Left-arm spinning allrounder Nisarg Patel has been cleared by the ICC to bowl again in international cricket, almost a year to the day after his action had been first reported by match officials.

Nisarg, 32, was suspended from bowling on February 19 last year after being reported eight days earlier by on-field umpires in an ODI loss to Oman in Nepal during USA's Cricket World Cup League Two tri-series tour.

Nisarg's bowling action was reassessed later in 2020, but the ICC ruled in November 2020 that his action still exceeded the permitted 15 degrees and he was asked to continue further modifications to his action. A subsequent ICC review has now deemed his remodelled action as legal.

Nisarg did not miss any bowling opportunities for USA for the duration of time that his action was suspended by the ICC. USA has not played any international cricket since the ODI tour of Nepal in February 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. They are due to play Nepal and hosts Oman in an ODI tri-series next month.

USA Cricket had named Nisarg as one of 44 players in a training camp that was due to be held this month in Texas ahead of naming a 14-man touring squad to go to Oman in March. However, Oman government officials announced in late January that all international sporting events in the country were banned indefinitely due to a rise in Covid-19-positive cases.

According to multiple sources, USA's players were notified earlier this week in an email by USA Cricket operations manager Richard Done that the Texas squad camp has been cancelled in anticipation that the ODI series in Oman will be postponed by the ICC based on the Omani government's international sports ban. The ICC has yet to make a formal announcement regarding the status of the ODI tri-series in Oman.

Jofra Archer, England's strike bowler, has been ruled out of the second Test in Chennai after receiving an injection in his right elbow.

Archer was instrumental in England's 227-run victory in last week's first Test, claiming three wickets in the match including both of India's openers in a fiery new-ball spell in the first innings.

But he was unable to train on Thursday after reporting pain in his right elbow and has subsequently undergone a painkilling injection.

The England camp do not believe the issue is serious and hope Archer will have recovered to play in the third Test, in Ahmedabad, which starts on February 24.

Archer suffered a stress fracture in the same elbow around a year ago, though a statement from the England camp insisted "the issue is not related to any previous injury."

The statement continued: "it is hoped the treatment will allow the condition to settle down quickly, allowing the player to return to action in time for the third Test in Ahmedabad."

However, the injury is a major loss to England as they seek to build on the efforts in the first Test. As a bowler capable of generating 90mph pace, Archer had the means to transcend the conditions while the surface was still true in the first half of the game.

England were already set to make at least one change with Ben Foakes replacing Jos Buttler, who has returned to the UK for a rest. With Mark Wood also at home - though expected back in India with Jonny Bairstow on Friday - the closest like-for-like replacement England have for Archer is Olly Stone.

Stone made a decent impression in his only Test to date, against Ireland at Lord's in 2019. But he has managed only one first-class game since due to injury and England might be reluctant to bring him in for such a high-profile game on a surface which is expected to be slow and offer turn from an early stage.

While it appears England originally planned to replace James Anderson with Stuart Broad, there is now an increased chance that both could play. Chris Woakes, who might also strengthen the batting, is another option.

England also have a choice to make about their spin bowling. While Dom Bess claimed four first-innings wickets, he bowled 19 no-balls across the match and looked oddly out of sorts by the end of it. Moeen Ali, who has endured a miserable trip so far, could replace him. Moeen spent the first two weeks of the Sri Lanka tour in isolation after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Writing in his column in the Daily Mail, Archer reflected on his pride at playing a role in a famous win in the first Test, but revealed that his celebrations had already been muted by a stomach complaint, before the extent of his elbow problem was revealed.

"I'm not a big beer drinker and I would normally have a spirit to celebrate," Archer wrote. "But I didn't partake because I wasn't feeling well. I had a serious tummy ache, which might have been food poisoning, so I just slept. Stuart Broad didn't feel too good, either.

"Nevertheless, because of the quality of the opposition, our win felt like a serious achievement.

"Winning by 227 runs against that India team in their own conditions makes it that bit more special. It needs to be put into perspective, of course. It's only the first game and it would be dangerous to get giddy. We mustn't do that."

