Atlético finished yesterday’s training day under minimum conditions, with only 13 healthy field players for the last test before receiving Cádiz. Once the session was over, a first group of players went to the changing rooms. Another one stayed on the grass. Direct shot throws had to be tested.
A year ago it came into effect. As explained in Simeone’s documentary, before visiting Cádiz at the Nuevo Mirandilla a group of chosen ones, on that occasion with Lemar, Carrasco, João Félix and Suárez stayed at the end of training to work on their aim. Suárez crashed again and again with the artificial barrier, while his teammates did hit their shots. The Uruguayan welcomed the jokes and hesitations of the rest of the pitchers and Cholo himself.
But, at the moment of truth, it was Suárez who grabbed the ball to shoot from 25 meters. And on that occasion, the Uruguayan was right. A great goal to open the scoring against Cádiz in the only free-kick goal scored by Atlético in the last three seasons. After making the goal, he pointed to Simeone with laughter, who in the subsequent appearance commented that a day before he had come to tell him that he did not remember him as a specialist in that luck.
And in this matter of superstitions, yesterday he played a new session to try to rediscover that virtue against the Cadiz team. Atlético has recovered Griezmann, who can be considered the best Atletico specialist in direct free kicks. The Frenchman added the eight previous Atlético goals in that statistic before the one Suárez achieved against Cádiz. Falcao (to the Royal Society) and Emre (to Académica Coimbra) are the other two free-kick scorers in Simeone’s decade on the mattress bench.