Why Atletico Madrid's Nicolas Gaitan Has the Tools Required to Be a La Liga Star
If pre-season is all about putting into practice what will later become second nature during the regular campaign, then Atletico Madrid have got their own pre-season pretty much on point.
With tight games, clean sheets and a togetherness fostered by an ever-demanding but passionate manager, Atletico are clicking into gear two weeks out from their season opener at home to Alaves, when all of this hard work has to start coming to fruition.
On Saturday—after the cancellation of the trip to Turkey to face Galatasaray—it was to Calabria, the point on Italy’s boot, to face an FC Crotone side who are newly promoted to Serie A.
The opposition can’t have been specially selected because of the hastiness of the arrangement of the fixture, but as always with Atletico, there was a game plan and ruthless devotion to it.
They won 2-0, with one goal coming just short of the hour mark and another in injury time, and you can expect to see a few more results like that over the course of their campaign.
And what is often so impressive about Diego Simeone’s Atletico machine is just how quickly the new players fit in to it.
Croatia international Sime Vrsaljko started and was everything that he has been signed to be—a solid right-back who will provide effective competition and rest for Juanfran throughout what is sure to be another demanding season.
Elsewhere, young forward Rafael Santos Borre got an opportunity to start alongside veteran Fernando Torres in the absence of both new boy Kevin Gameiro and golden boy Antoine Griezmann, who will return to training this week following his summer heroics in the blue of France.
Then in the second half, we saw one of the more exciting arrivals of the summer for any team.
Nicolas Gaitan’s switch from Benfica to Atletico in June may have gone somewhat unnoticed due to the fact that it occurred just as everyone was becoming obsessed with Euro 2016, but the Argentina international offers versatility and quality on the ball in whatever position Simeone chooses to play him in, and you suspect that will be several.
We are, after all, talking about one of the stars of the Champions League last season.
Gaitan’s Benfica might have been one of the more unfashionable sides to make the last eight of Europe’s premier competition in 2015/16, but make it they did, and he was the driving force behind that.
He scored in each of Benfica’s first three matches of the group stages, including in a famous 2-1 win at Atletico that doubtless served a sharp reminder to Simeone of his abilities.
A crucial strike late in the second leg against Zenit St Petersburg then followed as Benfica battled past the Russians, before they were to fall in the quarter-finals after giving Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich a scare.
Gaitan emerged from it all with a reputation enhanced and a future with one of the elite clubs seemingly assured, with Atletico swooping fairly early in the summer to bring him to the Vicente Calderon, which brings us to now.
Playing in the second half in Crotone, Gaitan was impressively up to speed with everything that his team-mates were doing, and particularly so when he gave his side the lead in the 59th minute.
Some impressive play from Yannick Carrasco—a player who seems set for a big season yet will undoubtedly be a little perturbed by Gaitan’s arrival—led to the Belgian’s pass finding his new team-mate in the penalty area, and Gaitan was able to fire home a low shot through the legs of goalkeeper Alex Cordaz with a minimum of fuss.
This was a friendly, obviously, and so a minimum of fuss is the default setting, but it was a little glimpse into what the new addition can do for this Atletico side, with the fact that he scored 11 goals last season surely filling Atleti fans with optimism.
Indeed, with the additions of both him and Gameiro, we could be seeing a slight change of emphasis from Simeone as he bids to once again topple La Liga’s big two.
Last season, one of the biggest criticisms of Atletico was about their failure to kill off games, and to hold onto 1-0 leads for dear life, only stumbling towards the end and dropping points.
Had they not done that and held onto those points, then there is every chance that it would have been they who were holding up the La Liga trophy at the end of the campaign and not Barcelona, and so Simeone seems to have acted accordingly.
Gaitan is certainly enjoying his new experience, anyway, telling the official Atletico Madrid website: “It was a very intense match. The important thing is that we won.”
They were words that could come straight from the book of Simeone, before he elaborated a little on his goal.
“It was a very good play from Carrasco in which he left me alone against the goalkeeper. I hit it and luckily it went in," the Argentinian said. "I felt really well, although a bit tired since it’s been a while since I‘d last played. Little by little I'm going to pick up the pace.”
The formality with which he addresses his Belgian team-mate suggests that there is still some work to do with regards to his integration into the team, but there is every reason to believe that Atletico have signed a potential star of the division who, at 28, is probably at his peak.
Indeed, the moment just after his goal in Crotone when a delightful piece of play sent Juanfran free into the penalty area showed that he is more than just a goalscorer from midfield, and supporters should be excited about what he can do in the campaign ahead.
As for this game, it was finished off with a late second goal from youngster Diogo Jota—another making his debut—following some slapstick defending from the hosts, but the victory had pretty much been secured by then anyway.
With a win, a goal for a new key man and a clean sheet, Simeone’s perfect day in southern Italy was completed.
As the friendlies continue, the Ramon de Carranza trophy comes next weekend, but you suspect that Gaitan’s influence on his new side with stretch far beyond that.
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