Europe's Top 5 Leagues: The best performers from last week

#3 Oscar De Marcos

Oscar De Marcos: The impenetrable wall

Who is this guy? That must have been the first reaction of the Camp Nou faithful when Oscar De Marcos headed the ball to their agony. Neither is he in the discussion of the best centre backs in the world and neither is a famous guy. But the performance that he put up against Barcelona, performances like these exposes the player to big clubs and better spotlights.

De Marcos was the sole reason to why Barcelona didn’t win against Athletic Bilbao. His goal which gave them the lead was only one of his contributions yesterday. De Marcos locked Coutinho and Suarez down, not giving them an inch to move. None of the balls reached the intended target because De Marcos was always prowling. Lionel Messi eventually did undo the De Marcos jigsaw but De Marcos was smart enough. He didn’t close Messi but he chose to close down his targets. When Messi played Coutinho in, De Marcos put pressure on him to fluff the finish. When Leo, lobbed the ball to Rakitic, De Marcos, ran back and pressurised Rakitic.

The free-kick from Leo should have bended into the net but smartly Oscar De Marcos, moved away from the wall and headed the free-kick away from the goal line. De Marcos had two last man tackles in the game.

Oscar De Marcos absolutely demolished the game and he deserves a top 3 place for this week’s best performers.