Archer also acknowledged that his experience of playing in the IPL had helped him to come to terms with the conditions in the first Test, but added that the extent of the pitch deterioration in the course of the game had taken him aback.

"On the fifth day it was probably the worst surface I've seen -- its orange colour, bits missing, rough patches for the bowlers to aim at," Archer wrote.

"When we walked out in search of nine wickets on the fifth day, I was very hopeful we would complete the job -- although these India players have big reputations and are at home, so should be able to cope with conditions better than anyone.

"So, I didn't expect us to skittle them. Equally, I didn't expect it to finish not long after afternoon drinks.

"I've played in tournaments around the world, and had success, but winning a Test is one of those indescribable feelings, especially against a really good team. Nothing compares."

You can understand why Ben Foakes is feeling some nerves ahead of his return to international cricket.

It's been almost two years since he represented England, after all. And on that occasion, having won the player-of-the-match award on his ODI debut, he was dropped.

By then, England had already dropped him from the Test team. Not because he had done much wrong - he scored 48 runs in his last Test and kept as well as ever - but because the fragility of England's batting had provoked a change of approach. Keaton Jennings came into the team in place of him with Jonny Bairstow reclaiming the gloves and slipping back from No. 3 to No. 7.

Which leaves Foakes with an odd and unwelcome distinction. He's been player of the match in his only ODI and player of the series in his only full Test campaign. He could be forgiven for wondering what he has to do to win a longer run in the side.

Now he has a new opportunity. With Jos Buttler given a couple of weeks to recuperate at home - an admirably pre-emptive measure from the England team management to help mitigate against the pressures of life in the bio-bubble - Foakes is set to play the final three Tests of this series.

But he knows that whatever he achieves in the next few weeks, he'll find himself out of the side again when Buttler returns. And he knows that he comes into the game with a big reputation - he is routinely referred to as the best keeper in England - but without the preparation time he would have liked. In a 12-minute press conference, he points out half-a-dozen times, in one or another, that he "hasn't played for a while". It's almost as if he's trying to lower expectations.

That would be understandable. He has played just two first-class games since the end of September 2019. To go into such a big game, in such demanding conditions, on what is expected to be a slow, low surface is a tough ask. But that's the life of an understudy. And Foakes isn't in a position to make too many complaints.

"It has been frustrating [not playing]," he says now. "But Jos has done such an amazing job over the last couple of years. It's one of those situations where it's very understandable

"Not playing has been tricky. Obviously you want to be involved. You have your good days when you're training hard and you get the most out of it. But then it's tricky at times, as well. I think every competitor wants to play. So when you go a long period without, it is a challenge.

"After my Test debut - with it going quite well [he scored a century, took a catch from his second delivery in the field and claimed a stumping, too] - I did think I'd get a bit longer run in the side. But international cricket is quite cut-throat and, after a couple of bad games, I was dropped. That's the way it is.

"Watching how well Jos has done recently and the level he's been performing, it is quite clear he is No. 1. So my mind-set has shifted a little bit. So every game and opportunity I get, I want to take it and kind of prove what I can do rather than looking too far ahead. It's about taking every day as it comes and trying to enjoy it."

Foakes' success in Sri Lanka might, you would think, give him confidence for the challenge ahead. He coped with standing up the stumps admirably with his keeping one of the key differences between the teams. But it might also set a very high bar in terms of expectations. Foakes admits he has some "slight doubt" about his form right now.

"That [series in Sri Lanka] was more than two years ago," he says, "so it's not possible to see it as an extension of form. It was a fantastic time in my career, but this is a new challenge and I'm not really associating that performance with this.

"Without playing so much cricket, you always have that slight doubt where your game is at because you haven't been tested for a while. But I'd like to think I've been training well and hopefully I'll be able to get back into it quite quickly and find my rhythm.

"I've some excitement and some nerves. A bit of everything at the moment. But no, I'm not daunted. I hope the side is not weakened by me playing. You have confidence in yourself.

"I haven't played as much as I'd have liked in the last couple of years, so it's just trying to get back in and do a good job for the team."

