In recent weeks, Diego Simeone has handed Marcos Llorente all manner of tasks on the pitch, and ahead of Atletico Madrid‘s Copa del Rey semi-final return leg against Athletic Club, he is set for another special job. Over the last three weeks against Sevilla, Las Palmas, Inter and Almeria, Llorente has been handed three different jobs, playing up front, in midfield and as a right wingback.
Against Inter, he played all three, moving progressively back up the field in Milan, against Athletic he will start at right wingback again, according to Diario AS . While Nahuel Molina is the natural option for the position, Simeone will trust Llorente to put a halt to Nico Williams’ runs on the left side for the Basques, feeling he has the pace, physicality and persistence for the job.
Llorente has been a jack of all trades since joining Los Rojiblancos, originally signed as a defensive midfielder, but making his name as a box-to-box player. As much as stopping Williams might be his primary duty, Simeone will have to work out how to break down an Athletic backline that kept them out at the Metropolitano, in the knowledge that defensively they have been a long way from solid themselves, especially away from home.
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