Although it has been Barcelona garnering many of the headlines in Spain for their recent turnaround, the recovery of Atletico Madrid has been impressive in its own right. After winning six of their last seven matches, Diego Simeone’s charges are back in the top four and through to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Nobody represents this turnaround more than Brazilian full-back Renan Lodi. It was taken as a given that the signing of Reinildo Mandava would mean a bench role for Lodi going forward. After the Mozambique international arrived, there were just 12 minutes of action for Lodi in the subsequent four games. However Lodi has reinvented himself further forward and is providing genuine competition for Yannick Carrasco in the left wing-back role. Most notably with his winning goal against Manchester United.
As Sergio Picos of Diario AS points out, Lodi has started five of the last six matches for Atleti. He’s been a key threat for Simeone across that time. With four assists and four goals to his name, Lodi is putting up better numbers than ever before in an Atleti shirt.
Having lost his place in the Brazilian national team, Lodi will be hoping his form can propel him back into the Selecao squad for the World Cup.