After India suffered a massive defeat on a slow and flat surface in the first Test, spinners are likely to get more response from the pitch in the second Test, starting on Saturday, as the pitch is expected to take turn as early as the first day.

The key difference between the two surfaces is the nature of the soil. The pitch for the first Test comprised purely of red soil and it did not break until late in the match. However, the surface for the second Test will have a base comprising red soil and a top layer comprising black cotton soil. It is understood that if the conditions are dry, the top layer, primarily made of black clay, will start to disintegrate faster.

The red soil in Chennai is different from the Mumbai variant. The Mumbai one stays true through the match, while in Chennai, it usually crumbles quickly if underprepared. However, the pitch was well-bound ahead of the first Test to ensure the match stretched to the fifth day.

On the eve of the first Test, Chepauk head groundsman V Ramesh Kumar had told ESPNcricinfo that he would make a surface with an "English look", to suit all bowlers. But by the time of the toss, Chepauk pitch had been shorn of any grass. Consequently, the pitch was slow.

The new ball lost its shine quickly and the leather softened early too, thus hurting India's fast-bowling duo Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma. Sharma highlighted the bland nature of the pitch across the opening two days, by saying it resembled a "road".

Even R Ashwin, India's premier spinner, who is closing in on 400 Test wickets, struggled to find purchase from the surface over the first two days. England took advantage of the bald, hard, flat surface as Joe Root made a double-century and England amassed 578 in the first innings.

The one factor in favour of the bowlers still was the bounce, which remained consistent mostly throughout the five days. Gradually, the surface became abrasive and it helped both spinners and fast bowlers, the latter making an impact with the reverse swing as James Anderson showed in a memorable spell on the fifth morning.

What India might have a desired in the first Test - a quick turner where they can dominate England batsmen - they are likely to get this weekend.

Usually, groundsmen stop watering the pitch two days before the Test match to allow the moisture to be retained. When England arrived for training on Thursday morning, the pitch was left uncovered. Later, it was covered with the hessian cloth to protect against the high temperature, which is in the mid-30-degree Celsius.

Another significant difference in the second Test could be the low bounce, as a consequence of the dry pitch. It remains to be seen how much grass is left on Saturday morning.

The turning nature of the surface is likely to influence the final XI for India, who face difficult questions regarding their second line of spinners to assist Ashwin. India captain Virat Kohli has already spoken about the lack of contribution from Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar in the first Test.

Axar Patel is likely to make his Test debut having recovered from the knee injury he picked on the eve of the first Test. In case Patel plays, the Indian team management will need to figure out whether they go with Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner.

EXOS, which is training more than 130 NFL draft prospects this offseason, will host a two-day pro day later this month that will simulate a combine setting.

The NFL altered the format of the NFL scouting combine this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, announcing last month that all in-person workouts would take place at campus pro days, scrapping the annual centralized event in Indianapolis.

The EXOS event will take place Feb. 26-27 at its locations in Arizona, Texas and Florida.

The company tabbed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik and former Carolina Panthers scouting director Don Gregory to run the operation, which will include all the combine drills, from 40-yard dashes to position-specific work.

The work will be filmed for distribution to teams via agents and players. NFL rules prohibit teams from visiting third-party training sites due to competitive inequity.

"We wanted to provide players with a secondary opportunity, an avenue to get real testing from people the league can trust," EXOS vice president of pro and elite sports Adam Farrand said.

Added Dominik from an EXOS release: "The event is being executed safely and as close to an NFL scouting combine as possible."

That means players get only two cracks at each drill, just like at the normal event; no mulligans after that.

Typically, agents pay third parties such as EXOS to train their players leading up to the combine. This two-day event is part of that service this year.

Players from various training sites across the country are getting creative because of the limitations in a pandemic. Last offseason, prospects began filming themselves working out and sending the videos to teams.

Several agents whose players train off site -- IMG Academy, XPE Sports and Michael Johnson Performance are among prominent training facilities for draft prep -- say most places are equipped to showcase clients' virtual work to accommodate teams as they navigate a scaled-back process.

