Renan lodi, player of the Atlético de Madrid, is concentrating with the Brazilian team to prepare two qualifying commitments for the World Cup and, later, the Copa América. The footballer has given an interview to Balloon in which he talks about the season he has lived in Spain, where he has lifted his first league title.
And that has had less prominence than last year. “What I went through this year with Simeone I think it made me stronger. The first year I came and played everything you can imagine. Second year, no. And the opposite is often the case. The first year he plays little and then he plays more, he begins to play. But he talked to me about it. “Look, you're playing little, but don't worry. We like you a lot here ”. Then I weighed these things that he had been going through as well. He always told me that I am a very important player, “he says.
“At the beginning of the season I played ten games, he took me out later because the scheme also changed. But it was a great learning experience. Important from a mental point of view, work on self-esteem.. Simeone also gave me more confidence. At the end of the competition I was flying again thanks to him ”, he maintains, and then recalls that he was not used to the bench.
“Since I started playing professionally in 2018, until last season, I had never been there. Starting at the bank, entering with two, five minutes to go … Of course I was surprised. So I started thinking, “He'll give me two minutes, so I'll eat the ball like a plate of food.”. And there was a game against Salzburg, I joined with 50 seconds to go, he made the substitution to finish the game, you know? But I got euphoric, I managed to steal the ball twice, I advanced. The next day he called me and said “I want this attitude of yours, to enter every game like that.” And I started to have that mentality. And today I take it with me ”.
Lodi values the fact of being ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona: “It was crazy for everything that happened in the championship, the injuries we had, the Covid-19, there were games that we played with two or three on the bench. We were 13 points ahead, suddenly we looked behind and Real and Barcelona are two, three points, arriving. For me, in particular, it is a great pride. The second year in Europe to achieve such an important title is a feeling of great pride, of a job well done. I'm sure everyone is celebrating today. “
Also, Lodi talks about Luis Suarez: “In the field he is a boring guy (laughs). In the game against Osasuna in which I scored, I was alone in the area. The next day he called me: “look, you see this here, if you miss this goal I'll kill you, because I was alone.” He's a very intense guy like Simeone. He wants the ball all the time. But he is another one of whom I learn a lot on and off the field. At all times he is joking. When we went to lift the title, he gave me a kick with his foot. He is always like this. He is a sensational guy, always in a good mood, “he says, before evaluating his arrival at Atlético and his departure from Barça:” In the first training sessions I could feel how sad he was. They said he couldn't take playing at a high level anymore, they said he couldn't play 90 minutes, that he was too old to play for Barcelona … And this season, 21 goals. This title shows that he can play 90 minutes, which is important for everyone, for his team. He's a phenomenal guy. That title was to say: “Barcelona, here I am “.
Lodi reveals how his family lived in Brazil at the end of the League: “I have a video on my mobile, they were all at home. When the game ended, they started firing rockets and screaming like they were in hell. ”
And finally, he spoke of a hypothetical interest of the City of Guardiola: “That was something I had to talk to my representative about, because it was true. We were in the final phase of competition and anything would bother us. Simeone he was going to go crazy, in his own way. “He is preoccupied with other things and things like that.” And my manager said it was not true, it was a rumor, I have another four years of contract there, I am happy. Everybody loves me in that club, I also care about them. That was more of a rumor. Who invented this, I don't know ”.