Mestalla, the pilot episode of Llorente's explosion at Atleti

The night of Anfield will remain for the history of Llorente like that of his emergence, the one that changed his career at Atleti and, in some way, his entire life. But the Madrilenian had already issued signs of growth before. After a few very gray first months in the team, Simeone began to find him a place on the right wing, more projected to the attack than to the axis, for which in fact he had been booked. On February 14, at Mestalla, Llorente started and scored his first goal as rojiblanco (he marked it in black indeed, like those of Liverpool).

Llorente had arrived to the Christmas break with 320 minutes played, the 19th of the squad. He participated in that section in 13 games, three of them as a starter, of which in two he was substituted at half-time. Things weren't going quite right for the midfielder, but he didn't give up. At the return of the parties he was taking advantage of opportunities, first as a shock in the Super Cup and then, taking advantage of the casualties, from the eleven. He was a consecutive starter against Cultural (Cup), Leganés, Real Madrid, Granada and Valencia. Against the Nasrid team, Simeone already placed him on the right wing of 4-4-2. “He has vitality, strength, his acceleration in the transfer of the ball is one of his virtues and the team can advance. We need that energy, “he explained then.

Atlético arrived at Mestalla in a situation similar to the current one. He had no center forward (Morata had just come out of injury and waited on the bench) and just after, the team received Liverpool, first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Simeone formed with Vitolo and Correa up and in the middle, from right to left, Llorente, Thomas, Koke and Saúl. And Llorente scored the 0-1, taking advantage of a dead ball in the area, a goal of nine. El Cholo also celebrated: “Those who work play. Marcos is a clear example of effort, work. He waited for his opportunity and played because he had the attitude he should.”

From the 19th of the squad to the revelation of the League

The technician began to see that in Llorente he had more than just a player with power and a great physical display to chase and steal. It was also a vertical footballer, that he could give her a lot more attack than he thought. In the band, less pending creation, he was gaining relevance in the eyes of the coach. Anfield arrived a month later, and Llorente was the card that Cholo played in the second half. The double of '14' is already Atleti history, but before that day, in Valencia, the Madrid native began to show that he could be a very interesting player for the attack …