Some bigger sports agencies train their own athletes, too. One EXOS client is North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who has a chance to go in the Top 10. Lance has his pro day March 12, but he would also have the option to participate in the EXOS combine setting if he chooses.

EXOS has trained nearly 1,000 drafted players and 191 first-rounders, including 14 last year.

Matthew Stafford said his decision to request a trade from the Detroit Lions, where he had spent his entire career, was "probably the hardest conversation I've ever had in my life."

Stafford spoke to two Detroit media outlets -- WDIV and the Detroit Free Press -- in his first public comments since the Lions agreed to trade their franchise quarterback to the Los Angeles Rams last month for Jared Goff and three draft picks.

Stafford told the Free Press that he and his wife, Kelly, started having conversations about the possibility of leaving Detroit before the 2020 season if there was a regime change.

"It was one of those things where, you know, we were hoping that -- golly, let's go, I hope this thing takes off and we play great," Stafford told the Free Press. "But if it doesn't, you just knew what was going to happen. They were going to tear it down and rebuild.

"And anytime you switch GMs and a head coach, you know that they're going to want to bring their own people in, and that's going to take time. And I, frankly, didn't feel like I was the appropriate person to oversee that time."

Stafford met with team president Rod Wood and owner Sheila Ford Hamp just after the season to have the conversation. The Lions were open to his request and started seeking out trade partners after the team hired Brad Holmes to be general manager and Dan Campbell as head coach.

Stafford told the Free Press he initially thought he would be heading to the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers or Washington Football Team -- all obvious landing spots looking for a quarterback. He actually didn't think the Rams would be a team that could pull off a big trade.

"I'm not a salary cap guru," Stafford told the Free Press. "It kind of got to a point where I'm like, 'OK, I can't sit there and go crazy.' I just tried to let it happen. And L.A. aggressively jumped into it."

Stafford said he and Kelly were in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, when the trade occurred. Just before the deal, he ran into Los Angeles offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, who joked to Stafford that the Rams would "make a run" at him.

Whitworth was right, and within 24 hours, the deal was done.

"We were excited for a new start, excited for the whole process of being on the trading block to be over," Stafford said. "Now we had a place. We knew where we were going. I was excited about their roster and their coaching staff and what they can bring to the table and their recent success.

"But at the same time, it was a close of the door in Detroit. At that moment it was real."

Stafford leaves Detroit as the Lions' franchise-record holder in every major passing category, including yards (45,109) and touchdowns (282). He said he played this past season through a partially torn UCL in his right thumb, a torn UCL in his left elbow, cartilage damage on one of his ribs, a tear in the back of his left knee and a subtalar right ankle sprain.

Now he leaves for Los Angeles and a new start, grateful for how the Lions handled the separation.

"Sometimes it's not the perfect storybook ending in the same place," Stafford said. "But I can leave here knowing that I gave this team every damn thing I had."

The Raptors will continue to play home games in Tampa, Florida, for the rest of the 2020-21 NBA season, citing border restrictions and being "mindful of public safety measures" in Toronto as factors preventing them from returning home to play at any point this season.

"Florida has been really welcoming to us and we're so grateful for the hospitality we've found in Tampa and at Amalie [Arena] -- we're living in a city of champions, and we intend to carry on the tradition of winning for our new friends and fans here," Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in a statement Thursday.

"But home is where the heart is, and our hearts are in Toronto. We think often of our fans, of our Scotiabank Arena family, and all those we are missing back home, and we can't wait until we can all be together again."

The Raptors spent weeks before the season working with the city of Toronto to try to find a way to play games at home, only to eventually have to relocate to the United States.

At the time, the Raptors said they hoped they'd be able to get back to Toronto at some point later in the season, and they said the decision to relocate to Tampa was only set in stone for the first half of the season.

It became official for the whole season on Thursday.

Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays went through a similar process last summer, negotiating to play games at home before eventually relocating to Buffalo, New York, for the 2020 season.

After starting the season 2-8, the Raptors have gone 10-5 since, and they have a 6-5 mark at Amalie Arena. They have a chance to get to .500 Thursday night when they visit the Boston Celtics.

