Simeone had been guessing throughout the past week a new position for Marcos Llorente, that of second striker accompanying Diego Costa on the offensive side. A plan that convinced Cholo during training and that he put into practice with good marks in San Mamés, where the '14' was one of the outstanding players among the mattresses despite playing off site.
Atlético He could not pass the tie on his visit to Athletic, Equalizing through Diego Costa the initial goal of Muniain. But from the beginning a participatory Llorente was seen, intuitive in his new position and wanting to be the protagonist. Trying to play on my back, the first one in which he could turn looked for Carrasco into space to leave the Belgian hand in hand with Unai Simón, but his shot went too far. In a state of outstanding shape despite the three-month hiatus, his physical strength and starting power led him to break lines thanks to his driving, with a fantastic move to get away from three rivals.
Llorente also sought to participate in the area, with unchecks to try to finish off one of the lateral centers that came to him, where in an action he asked for a penalty for pushing Yuri. A total of 67 minutes on the pitch, until he was replaced by Correa, all of them playing behind the point where his eldest but left without trying Unai Simón. With the Argentine limping from a muscle injury, João Félix penalized, Vitolo injured and inadvertently still resorting to a lead between Costa and Morata, since according to Simeone's words “I still don't have a team prepared to sustain the two forwards”, it was the turn of an increasingly protagonist Marcos Llorente in the team, although it has had to be recycled for it.
Incorporated from Real Madrid as a pivot to cover the loss of Rodrigo, indisputable in his rojiblanco year until he left for Manchester City for the amount of his clause, arrived in December with less participation as a mattress than the previous year in the white team. But without ceasing his efforts and gaining minutes through hard training, Simeone began to see Llorente more comfortable as a right inside, with less responsibility in the exit of the ball and more capacity to take advantage of his stride. A player with an enormous capacity for work and who has begun to exploit his arrival in the rival area.
If he had scored two goals among his previous four seasons, he has already had three with Atlético, one at Mestalla and his historic double at Anfield to certify the classification of the rojiblanco team to the quarterfinals of the Champions League eliminating Liverpool, the current champion. With João Félix back for El Sadar, more Correa in better shape, apparently Llorente will forget about the lead again after the trial. However, the midfielder has become a wild card for Simeone, since he can fill any hole in the double pivot, the band and now also behind the striker. One of the qualities that Cholo values most, who already has his ace up his sleeve in Saúl to mend any need of the team on the pitch.