Last Sunday, when Diego Pablo Simeone ordered him to enter the field after half-time in the match against Celta, Álvaro Morata (Madrid, 31 years old) did not hear whistles from the red and white fans despite the fact that he is not at his best. moment. Mired in a moral slump after missing a clear chance in the first minute of the second leg with Dortmund and digesting the pain of Simeone replacing him at half-time, in other times, reproaches would have surfaced. Morata has not been doubtful for Atlético fans for a long time, regardless of the fact that he was more or less correct with the goal. The intention has been established in the red and white scene to help it get ahead of this crisis.
The last to join was Luis de la Fuente. One month before the Euro Cup, on Monday the Spanish coach gave his reference center forward a mental boost. “He will go to the Euro Cup, first because he is our captain, and second because he has had exceptional behavior. It doesn’t raise any doubts in my mind, he is one of those players who has sometimes performed better in the national team than he has done in his club,” De la Fuente warned in an interview on Teledeporte. The coach has followed the same guide as Luis Enrique in the 2021 Euro Cup when Morata was very psychologically affected by the insults he received in the presence of his wife and his children for having missed some clear chances. “Morata and ten more,” proclaimed the Asturian coach. De la Fuente has done the same, who with two weeks to go before announcing the list has already announced that the red and white striker will be summoned for the Euro Cup.
The coach was aware from the first moment that Morata, in addition to a mental breakdown due to what happened in Dortmund, was suffering from a complex ailment. That mistake against Kobel was compounded days later by a strange illness contracted virally, according to those around the player. Morata has been affected in the last month by trigeminal neuralgia, which produces facial pain so intense that it is known as the suicide disease. The macabre name is due to the fact that it is the disease that generates the highest percentage of voluntary deaths.
The player’s entourage says that the treatment, based on aerosols, vapors and a medication whose use was reported to UEFA, has taken effect and that he has now recovered. “Now all that remains is for the ball to go in,” Morata repeats in private, exposed like all scorers to the success of the shot.
In the training sessions at Cerro del Espino, his teammates have experienced with concern the effects that trigeminal neuralgia had on him in his first days. Morata showed up armed with morale, assuming that the illness was over and the next day he had to stay in the gym doing exercises that did not require great physical effort. His locker room teamed up with one of the players he collects the most affection for because of his bonhomie. Riquelme did not hesitate to run to the bench to hug him after scoring the winning goal against Mallorca.
Dedication
“Both I and my family are very grateful to Álvaro for helping me and I don’t understand the people who criticize him, if they knew him they wouldn’t do it. But I think that in Spain, in our society, we tend to attack people who have kindness like him,” he explained after Riquelme.
Morata’s football and moral decline has occurred just in the season in which he had his best first return. In January he had 19 goals in all competitions, just one away from his best record as a professional. Since then, he only scored one goal against Betis last March. Before, a knee scare in the first leg of the round of 16 with Inter Milan already started to take his toll. The mistake in Dortmund hurt him a lot during the time he continued on the field. Being replaced at half-time finished him off. Morata considered that he could continue, that he had enough hierarchy to recover. He, like the rest of his teammates, was very excited about the possibility of reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. Those around him assure that it has been a sum of everything that has led him to this situation. Between the low mood and the trigeminal neuralgia since the European elimination at the Westfalenstadion, he has not started again.
“I see him with the same enthusiasm and enthusiasm as always. Forwards, like any footballer, go through better or worse stages. We need the best Morata. I hope that at the end of the season we can have it,” Simeone wished this Tuesday. He had a talk with the Argentine coach in the preseason that was decisive for him to stay. For next season, Morata knows that the club does not want to get rid of him. Everything indicates that player and coach will have to listen to each other again to determine what is best for everyone.
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