LOS ANGELES -- Walker Buehler and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Thursday, agreeing to an $8 million, two-year contract that would escalate to more than $12.12 million if he starts regularly this year and wins a Cy Young Award.

Buehler gets a $2 million signing bonus, half payable of March 1 and half next Jan. 15, and salaries of $2.75 million this year and $3.25 million in 2022.

His 2022 salary can increase by $3 million to $6.25 million based on starts: by $500,000 each for 14, 16, 18, 20, 24 and 28.

Buehler's 2022 salary would increase by more than $1.12 million if he wins the 2021 Cy Young Award or by $625,000 if he is second or third in the 2021 Cy Young voting.

A 26-year-old right-hander, Buehler was the Dodgers' ace in helping them win their first World Series title since 1988. After going 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA in 2019, he was 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA over eight starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, then went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four postseason starts.

With the Dodgers trailing Atlanta 3 games to 2 in the NL Championship Series, he pitched six shutout innings as Los Angeles won 3-1 in Game 6.

Buehler allowed one run in six innings to beat Tampa Bay 6-2 in World Series Game 3, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the Series they won in six games.

He was eligible for arbitration for the first time after earning $223,519 in prorated pay last year from a $603,500 salary. Buehler has 2 years, 168 days of major league service and is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season.

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss the Club World Cup final against Tigres in Qatar on Thursday, sources have told ESPN.

Hansi Flick's side qualified for the Club World Cup after winning the Champions League last season and beat Egyptian side Al Ahly 2-0 in the semifinal.

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But Muller will not be available for the final following his positive test. Bayern are also without defender Jerome Boateng for the game, as he returned to Germany for personal reasons.

Bayern last won the tournament in its present guise in 2013, but were also intercontinental champions in 1976 and 2001.

ESPN has contacted local authorities in Bavaria about Muller's possible return to Germany despite an ongoing infection.

The German champions are back in action in the Bundesliga on Monday when they host Arminia Bielefeld, but it is unlikely Muller will feature.

Meanwhile, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's suggestion that Bundesliga players should step up and have vaccinations first as it would give people more faith has not been well received in Germany.

"If, for instance a Bayern player receives a vaccination, the trust within the society will grow," Rummenigge said on Sport1 on Tuesday. "Because as a former footballer I know that the body means everything to a pro.

"But we don't want to skip the queue, but as footballers we could do our share for society as role models."

Rummenigge's suggestion was met with widespread criticism as head of the German parliament's Sports Committee Dagmar Freitag suggested selfishness was behind the Bayern chief's proposal.

"It gives you the impression that [Rummenigge] wants to solve his own problems because we know that two of their players could not travel to Qatar because of an infection," she told Sky Germany on Wednesday, adding the background was rather "to have healthy players and not to increase the country's willingness to receive a vaccination."

Sports sociologist Gunter Gebauer, meanwhile, told ARD Sportschau that favouring athletes was "deeply anti-social and morally prohibited, while even several Bundesliga players disagreed with Rummenigge's line of argumentation.

"It is important we don't live in other spheres as footballers" Borussia Dortmund midfielder Thomas Delaney said on Sky Germany on Wednesday. "It would be nice for us, of course. But we also have to wait like all others."

Werder Bremen midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt added: "We should vaccinate those at first for whom it's essential. We have enough privileges by just being allowed to play.

"I can't then go on and say: I want to be vaccinated first. It would not sit well."

If you've spent more than 15 minutes on the internet in your lifetime, you've probably come across an age-old sporting argument about "clutch." Who is "clutch," and who is a "choker?" Does "clutch" exist, or is it just randomness that we forcibly burden with a pleasing narrative?

My personal opinions were well-enunciated by Peter Keating back in ESPN the Magazine's 2014 analytics issue: "Athletes aren't clutch because they raise their level of play in important situations; that's not a real, sustainable skill. Instead, these athletes are clutch because they don't choke as much relative to their peers." That point makes sense to me: some people panic under pressure, and some don't.

