Marcos Llorente hurries the hours to be able to play against Liverpool. Midfielder ended the match against Barcelona with some muscle discomfort that prevented him from concentrating with the national team, but it will be tested today for the last time in a training scheduled in the morning to see first hand if the Madrilenian, Giménez and Cunha are suitable for the Champions League match after two days exercising with the group.
A game that will never be one more for Llorente. The ’14’ has in Liverpool the rival against whom he changed his career, after becoming the rojiblanco hero at Anfield with an unforgettable double. It was in the last game prior to the global pandemic of the coronavirus and, despite the stoppage to which football was forced, Llorente returned without having lost an iota of the euphoria of that March 11, 2020. A day that turned him into a completely decisive footballer in the face of goal and from which he began to exploit skills that he fully developed last year, becoming the team’s second top scorer in the league title.
Until then, Llorente had managed a single as much as rojiblanco and it continued carrying out its reconversion on the lawn. Simeone saw qualities in him to be important closer to the rival area despite the fact that he had come up with the idea of replacing Rodrigo at the pivot. And when the team was having the worst time, Simeone replaced Diego Costa before arriving at meeting time in a change that was understood as very defensive. No one, not even Llorente himself, imagined what was going to happen. Two goals from outside the area in extra time to knock down the reigning Champions League champion and experience his first big night at Atlético.
A sample of his power that led him to establish himself as an alternative in the entire attack front, both starting from the band and directly up front, where it debuted in San Mamés on the return to the competition after the forced break. With the change of system, Llorente found his ideal position in the center of the field ahead of a pivot and pulled to the right side, where he takes advantage of his running power and speed into space to be deadly. But the ’14’ is the boy for everything of the Cholo, without problems to return to a destructive work in the center of the field or to play as a lane or right back if the coach needs it. Having Llorente would be a morale blow for Atlético, who know that they have a rival at Liverpool with a reserved space in their heart.