When the cup final between Leipzig and Freiburg takes place this Saturday evening, it could have been Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting’s contest. But things turned out differently
The striker recorded seven scorer points in the first round of the cup when he scored four goals and set up three in a 12-0 win at Bremer SV. Okay, it was against a fifth-division team and the second team was allowed to play. Still, you have to manage that first, especially as it fitted in with Choupo-Moting’s start to the season. In the Bundesliga, too, the 33-year-old got going like he hadn’t in a long time, scoring three wild card goals after nine matchdays and another in the Champions League against Dynamo Kiev. The Cameroon international filled the role of Robert Lewandowski’s back-up almost perfectly.
But it didn’t go on like that. As the season progressed, “Choupo” only managed three scorer points in the league, including a goal and an assist in the 4:1 win against bottom side Greuther Fürth. Due to the second-round exit against Mönchengladbach, he did not score in the DFB Cup, nor in the Champions League.
Quarantine, COVID-19, Injury
There were various reasons for this: Choupo-Moting had to go into quarantine as a contact person, infected himself with COVID-19, injured himself. In January, he was at the Africa Cup. There – and this almost went down in this country – he refused to play in the match for third place, but after a change of coach he is now back on board and can hope for his place in Cameroon’s World Cup squad. In the second half of the season, he mostly only played minutes for FC Bayern and did not build on his strong start to the season. Only once did the attacker appear in the starting eleven, in the 1:3 in Mainz, when the championship was already wrapped up and coach Julian Nagelsmann brought in the veteran instead of a talent.
Choupo-Moting’s contract runs until 2023
One year remains on the contract of Choupo-Moting, who is popular in the team circle. Robert Lewandowski’s future is uncertain, Joshua Zirkzee is returning from his loan year at RSC Anderlecht, and the search is on for a potential striker to replace Lewandowski should he be given the all clear, contrary to all announcements. It will be exciting to see what role “Choupo” can and may play in the coming season. He is certainly capable of better performances than in the past second half of the season.