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I also know that determining who is officially clutch is a fool's errand because of the aforementioned randomness and generally small sample. That said, coming up big in key moments is something to be celebrated, whether it's sustainable or not. Again, take it from Keating: "Respect clutch achievement, even if it's not predictable. Don't be killjoys." So whether they're clutch, or whether they've just made timely contributions, let's celebrate some soccer players who have done great things in key moments.

Which soccer players have seen the most clutch play/timely production over the years? To begin to answer that question, let's lay out who has been the most productive, period.

I created a starting sample of players by looking at the past 10 years of play in Europe's Big Five leagues (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1) and UEFA's club competitions, the Champions League and Europa League. It's not perfect. Guys who were great right before Feb. 2011 (when the sample begins), but began aging out pretty quickly aren't going to have much of a track record. Nor will players who did great things in another league before joining the big leagues. I've left out the forever-small sample of international play as well, but this data will still tell us a story.

In this 10-year sample, 127 players have produced at least 100 overall goals and assists, from Dele Alli and James Milner (exactly 100 each) to Luis Suarez (367), Robert Lewandowski (393), Cristiano Ronaldo (554) and Leo Messi (593).

Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski and most of the other big-name scorers: clutch

Among these 127 players, 12 have also produced at least 15 goals and assists in what I'll define as "close-and-late" situations: moments in the 80th minute or later in which either (A) the game is tied or (B) their team is behind in what eventually becomes a draw or win.

The 12 players in question:

Note: clubs listed are the players' clubs as of 2021

1. Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 25 (16 goals, 9 assists)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus: 24 (22, 2)
3. Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan: 21 (17, 4)
4. Edinson Cavani, Man United: 20 (18, 2)
5. Mario Balotelli, Monza: 18 (17, 1)
6. Ciro Immobile, Lazio: 17 (15, 2)
7. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 16 (15, 1)
8. Luis Suarez, Atletico Madrid: 16 (12, 4)
9. Olivier Giroud, Chelsea: 16 (13, 3)
10. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City: 15 (13, 2)
11. Harry Kane, Tottenham: 15 (11, 4)
12. Edin Dzeko, AS Roma: 15 (10, 5)

Now, a lot of these players simply replicated their typical production rates in key moments. Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Suarez & Co. topped this list just like they top the overall production lists, though clutch production represents only about 4% of their total G+As. They mostly produced similar shot-per-minute and xG-per-shot averages, though if you're looking for standouts, Lewandowski's and Cavani's xG-per-shot averages jump from 0.20 overall to 0.24 in these close-and-late situations. It's a slight, but noticeable, difference.

Balotelli and Lukaku: extra clutch

Someone like Balotelli is particularly interesting in our study. Long regarded as one of the better penalty-takers in the world, he went 9-for-9 on pens in these close-and-late situations; if we're looking for the most directly clutch situations in this sport, taking a penalty late in a game, with points on the line, ranks really high. Not only that, but 15% of his overall production -- 18 of his 119 goals and assists -- came in these situations, including his only assist of the 2011-12 season, and one of the most famous assists of all time.

Balotelli's quirks (shall we say) have contributed to him having a bit of a journeyman's career: in the past decade, he has played for Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Milan again, Nice, Marseille, Brescia and, most recently, Monza in Serie B (Italy's second division). But if you needed a late magic act, he was one of the players most likely to deliver; after all, while he scored only four goals for Liverpool, three broke ties after the 80th minute.

Lukaku stands out as well. Of the most productive players in the sample -- the 27 with at least 200 combined goals and assists -- his close-and-late production represents the highest percentage of overall production: 9.3%.

Granted, while the top overall scorers have consistently played for elite teams -- Messi with Barca, Ronaldo with Real Madrid and Juventus, Lewandowski mostly with Bayern -- Lukaku mainly has been on merely very good teams (Manchester United, Inter Milan) and therefore has played in a higher percentage of close games. But he has made the most of it.

Nils Petersen: underrated clutch

Who else has seen a particularly healthy percentage of their production in close-and-late situations?

