The 25-year-old, previously linked with Everton, won’t want to be reminded of his Champions League nightmare.
You could almost hear the sighs of relief emanating from within the walls of Goodison Park on Tuesday night. talkSPORT had reported last summer that Everton had identified Serbian international centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic as the ideal replacement for John Stones last summer.
But, if you thought the former Barnsley man had a difficult evening against Monaco, Dragovic’s horrific performance makes Stones look comparatively comfortable.
Bayer Leverkusen pulled off what looked like quite an impressive coup when they signed the 25-year-old last summer from Dynamo Kiev amid relentless reports of Premier League interest but you could forgive Sporting Director Rudy Voller for rooting around for the receipt.
Because Dragovic’s performance in Bayer Leverkusen’s fatal 4-2 home defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League round-of-16 first-leg was as bad as they come (below, left).
Firstly, the defender allowed Saul Niguez to cut inside onto his favoured left boot, the one that left Bayern baffled last season, and bend a sublime shot into the top corner. If we’re being harsh criticising his part in a bonafide wondergoal, Atleti’s second was avoidable in the extreme.
After miscontrolling the ball on the half-way line, Dragovic looked like he may have rescued a dire situation when he caught up to Kevin Gameiro on the edge of the box only to be turned by the Frenchman en route to Antoine Griezmann doubling the visitor’s lead.
And, to compound the evening, he hauled down Gameiro in the area to gift the Atletico a third from the spot. Dare we mention he had been nutmegged just a few seconds earlier?
It was a mark of Dragovic’s disaster that, suddenly, Everton look in very capable hands with Ramiro Funes Mori at the back.
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