Strasbourg's big new striker is turning heads

Last summer marked the third in which the consortium BlueCo became majority shareholders of Strasbourg. Rather famously, it’s the same consortium which purchased Chelsea in 2022. The ownership structure has been a contentious one for the Strasbourg fanbase, with some worried of their new status as a feeder club. Such a sentiment is not helped by the constant player trading between the two, especially in the case of Emanuel Emegha. After a very successful 2nd season in Ligue 1 in 2024-25, an agreement was made in which he’ll become a Chelsea player for the 2026-27 season and beyond. 

For those in favor of BlueCo’s ownership, they would point towards massive spending on the club to upgrade the stadium and player personnel. In an era where Ligue 1 clubs not named Paris Saint-Germain are constantly nearing financial turmoil due to television rights issues, spending over €100m in the transfer market makes Strasbourg stand out. As you’d expect given BlueCo’s track record, the majority of the signings were young talents. 

One of those was Joaquín Panichelli. His 21 goals in Spanish football’s second division last season put him on the radar, and that form has continued in France as he’s 2nd in the league for goals and tied for first in non-penalty goals. He’s ably filled the role as Strasbourg’s new #9 after taking over from Emegha, acting as a focal point to play off of.

Such impressive output is the byproduct of Strasbourg’s interesting attacking structure. They’ve been able to toggle between ceding possession vs the bigger sides in Ligue 1, compared to trying to be proactive against the rest of the division. In matches where they have the talent advantage, they try to bait opponents out of their defensive shell with deep circulation across the backline rather than have high territorial dominance higher up the pitch. This was mentioned by Alex Barker from The Athletic, and Strasbourg’s zones of control map from Opta Analyst is a good illustration of their funky gameplan.

This starts from choreographed goal kicks in which the setup is a 4-2-2-2 with a box midfield and the front two spread out, trying to stretch out the opposition and open up the middle. While an interesting idea in attempting to create artificial transitions, It’s had mixed success and has led to Strasbourg conceding high turnovers. They try to continue this as they approach the middle third with some variation of a 3-2-5. In looking to disorganize the defensive block, there’ll try to progress through the flanks, including with two players making runs 

Panichelli’s primary role during buildup is what you’d expect from a tall striker, which is as an outlet if needing to go long. He’s a battler in those situations. Even if he doesn’t win the initial duel, he’s willing to throw his frame around to pin the defender back and create space for teammates to collect the loose ball. According to FBref, among strikers in Ligue 1, he’s in the 54th percentile for aerial wins and 74th in percentage of aerials won. When up against a mid-block, he can play with his back to goal to receive ground passes as a method of playing through the middle, although his lay-off deliveries can be erratic with weighting. 

Rather than what he can do on the ball, it’s off the ball where Panichelli truly springs into life. For one, he’s a very active channel runner and doesn’t need much of an invitation to test high defensive lines. This includes knowing when to flip his hips to be prepared to run towards attempted passes in behind. In the situations where Strasbourg do build up momentum from buildup, he does this trick where he goes early and stays in an offside position to get more breathing room before being back level for the eventual pass in behind. It helps him away from the opposing center-backs for potential high value shooting opportunities. The drawback is he ends up getting called for offside quite a bit due to eagerness in creating separation off the ball. Only Lorient’s Mohamed Bamba (12) has been offside more often than Panichelli (10). 

Panichelli hasn’t shown to just be someone who runs into space, but can also manufacture it vs deeper defensive blocks. One can make the argument for his final third movement being even more impressive. The combination of a high revving motor and spatial awareness allows him to be a nuisance. He’ll constantly look to operate on the blindside of defenders, especially on the far side. He can also attack the near post for possible cut-backs or occasionally drift towards the penalty spot. There’s also the latent value he provides by simply pinning defenders to open up space for late arriving runs by teammates.

Once the ball gets to the flank, Panichelli will adjust his position to peel away towards the far post and gesture for a cross into the area. It’s the kind of movement you often see from the best off-ball movers at the striker position. In Strasbourg’s 3-0 victory over Auxerre, he added an extra counter which nearly led to a scruffy goal (starting at the 0:35 mark in the vid below). Instead of fully committing towards a far post run, he added a quick second to dart back towards the near post for an in-tight rebound opportunity. That was one of multiple high quality looks he had for himself during the match.

The end result from this is a remarkably efficient shot map. It’s not every day that a forward has an xG/shot at over 0.20, as is the case with Panichelli. It’s fair to wonder whether or not this continues, even though we’re nearly approaching the winter portion of the season. His shooting tendency is a reflection of Strasbourg’s as a whole. Despite taking the 6th least shots in Ligue 1, their expected goal per shot is one of the best in the division and that’s allowed them to post impressive numbers on the aggregate.

What Panichelli has been able to provide is consistency. Even in matches where he isn’t able to get ample shots off, his activity in different game situations helps loosen defensive structures for his teammates to try and take advantage. This would be very helpful for any club, but especially one which skews as young as Strasbourg. From FBref, they’re the youngest in Europe’s big 5 leagues for average age after weighting for minutes played at 21.7. For reference, PSG are 2nd at 23.8, with the gap equivalent from them to Tottenham at 24th with an average age of 25.9.

Given how young the squad is, it’s not a surprise for them to be dealing with a cold stretch of play. Since the 3-3 draw away vs PSG (in which they were up 3-1 in the 2nd half), they’re 2-0-3 in their last 5 Ligue 1 matches with notable defeats away against Lyon, Rennes, and Lens. The attack has hit a road-block with only 7 goals in those five matches. Panichelli himself has only registered 8 shots in over 400 Ligue1 minutes of play over the past few weeks of action. The aggregate numbers still look quite solid, which is a credit to how talented the squad is, along with Liam Rosenior at the helm.

The 4-1 defeat to Rennes earlier this month was their biggest loss so far this season. Strasbourg’s buildup was handled time and time again, including in a few instances where they conceded high turnovers which nearly turned into high grade chances. They couldn’t handle the physicality Rennes brought in the encounter, which played a major part in their 3rd goal which essentially ended the match early in the 2nd half. Panichelli’s timing with his movement was off, and it was overall a rough day in the office.

Even with this down period of form, Strasbourg are having another solid campaign. They’re once again in contention for European football, and they’re among the top 8 sides in the UEFA Conference League. A fair amount of their success in domestic play is due to Panichelli, and how he helps open up spaces for himself and others without the ball. That’s allowed him and the team to generate plenty of high quality looks in Ligue 1. Thursday’s match versus Crystal Palace will provide a strong test, as their mid-block and counter strategy could present problems for the French side. For Strasbourg to have success, they’ll need Joaquín Panichelli to be at his best.

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