Highest percentage of production coming in clutch situations:

Note: clubs listed are the players' clubs as of 2021

1. Mario Balotelli, Monza (15.7% of all goals and assists)
2. Nils Petersen, SC Freiburg: 13.7% (14 of 102)
3. Dani Parejo, Villarreal CF: 9.6% (11 of 115)
4. Robin van Persie (retired): 9.5% (12 of 126)
5. Roberto Soldado, Granada CF: 9.4% (13 of 138)
6. Jimmy Briand, Bordeaux: 9.4% (11 of 117)
7. Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan: 9.3% (21 of 225)
8. Willian, Arsenal: 9.2% (10 of 109)
9. Iago Aspas, Celta Vigo: 9.0% (14 of 156)
10. Alvaro Morata, Juventus: 8.5% (12 of 141)

Petersen, 32, briefly signed with Bayern Munich in 2011, but he has spent most of this 10-year sample playing with Werder Bremen and SC Freiburg; he has had plenty of "trailing late and team is desperate" experience, but no one can say he hasn't come through, often via headers.

Alvaro Morata: ultraclutch super sub

If you watched the two-episode second season of Amazon's "Take Us Home: Leeds United" series, which provides a brief run-through of their long-awaited promotion push in 2019-20, you quickly understand the sentimental value of a "super sub," the guy you send to save the day or provide a jolt of energy when things aren't going quite right. (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Man United's manager, made his name as a player by being this "super sub.")

In the home stretch of last season, Pablo Hernandez hopped off the bench and scored in back-to-back matches -- he first had a goal and an assist in an easy win over Stoke, then scored the vital go-ahead goal in the 89th minute of a scoreless tie against Swansea. He has 74 goals and assists with the club, but the Swansea goal assured the 35-year old former Valencia star legendary status in Leeds yore.

So looking more broadly, which subs have been the most super through the years? One guy in the sample towers over the others.

Goals and assists for subs after the 80th minute, last 10 years:

Note: clubs listed are the players' clubs as of 2021

1. Alvaro Morata, Juventus: 32 (23 goals, 9 assists)
2. Nils Petersen, SC Freiburg: 18 (13, 5)
3. Olivier Giroud, Chelsea: 17 (15, 2)
4. Kevin Gameiro, Valencia: 16 (12, 4)
5. Edin Dzeko, AS Roma: 15 (10, 5)
6. Paco Alcacer, Villarreal CF: 14 (12, 2)
7. Javier Hernandez, LA Galaxy: 14 (11, 3)
8. Luis Muriel, Atalanta: 14 (11, 3)
9. Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain: 14 (8, 6)
10. Lucas Moura (Tottenham), Franck Ribery (Fiorentina) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid): 13 each

Morata's 141 combined goals and assists rank him 62nd overall in the 127-player sample. For context, that's eight behind Philippe Coutinho and 10 ahead of James Rodriguez. He has averaged between 0.6 and 1.1 goals and assists per 90 minutes for four different clubs and the Spanish national team. He also has spent a good portion of his career as his manager's second choice. He was a substitute in 58 of his 89 Real Madrid appearances, behind both Ronaldo and Benzema, and in two stints with current club Juventus he has been a sub in 50 of his 118 appearances.

Oh, but what a sub he has been. In substitute appearances between 2013-14 and 2016-17, he scored 20 times in just 1,250 minutes -- 11 times after the 80th minute. The 28-year old left Madrid in 2017 in search of more minutes and found 103 starts for Chelsea and Atletico Madrid before landing back with (and often behind) Ronaldo at Juventus. He has been good wherever he has played, but he's been great off the bench.

Giroud has been too, and like Petersen, he does some of his best work with his head.

The new clutch: who is stepping up right now?

Now, granted that Balotelli has been out of the spotlight for a while and Morata did the most of his "super-sub" damage four-to-seven years ago, which names have emerged in the past couple of years when it comes to clutchitude?

