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 in to 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 …

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