Considering he has spent pretty much all of the last year surging down the right in a wing-back role he has made his own at the Estadio do Dragao, Porto coach Sergio Conceicao took a risk when he decided to hand Jesus ‘Tecatito’ Corona a completely new position on Tuesday night.
But it seems that, whether on the right or the left, one of the most prolific creative talents in European football cannot be stopped.
At least, he couldn’t be stopped by a Marseille side who have now suffered a record-setting 12th straight defeat in the Champions League.
It was Corona who secured L’OM’s place in the history books for all the wrong reasons with a hat-trick of assists in midweek, creating goals for Moussa Marega, Sergio Oliveira and Luis Diaz during the most emphatic of 3-0 wins.
In nine games this season, Corona has set up five goals for his teammates.
Add that to his tally of 21 assists from 2019/20 and it would be safe to assume the Mexico international is producing numbers that Trent Alexander-Arnold or Kevin de Bruyne would be proud of.
“Our two wingers (Otavio and Corona) are very intelligent and two players of incredible quality, who play in various positions because they know the game very well,” Conceicao told Desporto.
“They criticize me for playing Corona at right-back. I (play him there) because I want the things he can give me in that position.”
Porto may be one of Europe’s most successful ‘selling clubs’ but the reigning Primeira Liga champions will have been breathing a sigh of relief once the European transfer window slammed shut on October 5.
Wolverhampton Wanderers made a bid, attempting to reunite the jet-heeled wideman with his former coach Nuno Espirito Santo at Molineux (A Bola).
With a £25 million release clause in his contract, the existence of which was confirmed by Corona’s agent (Medio Tempo), Porto would have been powerless to prevent his departure.
And after a stellar showing on Europe’s biggest stage, don’t be surprised if that most affordable of release clauses is triggered at long last in the New Year.
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