Atletico Madrid Can Rely on Firefighter Tiago to Help Them Get Back on Track
Such is the way of the world, the news of Bayern Munich's shock Champions League defeat at Rostov would have filtered through to the Vicente Calderon before Atletico Madrid took on PSV Eindhoven there on Wednesday evening. It was just the boost that was needed.
Of course, Atletico were already guaranteed their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League before the match.
A series of one-goal wins had powered them to the top of their group, already securing knockout European football again in 2017 with two games remaining.
But things had taken a dark turn at the Calderon in recent weeks, with three defeats in four La Liga matches, including last weekend's capitulation at home to Real Madrid—the fixture in which defeat hurts the most.
It was a loss that required investigation and facilitated introspection.
Everything about the way that Diego Simeone is going about managing the team was called into question, as a challenge was placed before the Atletico Madrid boss. Did he have the desire to "go again" once more, dipping into that vast reserve of energy he has called upon time and time again? PSV was a perfect match to find out.
And while he obviously wouldn't have known of the Bayern result while naming his team, the fact that he chose to alter things for the visit of the Dutch side spoke volumes.
Jose Gimenez and Sime Vrsaljko—previously almost tossed aside as Simeone found a formula and stuck to it—were brought into what had suddenly become a failing defence, but ahead of that it was the addition of Tiago in midfield that was most eye-catching.
Making his first start since being hauled off at half-time in Atletico's opening match of the season against Alaves, the 35-year-old slotted into midfield alongside his 33-year-old captain Gabi.
It might not be the most mobile or dynamic of central-midfield partnerships, but at times such as the one Atletico have been experiencing of late, the addition of the veteran Portuguese came to present something of a comfort blanket.
Tiago was his usual unruffled self in the centre of the pitch: getting the ball, giving it to his more obviously gifted team-mates and then doing so again and again.
It was a throwback to Atletico's previous incarnations under Simeone, and although these pages have strongly argued that the manager has been right to pursue a more expansive, attacking approach this season, there quite obviously had come a time when enough was enough.
Simeone would have looked at what had happened in recent matches—games where his side had completely ceded the level of control he demands they exert on matches—and decided that it was time for a throwback. In case of emergency, break glass. And suddenly, there was Tiago.
The Portuguese had had a strange, somewhat nomadic career until he joined Atletico in 2011, but ever since then, he has seemed part of the furniture at the Calderon.
Close your eyes and think about his earlier career and you are likely to arrive at one moment—his flashing, arcing drive that flew past Manchester United's Roy Carroll when in the blue of Chelsea in 2005.
Jose Mourinho's side had already won the Premier League at that point—and indeed had been applauded on to the pitch at Old Trafford via a guard of honour from Sir Alex Ferguson's men. Although Tiago was part of an altered team, he was still a regular in Mourinho's plans that season—featuring in all but four of the matches and playing 51 times in all competitions.
With that in mind, it was a surprise that Mourinho let him go to Lyon that summer, although under the terms of a deal for Michael Essien, it seemed to be something that he couldn't avoid.
After Lyon, an injury-hit spell at Juventus followed, but whenever he was fit, he was often called upon by whoever happened to be his manager at the time. His experience and tactical knowhow appeared to mark him out as an important player ahead of other, flashier stars, and in Simeone, he has a confirmed fan.
Perhaps all that comes from his early exposure to Mourinho, but whatever it is, he has come to represent something of a firefighter for Atletico.
His successful career at the club—featuring pretty much every major honour he competed for bar the Champions League—might have been considered over after he broke his leg midway through last season, and had Atletico been performing better right now, then we surely wouldn't be seeing him.
But he is a firefighter for Simeone, and a player who simplifies the game when he is brought into the side.
With Gabi alongside him, Tiago knows that he doesn't have to be so strict in his defensive duties, and against PSV, it was noticeable that he seemed somewhat freer than his captain, with his head up and always looking for the next opportunity to advance the play.
He was doing that high up the pitch, too, none more so than in the 10th minute of the second half when he whipped the ball away from a dozing PSV midfield before threading it through to the lurking Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman took a touch before burying a near-post shot, and suddenly, there was a huge sense of relief at the Calderon.
This was never going to be about Atletico playing wonderful football and blowing away their Dutch opponents—with the actual result fairly unimportant—but the club's fans just wanted to see a win, any win, to calm any lingering fears of impending trouble.
Kevin Gameiro sealed that victory with a goal 11 minutes after Griezmann's, and it wasn't long after that strike that Tiago departed 15 minutes from time to be replaced by Saul Niguez, perhaps with Sunday's clash against Osasuna in mind.
It would be a mild surprise if he was to start that one too, but after this performance, it is certainly something to consider.
Atletico appear to have got muddled in recent weeks, torn between their old pragmatism and their newer, more expansive approach.
In such a scenario, then, they need to be keeping the ball better, to trust their weight of pass and to be taking up intelligent positions, and in Tiago, they have a player vastly experienced in all of that.
Because of his age and his comparative lack of pace, it is always tempting to think of the Portuguese operating just in front of the back four and nowhere else, but his skills can be used further forward in this Atletico side right now.
He can be Simeone's firefighter and restore a sense of calm to a team that had gone off the rails in recent weeks.
It's something he's been doing his whole, pretty long career.
With his club seeking to get back on track, the next time could be the most vital.
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