Champions: Marcos Llorente, a hero charged with patience | Champions League 2019

“When the opportunity comes, always be prepared,” says Julio Llorente, un and representative of the Atletico Madrid midfielder.

When Marcos Llorente (Madrid, 1995) communicated in June that he was leaving, the noble area of ​​Real Madrid wrinkled the gesture. Not so much for his escape, since Zinedine Zidane He had opened the door for him, but for his conviction to change the Bernabu for the Metropolitan. Despite the offers that had come from outside Spain, he was clear about his next stop. The decision was not reversed.

Two years earlier (2017), after his brilliant season in Vitoria, Diego Simeone I made it clear to him for the first time that I wanted him by his side. The talk, however, was met by White's refusal to transfer one of his most promising youth squads. His legs and lungs match what the Argentine was looking for for a midfield player who had already started his metamorphosis. The door seemed to close permanently with the signing of Rodri by Atlético and the hatching of Llorente during the Club World Cup, where he was named MVP. Six months later, the pieces fell into place.

And yet, until his explosion on Wednesday at Anfield, more specifically in extra time, with the two most important goals of his career, the feeling was that the nearly 40 million paid to Real Madrid were perhaps excessive. In that core of Simeone, where, being healthy, Salt, Thomas Y Koke They are immovable, Llorente has had to wait his turn with patience and in silence. For a footballer it is not easy, but Marcos does not take such situations badly because he never loses his nerves. His great virtue is that he works tirelessly and is very persevering. When the opportunity comes, always be ready, explains your uncle and representative, Julio Llorente, who saw the Atlantic as an ideal destination for his nephew.

“Brutal 80 meters”

Until the tie with Liverpool, he had only played nine minutes in the Champions League. And in LaLiga he didn't play his first full game until February, precisely at Bernabu. Between all competitions it totals 986 minutes. Simeone's determination is usually not a guarantee of anything. He made two brutal 80-meter efforts on the second goal, without competition rhythm and with great clarity. It says a lot about your ability to isolate yourself from everything, says his agent. His patience and iron mentality have been decisive for a difficult first few months in the Atlantic. The tactical script of your technician is not easy to internalize first.

Now, lying to the right flank, he seems to have found his place. And Simeone turns to him when the matter requires muscle. With him, the pressure makes more sense, as it did at Anfield after the break. Because in that few surpass him. His conditions have a good dose of demanding work and genetics. Both his father, Paco Llorente, like your grandfather, Ramn Grosso, began to excel in First with the Attic. However, they ended up writing their story at Real Madrid. Now, the little one in the saga has reversed the path. That is why in the contract that he signed until 2024, there is no clause that facilitates his departure. His freedom is worth 120 million.

“His diet is sacred”

Genetically, it has very good innate conditions and to that is added a very exhaustive physical work. As technically it does not cost him either, he solves the situations well, says his uncle Julio, another of the footballers of the Llorente saga. Because since childhood, Marcos always showed a passion for physical exercise. And, of course, for him the slats of the Professor Ortega in training they are just another treat. PatriciaHis girlfriend keeps up with him outside of his office hours. The time you stay at home, where you have a gym and a trainer, are one more complement to always stay at top performance. That and his famous paleolithic diet, of course.

Since he was little he has always taken great care of his diet, he is very strict. If the muscles are not well oxygenated and hydrated, the risk of injury is greater. Her diet is sacred to him, adds his agent. And this consists of not eating anything artificial, all natural products. During his time in Vitoria, his father brought him ecological products to keep his food table untouchable: fish, meat, chicken, rice or legumes.

Tonight we will never forget it, Marcos published on his Twitter, even with the high experienced in Anfield and the exhaustion of the unexpected hero. Your connection to lvaro Morata has made adaptation easier. The scream towards the bottom where the red and white fans are freaking out, after devising 2-3, is already part of the beautiful story that he is beginning to write in the Attic. The two dribbles of his father (Paco) in Porto are still remembered and, with the passage of time, the same thing happens with his two goals in Liverpool. He has already written his first page in the club's history.