The situation
“We loved Nahuel Molina, I asked for him and insisted that he come. He is the footballer that I understand we need . It is true that defensively he has to continue to evolve and it will not be the first time that a footballer has come and he has to improve one facet. We trust him a lot, he is 24 years old, a very good age to evolve and he is going to give us a lot of things in the team’s game”. He was Leverkusen’s pre-match defense for a Simeone who has maximum confidence in his right winger. The coach is aware of the potential of his compatriot, a footballer who last season scored eight goals and two assists at Udinese and who has established himself as a fixture in Scaloni’s calls, lifting the 2021 Copa América . However, those Defensive difficulties are greatly penalizing his first days at the club. Nahuel has been a starter in the five games that he has been available. He missed two games due to suspension after seeing a direct red card in his debut at the Cívitas Metropolitano , when he had also made a serious mistake in an inward clearance that led to Villarreal’s first goal.
The details
Perhaps prey to the nerves of seeing himself back on the pitch in front of his new audience, with the desire to please all newcomers faced with the buzz that ran through the stands in the match against Porto, Nahuel made his Champions League debut with another performance that raised doubts To his back. So many, that Simeone replaced him at halftime to leave the position to a Llorente accustomed to operating in the right lane and habitual resource since Trippier’s departure, that he left a hole in that band . After participating in Correa’s goal against Celta with a good drop shot to De Paul, Cholo turned to Nahuel again in Leverkusen , where the Germans also looked for his side to do damage. Although, without him on the field, the team unraveled after several ultra-offensive changes by the coach, who went from the low to the high block with no middle ground. And Vinicius arrives in the derby, one of the most unbalanced players in LaLiga and who attacks with maximum verticality down his left wing that Cholo will have to try to block. Llorente did it last year with success at the Bernabéu and now the doubt goes through the man from Madrid or the Argentine.