Alan Shearer on Joselu and Fullkrug, the unlikely Champions League final forwards

As a former centre-forward myself, I don’t mind admitting that I watched the Champions League semi-finals with a great amount of pleasure.

At a time when not every top side is using what I’d call a proper striker, those ties were decided by No 9s. Dortmund took the lead against PSG with a brilliant goal from Niclas Fullkrug, while Real Madrid snatched a victory out of nothing, as they seem to do so regularly in the Champions League, thanks to two late goals from Joselu.

Scoring goals, I can assure you, will never go out of fashion.

That said, I can’t say I expected to be writing about these strikers going into a Champions League final. I had plenty of opportunities to see Joselu during his two years at Newcastle. It wasn’t easy playing up front for my old club at that point — they weren’t producing anywhere near as many chance as the likes of Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak get these days. Still, seven goals from 52 games underlines the fact that Joselu didn’t make much of an impact.

But I don’t want to be disrespectful — he’s just scored two goals for maybe the biggest club in the world to get them to the Champions League final. He might score the winner in the final. He’s obviously not top, top quality, but there’s something in there that they thought, ‘He’ll do, we’ll take a gamble on him’. And centre-forward play itself is all about gambling.

I also saw Fullkrug playing at St James’ earlier in the season, in Dortmund’s 1-0 win in the group stage. I kept my eye on him, as I always do when watching strikers. If I’m being honest, if I was writing a scouting report on him from that night, it would have been along the lines of: ‘Must do better’. And boy has he done better!

Credit to both of them. Neither has had it easy, and there are lots of similarities between the two. Fullkrug has spent much of his career playing in Germany’s second tier, and Joselu is actually on loan at Real from a second-tier club, Espanyol. Fullkrug is 31 and Joselu is 34. Fullkrug didn’t make his Germany debut until two years ago, but has scored 11 from 15 caps. Joselu didn’t make his Spain debut until a year ago, but has scored five from 10 caps.

Centre-forward seems to be a position where you can emerge late in your career, a little like Jamie Vardy did, and it’s about experience. They’ve been around the block, they know what the game is about. They might not be the most glamorous forwards, but they don’t have to be. They just have to put the ball in the net. And by the time you’re in your thirties, sometimes you’re better than ever in the penalty box. You understand who and what you are. I lost a yard of pace, but I never felt I lost my speed of thought. If you’ve got the ability to think a split-second quicker than the defender, you’ll get goals.

Some people would say that the goals scored by these two in the Champions League knockout stage have been ‘simple goals’. I beg to differ. If they’re so easy, why doesn’t everyone else do what they do? Let me explain why they’re not so simple.

Here’s Joselu’s first against Bayern. This is my favourite of the four goals, because who on earth thinks that Manuel Neuer, after a brilliant performance all night, is going to make that mistake? He’d been unbelievable. He’d pulled some ridiculous saves off. But who’s first to react? Who’s quickest to react? Who’s hoping more than expecting? Joselu. This is a one-in-a-hundred chance, that a top-class goalkeeper will make a really basic error. So it’s not simple!

He got his reward for gambling. It was a rare mistake, but he’ll probably never score a more important goal again — it changed the whole tie. If he doesn’t make that run, Neuer gets away with that, and Bayern are through.

The second one, the movement is brilliant. If you look at his movement here, he’s walking back to make sure he gives himself a chance to get onside.

That in itself is great movement. The defender’s trying to play him offside. But he comes out a yard or two, whereas someone who isn’t thinking about it stays in there and gets caught offside. So those one or two steps have given him the opportunity.

Then it’s not as simple as it looks — he’s got to adjust his body in maybe one second. You’ve got a short amount of time to adjust your feet and make sure you get the right connection. It looks simple, but it’s anything but.

I love those finishes more than the 25-yard finishes, because they’re proper goalscorer’s goals.

Now onto Fullkrug. Here’s his winner against PSG in the first leg of the semi-final. Now this is a brilliant goal, because so many things have to go right.

First of all it’s a wonderful pass, but look at the run he makes — you have to bend your run, to give yourself the best opportunity to break the offside trap. Also look at how he’s pointing where he wants it.

Then he’s got to watch that ball coming over his shoulder — that’s such a difficult thing to do.

Then the touch with his right foot is just sublime.

Everything’s got to be perfect — the pass, the run, then you’ve got to watch it, then you need a perfect touch. Then maybe the hardest part is the finish.

And here’s a great header he scored against Atletico Madrid. I love the movement here, because at the beginning of the move he’s five yards away from the man who crosses it. Then Marcel Sabitzer goes outside and Fullkrug somehow has to find space in the box to get away from the defender.

Then he takes the defender away from the middle of the goal. Once the defender turns his back, he’s a dead man. That two yards he’s done, the defender thinks he’s going in behind him. You make a dummy run — one run for the defender, another run for yourself to create a yard.

Then you’re hoping and praying the ball comes. And what a header to guide that in.

Of course, these two are likely to have different roles this weekend. Fullkrug will probably lead the line for Dortmund. Joselu will probably start on the bench, in part because the man who has played almost as a centre-forward this season for Real has been Jude Bellingham.

Bellingham has been phenomenal. Ridiculously good. We were aware he had a great mentality, and unbelievable ability, but for him to go to one of the biggest clubs in the world, and perform under that pressure. He doesn’t give the impression that he feels pressure. He gives the air of authority, that arrogance — in a good way — that you need to play for Real Madrid. Vinicius Junior has that as well. Zinedine Zidane had that. David Beckham had that. Cristiano Ronaldo had that. To go in there and ask for the shirt worn by Zidane — the best player I ever played against, by the way — in itself is proper ballsy.

And he’s playing as a forward. He’s given the freedom to roam, and do what he wants, and if he wants to stand in the position of a No 9, he’s got the freedom to go and do that. I’d be reluctant to say he’s played in midfield this season — he’s played No 10, he’s played No 9. He’s got freedom, and he’s loving his football. And he’s got a strut about him, in a great way.

And what better place, for a rare Englishman who hasn’t played top-level football in England, to end such a brilliant season than at Wembley? I always dreamt of playing at Wembley as a kid. The stadium has changed, but the emotions for the current generation are the same. Bellingham’s a very different type of forward to the two I’ve been discussing here. But if he’s the hero on Saturday, I’ll be delighted.

(Top image: Getty Images)