving as ambassador for the showpiece and is this campaign's FedEx Performance Zone ambassador.