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#2 Alexander Isak (Sweden)
Isak has quickly grown into a household name in the last year or so. The Swedish striker, who broke through the ranks at Borussia Dortmund before joining Real Sociedad in 2019, was fantastic last season. Isak scored 17 goals in 34 league games to guide Imanol Alguacil’s men to a 2021-22 Europa League spot. The Swede had a vastly inferior 2019-20 season in comparison. While he might still have been selected for Sweden's Euro 2020 squad last summer, there is a good chance he wouldn’t have featured very prominently.
Apart from his instinctive goalscoring, the 21-year-old has numerous facets to his attacking play. Isak averaged 0.88 ball carries into the penalty box per 90 in the league, placing him among the 83rd percentile in the category. He troubled opposition defenders with his pace, a feature of his play he often displayed at Euro 2020, as well. Isak dribbled past 1.54 players on average per 90 in the 2020-21 La Liga. He also averaged 1.85 shot-creating actions per game.
Isak is often seen as an out-and-out attacker due to his numbers. But his seemingly inadequate stats in the defensive and central thirds of the pitch are bound to change soon. During the Euro 2020 group stages, Isak could often be seen pulling himself back to collect the ball and take on defenders.
The young Swede is inevitably his country’s primary target man at Euro 2020, but has also shown that he can be the initiator of moves from further back. This might prove to be vital for Sweden’s chances during the Euro 2020 knockouts.
#1 Pedri Gonzalez (Spain)
The latest Spanish wonderkid has left plenty of defenders in his wake at Euro 2020. Pedri consistently made headlines while turning out for Barcelona last season. The youngster plied his trade with Las Palmas before moving to the Spanish giants in 2020. As a result, it seems fair to assume he would not have made Luis Enrique’s Euro 2020 squad if the tournament had taken place last year.
There is a lot to break down in Pedri’s game. The 18-year-old is astute on the ball and is fantastic at breaking opposition lines with passing. Pedri doesn’t rank too well on conventional stats such as goals scored or assists provided. His game often transcends these numbers and the Barcelona midfielder thrives at linking up plays that could potentially lead to goals.
It is worth noting that Pedri has played in teams that have struggled from a profligacy in front of goal in the last year. He ranked 0.30 through balls and 10.81 passes under pressure from opponents per 90 for Barcelona in the league last season. Pedri ranks among the 90th and 94th percentile for these numbers respectively, which is simply incredible.
He is also hard-working defensively. The Barcelona man averaged 7.04 successful pressures (number of times the squad gained possession within five seconds of applying pressure) per 90 in La Liga last season. The number puts him at the 96th percentile for the same, while his 2.16 passes blocked per 90 places him in the 99th percentile for that stat.
Pedri is a fantastic footballer without the stats to back it up. His movement and passing against Slovakia on Matchday 3 of Euro 2020 is testament to that. But the numbers only help display just how Pedri has thrived barely a year into his career at the highest level.
As Spain prepare for the Euro 2020 knockouts, Enrique will know he has one of the best young players in the world right now on his hands. The Spanish coach will hope Pedri delivers on the biggest stage.
