Images via ogcnice.com and Fabrizio Andrea Bertani/Shutterstock
Whilst many of us who keep an eye on Polish football may have been rejoicing or commiserating at more high-profile events, there were a number of performances this weekend by younger Polish players across Europe that haven’t been appreciated anywhere near as much as I personally think they should’ve been. I’ve chosen one from Friday and one from Saturday which I think deserve an even greater spotlight.
Friday night saw the start of several European leagues, including France’s Ligue 1. Marcin Bułka started in goal for Nice as they drew 1-1 with Lille on the French Riviera. Bułka has been waiting for a proper chance with the club since joining them permanently from PSG last summer, and despite relatively little time is popular with sections of the Nice support, who backed him over experienced but unpopular first-choice Kasper Schmeichel last season.
On Friday night, Bułka pulled off a number of saves, ranging from routine to genuinely outstanding. One particular stop, from a shot about eight yards out which Bułka managed to divert over the bar, was one of the finest saves from any league all weekend. Unfortunately, a header in the 94th minute from opposing centre-half Bafode Diakite rescued a point for the visitors and sullied an otherwise impeccable evening’s work from Bułka.
Many commentators and reporters correctly adjudged Bułka to have been the best player on the pitch, and as someone who’s been keeping a close eye on his career so far it would be nice if he could finally get a bit more playing time at the top level, as Friday night certainly proved he is capable of performing to a high standard.
Saturday evening saw the continuation of the early stages of the Coppa Italia, which provided us with Parma’s entertaining 3-0 win away to Bari. Adrian Benedyczak had a very decent season with Parma in 2022-23, and based on this weekend’s evidence shows no sign of letting up. Benedyczak scored Parma’s first of the match, as he controlled a cross with his stomach before instinctively firing a low shot into the corner with his weaker left foot.
Benedyczak was at it again for the second goal, driving forward with the ball at his feet and running at the defence whilst waiting for support on the overlap, which duly arrived. He was clipped by a Bari defender as he played the ball wide to a teammate, but the referee was correct in his use of the advantage and striker Ange-Yoan Bonny doubled Parma’s lead.
For Parma’s third, Benedyczak was part of an intricate move around the penalty area which saw Romanian winger Dennis Man grab a goal from an acute angle. Benedyczak was then substituted, as the result was more or less confirmed for Parma.
It’s hard to ascertain whether Benedyczak is more striker or winger nowadays, as despite starting out as something of a traditional striker he has often operated in wide areas since joining Parma a couple of seasons back. I wrote towards the back end of last season that Benedyczak’s role and profile at Parma reminded me of Cody Gakpo as he was becoming a hot prospect with PSV Eindhoven as an inverted winger, before the Dutchman transitioned into a deep-lying striker when he joined Liverpool earlier this year. Benedyczak showed glimpses of operating in a similar role when he was asked to take up a more central position in the minutes before he was taken off, and definitely did a serviceable job. I’m surprised people aren’t more excited about Benedyczak given what he’s been doing at Parma this calendar year, and he has yet again shown his talent and versatility on Saturday.
For more, follow @ekstraklasaexp on Twitter and @ekstraklasaexports on Instagram to find out when new posts go live.
Comments