'Smalldini' - Chris Smalling Dropped A Defensive Masterclass In Europa Conference League Win
Chris Smalling produced a defensive masterclass in AS Roma's Europa Conference League triumph, with his individual highlights making for brilliant viewing.
Smalling starred at the back as Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
A solid performance from Chris Smalling tonight 🧱
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 25, 2022
He earns the first #UECLfinal MOTM award 🥇 pic.twitter.com/vnO6CRfBt6
He kept Cyriel Dessers quiet and made vital blocks in an excellent, assured defensive performance.
The Englishman was a commanding presence all game, won his aerial battles and dominated his one-on-one duels in a showing that earned him the 'Man of the Match' award.
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A stunning compilation of his outing shows he was a defensive beast for Jose Mourinho.
Chris Smalling put on an absolute masterclass for Roma in the #UECLfinal
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 26, 2022
A MOTM performance from one of Jose Mourinho's defensive heroes 💪⛔️ pic.twitter.com/B0GTyn64gK
Smalling's masterclass in defence sent social media wild, with Manchester United fans weighing in on their former player.
One Twitter user wrote: "Puts £80m Maguire to absolute shame."
A second tweeted: "Looking back we should have kept him and not even bothered looking at Harry Maguire."
A third joked: "That man SmallDINI."
Chris Smalling’s game by numbers vs Feyenoord:
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) May 25, 2022
100% aerial duels won (3/3)
100% tackles won (2/2)
89% pass accuracy
42 total touches
4 ball clearances
3 ball recoveries
3 blocked shots
Picks up another European trophy. 🏴🏆 pic.twitter.com/6pJc8o0d8W
Five victories in five European finals for Jose Mourinho. Chris Smalling immense.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) May 25, 2022
Chris Smalling left Man United as a “finished” player and now he’s won the MOTM in a Cup final.
— LERRY 👑 (@_AsiwajuLerry) May 25, 2022
Moral of the story: Leave Man United if you still want to be great.
United sold Chris Smalling for €15m who’s just dropped a masterclass in a European final and replaced him with £80m Harry Maguire, great buisness 😭
— 𝓛𝓮𝓮🍊 (@IeeSZN) May 25, 2022
Chris Smalling will be remembered as one of Jose Mourinho's all-time defensive beasts. No doubt there! #Roma #UECL
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) May 25, 2022
It's Smalling's second European title of his career under Mourinho following his Europa League win for Man United in 2017.
Speaking after his side's win in Albania, the 32-year-old said: "We knew how much it was going to mean to everybody in Rome, and you can see how together we are, everybody fought until the end.
"We had to do that on a few occasions this year (fighting hard), we dropped a bit deeper than we maybe wanted to but we knew we had to do everything. You could see, strikers running back, everybody defending and we knew we had to win
"Even when I first came to the club it had been a long time since they won a trophy, you can hear the fans. We knew how much it was going to mean, you can see we've got some of the best fans."
Topics: Chris Smalling, Football, AS Roma
Nasir Jabbar