Who Starts the Champions League Final for Atletico Madrid, Gimenez or Savic?
Given that the final match of their Liga season represented nothing more than a dead rubber for Atletico Madrid, the relentless Diego Simeone is probably pacing up and down corridors right now, bouncing off walls and seeking a competitive edge to something.
However many arm wrestles or thumb wars the Argentinian coach can goad others into engaging in, the real battle still lies over a week away in Milan, where UEFA Champions League final revenge that has been two years in the making could finally come to pass.
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You get the feeling that Simeone would face up to Real Madrid right now if he had the choice, and Spanish publication AS seems to think he’s already settled on 10 of the 11 names that he will trust to fight his battle for him, supposedly in a 4-4-2 formation.
The newspaper reported on Thursday: "The Argentinian coach was back drilling his odds-on eleven for Milan. El Cholo is widely believed to favour a 4-4-2 against Madrid, with Saul, Gabi, Augusto [Fernandez] and Koke in midfield and Fernando Torres and [Antoine] Griezmann leading the attack."
You can add four of the back five to that in goalkeeper Jan Oblak, left-back Filipe Luis, centre-back Diego Godin and right-back Juanfran, and so that only leaves one position left for Simeone to obsess over as his masterplan for overcoming Real Madrid comes together.
Here’s AS again:
"The one doubt to be resolved is the central defensive partnership.
Given that Godín is a nailed-on starter, on Tuesday the Uruguayan paired up with compatriot [Jose] Giménez, and on Wednesday with [Stefan] Savic.
On Thursday the central pairing saw Godín tellingly play alongside his compatriot Giménez again, although with over a week left to go until the big day, Simeone could still change things around.
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Keeping Real Madrid guessing, or trying to make his own mind up? It is probably about 49 per cent of the former and 51 of the latter.
All things being equal, you’d expect Simeone to choose the prodigiously talented young centre-back Jose Gimenez, but the Uruguayan has been troubled with injuries of late, only returning from his latest Achilles problem in the home match with Malaga last month.
The 21-year-old has played four more times after that, but when Simeone had the chance to give him more game time against Celta Vigo on the final day of the season, he opted for Stefan Savic alongside Godin. The pair kept a clean sheet.
Former Manchester City defender Savic—signed from Fiorentina last summer—has been a valuable squad addition in the wake of Miranda’s departure for Inter Milan at around about the same time.
Like his career at City, though, the Montenegrin has never been able to consistently hold down a place at Vicente Calderon Stadium.
His Champions League experience this season has largely centred around late cameo appearances, although in Godin’s absence, he did start alongside Gimenez and impressed in the 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the semi-final.
That Simeone is looking at him in training suggests there must be question marks over Gimenez’s suitability for such a big match, even this far away from a contest that his manager can’t wait to come around.
But given that Simeone is a manager who places immense trust in all of his players, you get the feeling that it would take something drastic for him not to start with Gimenez against the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
The Uruguayan might not look like the prototype, rugged central defender in the manner that Savic does, but this is a player with experience beyond his years. He started and starred for his country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup while he was still a teenager, and he has impressed anyone who has seen him up close.
There’s a reason that next Saturday’s opponents are reportedly ready to spend £51 million on him in the summer, per Marca (h/t Rohan Banerjee of MailOnline), as they look to revolutionise their central defence.
They’ll have to beat him before they can try and get him to join them, though, and even if the restless Simeone is triple-checking Gimenez’s fitness before the big day, he’ll be more than ready if called upon.
Simeone wouldn’t allow anything else.
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