If we look at the past three calendar years, here are your stars in the close-and-late department:

Most combined goals and assists in clutch situations, past 3 years:

Note: clubs listed are the players' clubs as of 2021

1. Luis Suarez, Atletico Madrid: 10 goals and assists (10.0% of his total G+A)
2. Ciro Immobile, Lazio: 9 (8.0%)
3. Leo Messi, Barcelona: 9 (5.8%)
4. Raul Jimenez, Wolves: 8 (13.6%)
5. Iago Aspas, Celta Vigo: 8 (12.1%)
6. Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan: 8 (9.9%)
7. Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus: 8 (6.4%)
8. Dani Parejo, Villarreal CF: 7 (15.9%)
9. Harry Kane, Tottenham: 7 (7.4%)
10. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 7 (4.9%)
11. Felipe Caicedo, Lazio: 6 (18.8%)
12. Riccardo Orsolini, Bologna: 6 (17.6%)
13. Jorge Molina, Granada CF: 6 (15.8%)
14. Sergio Canales, Real Betis: 6 (14.6%)
15. Andre Silva, Eintracht Frankfurt: 6 (12.2%)
16. Andy Delort, Montpellier: 6 (11.8%)
17. Lorenzo Insigne, Napoli: 6 (10.2%)
18. Memphis Depay, Lyon: 6 (7.5%)

Again, most of the names at the top also are at the top of the overall production lists, but some interesting names have made the most of their clutch opportunities.

Take Raul Jimenez, for instance. The Mexican international and former Benfica star has played for Wolves for most of this sample, and he has been quite the points saver: he has scored or assisted the go-ahead goal five times in the past year, and he has scored three times while behind in clutch situations, too. Clutch production has made up 14% of his overall production.

Yet that doesn't hold a candle to Felipe Caicedo. He has scored five clutch goals in three years, on only 10 shots. The Lazio star scored two late game winners in a month last winter (he also put away a win over Juventus on a counterattack), and he produced this wild winner in the 98th minute against Torino in November:

He also has scored five goals in the 80th minute or later as a sub since the start of 2019-20. Caicedo: clutch by any definition.

Paco Alcacer and Christian Pulisic: the new clutch super-subs

Another recent "super-sub" also stands out.

Goals and assists for subs after the 80th minute, past three years:

1. Paco Alcacer, Villarreal CF: 11 (10 goals, 1 assist)
2. Kylian Mbappe, PSG: 9 (7, 2)
3. Angel Rodriguez, Getafe CF: 9 (7, 2)
4. Gabriel Jesus, Man City: 9 (5, 4)
5. Christian Pulisic, Chelsea: 9 (4, 5)
6. Luis Muriel, Atalanta: 9 (8, 1)

When Borussia Dortmund was making a full-season push at the Bundesliga title in 2018-19, Alcacer was their secret weapon. He scored eight times after the 80th minute; many were of the "expands-the-lead-from-one-to-two" variety, but he also scored two early-season winners. Now with Villarreal, he both broke a tie against Qarabag in the 84th minute in an October Europa League match, then sealed the game with a penalty in the 96th minute. If you need 20-25 minutes of shop-wrecking, few are more up to the task than Alcacer.

Meanwhile, if you need a key passer off the bench in the closing minutes? Ask Alcacer's former Dortmund teammate, Captain America. Pulisic has battled both injuries and a crowded depth chart since moving to Chelsea, but he has been a lightning bolt off the bench at times. His assist to fellow sub Michy Batshuayi beat Ajax in the Champions League last year (and earned the nickname buy-in from his teammates), and his pinpoint pass set up the Marcus Alonso goal that put away Burnley recently.

So let's review. One big question you might have in reading this: Where are the superstars? Don't we consider Messi and his fellow GOAT generation to be clutch as well?

Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Kane, Suarez and even guys like late-career star Ciro Immobile remain as excellent at the end of games as they are through the first 80 minutes. If you've got one of them at your disposal, you probably don't need a super sub coming in for them at the end, nor do you need a clutch player to step up. But just as Francisco Trincao stole a game winner for Barca last weekend with an out-of-nowhere golazo, others can shine in a match's waning minutes, too. And whether it comes from a reserve of clutchness inside of you or sheer randomness, we can celebrate it all the same.