THE BALL – Tiago Tomás overcomes Lewandowski (Germany)

With each passing weekend, the world wakes up to reports of new achievements from Lewandowski, who has just reached 30 goals in the Bundesliga for the fifth time. But what even the Pole cannot deny is that there is someone with a better efficiency rate than him in this edition of the main championship in Germany.

The player in question is… Portuguese and has just landed in the center of Europe. Tiago Tomás, his identity has been revealed, has been causing a stir since joining Stuttgart in January: three goals scored in seven games and a tremendous influence on the improvement of his new team’s performance.

Also last Saturday, the forward loaned by Sporting was the hero of the Mercedez-Benz Arena, when he scored the goal that confirmed the victory (3-2), with a comeback, for Stuttgart in the reception to Augsburg. To the delight of the stands, his inspiration in the 85th minute earned the team the exit from the relegation zone, a condition lost several weeks ago.

A «precious» winter reinforcement, in the description of the German press, TT «involved fans and colleagues in his passionate style of play». “It didn’t take time to adapt. In addition, his intense and incessant running gave the team’s offensive game the verticality it so needed», can be read in the ZVW newspaper/site.

“He has speed, depth, knows how to use his body very well and manages to be unnerving in the way he holds and protects the ball”, evaluated the coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, his current player. Very positive opinion, reinforced by technical director Sven Mislintat: «He proved that he is a very important addition to the squad.»

So important, but so important – continues the German critic – that it even beats the unavoidable Lewandoski in the context of effectiveness in that championship. If the Bayern star needs 4.3 shots to celebrate a goal, Tiago Tomás needs, on average, 3.3 shots on goal. Better, in its bathhouse, it is impossible to find.

But the last round of the Bundesliga brought one more curiosity to his resume. The under-21 international for Portugal (19 years old) starred in the longest sprint of round 27, reaching an average of 35.6 km/h, a record for Stuttgart this season.

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