Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares has been urged to prove himself in the Champions League and dispel any doubts about him.
The defender is currently on loan at Marseille, where he has been impressing under new manager Igor Tudor.
A tally of three goals in eight games in the league has earned him rave reviews and L’Equipe explain he is a the ‘safe bet’ as far as the French side are concerned.
They say he has ‘shown himself to be up to the task’ since arriving on loan, providing a ‘constant threat’ and even an ability to get on the scoresheet.
In the league he has been ‘sometimes brilliant’ and ‘regularly decisive’ but that has not carried over into the Champions League.
That requires ‘different reflexes’ and so far, he has failed to live up to expectations in clashes with Tottenham and Frankfurt.
Those games saw him showing ‘lax positioning’ without the ball and ‘lapses in concentration’ that cause problems for his side defensively.
It was these issues that saw Arsenal decide to let him go this summer, as he was ‘wearing down the patience’ of Mikel Arteta.
He’ll likely be returning to the Emirates in the summer because his current loan deal doesn’t include an option to buy, and the Champions League provides him with an ideal test to prove his worth.
At the moment it hasn’t gone well for him in that regard but a clash with Sporting this evening provides him with the chance to prove his doubters wrong and perhaps show Arsenal why he should have a future at the club.
