There is plenty of devil lurking behind the angelic face of Erik Lamela, the Argentine who boasts a deceptively dark side to match his more obvious creative talents.

He may be adored by the YouTube generation for his nutmegs and tricks, rabonas and flicks, but the affection towards Lamela at Tottenham Hotspur owes as much to the sweat as the skill. For every artful roll of the ball beneath his studs, there is a snappy challenge to win it back. For every slide-rule pass, there is a sliding tackle.

With the ball, he decorates games. Without it, he destroys them. He is an elusive playmaker, and yet there are only two players in the Premier League who have committed more fouls per minute this season.

It makes for a rare and effective contrast, but Lamela insists it is nothing new. “I did it always,” he says. “Here, maybe the fans recognise it.”

Mauricio Pochettino, his manager, certainly recognises it. As do Chelsea, Tottenham’s opponents on Sunday, who were subjected to Lamela’s edge in a remarkable 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in May 2016.

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That game, nicknamed the ‘Battle of the Bridge’, ended Tottenham’s title challenge and handed the Premier League trophy to Leicester City. It was arguably the most bad-tempered top-flight match in recent history, with Tottenham becoming the first Premier League side to pick up nine yellow cards in one match. Mark Clattenburg, the referee, later said he “allowed Tottenham to self-destruct”, while both sides received record fines from the Football Association.

“That game was a little bit emotional,” Lamela says, his voice delicate. “We needed the three points to keep fighting for the title. Of course, they don’t like us and they did their best to win. It’s nice to play in those games. You always have to put something more in. That’s why the game was so intense.”

Lamela was as involved as anyone in the savagery. He was booked for a late, crunching tackle on Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas, and was later seen standing on the Spaniard’s hand. “I didn’t see him,” Lamela says. “I was just walking. I stepped on his hand but it’s football, no? It can happen. Sometimes defenders kick me without the ball and I don’t say anything and no one sees.”

Erik Lamela steps on Cesc Fabregas' hand credit: SKY SPORTS

The 26-year-old has had plenty of experience of this “intensity”, having played for River Plate in the ‘Superclasico’ against Boca Juniors as a prodigious teenager. It is an indicator of the ferocity of that Chelsea game that Lamela says it was “similar” to the ‘Superclasico’, which once began with the windows of his team bus being smashed in by stones.

The rivalry between Tottenham and Chelsea is not quite at that level, but it seems to be growing more vicious by the year. And there is no shortage of importance to Sunday's meeting, with Tottenham knowing they will extend the gap to fifth-placed Chelsea to eight points if they can claim their first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1990.

Lamela diplomatically declines an invitation to say that a victory for his team would end Chelsea’s Champions League ambitions, but adds: “Of course, if we win, we have a very good chance to finish in the top four.”

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After missing 13 months with hip problems, and fearing his career may be over, 26-year-old Lamela showed is finally approaching his best form once more. He is expected to start on Sunday, and will do so as a more mature player than the one who tore into Chelsea nearly two years ago.

A swimming pool accident that left his younger brother paralysed in 2016 has added perspective, as has the birth of his first child, Tobias, in November.

“I have changed,” he says. “I tried to, for my girlfriend and the people that are close to me. We can lose, it’s football. Before, I was angry after games, especially if I didn’t play well. But I understand that if you lose, you lose.”

There has been no change on the pitch, though, where his creativity once famously manifested itself in an outrageous nutmeg on former Tottenham player Andros Townsend. It was so brutal that Danny Rose, Lamela’s team-mate, was left standing with his, mouth agape. Manager Pochettino was less impressed, but Lamela insists he “did not do it to humiliate” Townsend.

“I play like this,” he says. “I won’t change my type of play, whether we are winning or losing.”