Diego Simeone has been one of the best managers in world football over the last decade, and during that period, unusual tactical decisions have turned into masterstrokes on many occasions. Playing Yannick Carrasco and Samuel Lino as left wing-backs are just two of those, and he pulled off his latest one against Las Palmas on Saturday.
Simeone opted to start Marcos Llorente, who has typically played as a right wing-back/midfielder, as a centre forward at the Civitas Metropolitano, so that he could rest Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan. As it turned out, it was a genius move, as the 29-year-old scored the opening two goals of the game, as Atleti went on to win 5-0.
Llorente was a menace for the Las Palmas defence, and he complimented Angel Correa excellently, as the Argentine also scored twice. Depay added the fifth late on in the encounter to seal a phenomenal result for Atleti.
Before the match, Las Palmas had the second best defence in La Liga, and Atleti simply outclassed them, largely because of Simeone’s tactics. Once again, the Atletico Madrid head coach has shown why be is one of the best in the game.
