A lot has been made of new Manchester United signing Lisandro Martinez’s height as a central defender.
Standing at 5' 9", some have suggested the Argentine may struggle against the powerful strikers often seen in the Premier League. Manchester City have just signed one of those in Erling Haaland, who banged in 86 goals in 89 games at Borussia Dortmund.
30 of them came last season - but notably, none of them were scored versus Ajax in their first Champions League group stage encounter. Haaland lined up against Martinez in October’s meeting at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
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By that time, he had already netted 13 goals in nine matches but would be kept at bay by Martinez and his teammates for the duration of the 90 minutes as the hosts ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.
Haaland missed the reverse encounter due to injury, so it would be the only time they would meet. As usual, the versatile Martinez played at centre-back for Erik ten Hag's side on the night and managed to keep his Norwegian opponent from adding to his season goal tally.
It shows that the 24-year-old can compensate for his lack of height against those who tower above him. And that match was no fluke.
He proved his ability against another Premier League new boy four months later. Dortmund played out a 2-2 draw away at Benfica during their last-16 meeting in late February but Martinez managed to keep Darwin Nunez from scoring.
The new Liverpool signing would have the last laugh, rising above ex- United target Jurrien Timber to nod home the winner in the second leg. But still, Nunez netted 34 times last campaign and Martinez managed to stifle him for 167 minutes - and he wasn’t at fault for the goal.
The defender impressed Ten Hag with his footballing intelligence at Ajax, while also showing agility and power - all of which were demonstrated against Haaland and Nunez. It indicates that, despite his height, he will be ready for Premier League tussles.
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