Caltex Socceroos winger Mathew Leckie will come up against some of the biggest names in world football this weekend as his Hertha Berlin face Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich early on Sunday morning (AEDT).
With Hertha looking to get into the top half of the table in the Bundesliga, Leckie will hope to start and make a big impact against the runaway league leaders.
And he’s likely to come face-to-face with Bayern’s star wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry, who are riding high after their 5-0 thumping of Beşiktaş in the UEFA Champions League this week.
But how does Leckie’s Bundesliga form stack up against the Dutch and French stars? We've assessed the Opta data to find out.
KEY INGREDIENT
While all three are vital members of their respective squads, it’s Leckie who has made more consistent appearances for his Hertha side.
The 27-year-old has featured 18 times – with 12 of those starts - out of 23 matches so far, racking up an impressive 1184 minutes even after a thigh complaint forced him out for two weeks.
Bayern’s star wingers have also endured injury runs this season, but that hasn’t prevented Robben from making 16 appearances and recording 1146 minutes.
Ribéry has also been instrumental for his side, playing 876 minutes in 14 appearances so far in 2017/18.
EYE FOR GOAL
Impressively for Leckie, the Caltex Socceroos flyer outshines the duo when it comes to threatening the goal, netting four times from his five shots on target.
But the Bayern pair aren’t too far behind, with Robben recording only three goals from 16 shots on target, while Ribéry has scored two goals out of six attempts on target for the season.
Leckie’s shooting accuracy is also superior at 62.5%, compared to 60% for Ribery and 53.33% for Robben.
And when they’re not scoring, they continue to make an impact by creating chances – Robben and Ribéry notching 25 each to be exact, compared to Leckie’s 11.
ON THE BALL
It’s no surprise that the Bayern duo, renowned for their link-up play and passing ability, have managed to outshine Leckie in this department.
Ribéry averages 10 more passes per match (37.2) than the Caltex Socceroo (27.1), despite Leckie having made contact with the ball 35 more times in total (766 touches compared to 731).
The Frenchman also boasts a whopping 85.6% pass success rate, compared to 69.8% of Leckie’s passes finding their target.
Ribéry’s Dutch teammate isn’t far behind, with Robben making 34.2 passes per game resulting in an incredible 85.2% success rate.
But Leckie has the edge when it comes to successful dribbles. The Aussie has a 39.62% rate of successful dribbles, beating Robben (30.36%) and Ribery (24.07%).