Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente watches his diet but craves Champions League and La Liga titles

“I do not eat breakfast.” Marcos Llorente – Atlético Madrid midfielder, winner of LaLiga, subjugator of the Manchester United and the owner of probably the best abs in spanish football – is speaking to ESPN about the lifestyle he says has made him the player he is.

“I have lunch at 2 p.m., dinner at 9 p.m. Two meals a day. I work out without eating.”

Training on an empty stomach with Atletico’s fanatical precision manager Diego Simeone and notorious fitness coach, Oscar “Profe” Ortega, sounds like a nightmare. But Llorente — who came to this interview dressed politely, politely, and on time — was a passionate and persuasive advocate.

“One day, back from Manchester [after Atletico’s 1-0 Champions League round-of-16 win at Old Trafford on March 15], we dined there after the game,” he said. We caught a plane, I got home at 6 a.m., went to bed, got up at 1 p.m., and didn’t eat anything until dinner time. That is 24 hours without eating. Because that’s what my body wants. “

“Lunch is something bigger. Dinner is lighter, vegetable soup or salad,” he says. “It depends on what my body wants. I listen to it. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat.”

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Llorente has always been different. The latest in a family’s sporting dynasty, his father, grandfather and uncle all play for Real Madridhis great uncle Paco Gento has won six European Cups, and his mother is a Spanish international basketball player.

As a youngster from Real Madrid’s academy, and during the 2016-17 season on loan at Alaves, he was known for his focused spirit and self-discipline. His nickname – inherited from his father, Paco – is el Lechuga (lettuce).

“Ever since I was little, I’ve had a good diet and I sleep really well,” he told ESPN. “I’ve talked to teammates who don’t believe it, and when they start taking care of themselves, they notice a big difference.

“Four or five years ago, they thought it was weird. But over time they all realize it’s worth it. Nowadays a lot of footballers take care of themselves.”

Llorente was highly regarded as a defensive midfielder at Alaves – where he led the league in ball recovery – but on his return it was not enough to cement a place in the Real Madrid team. The coach at the time, Zinedine Zidane, was not convinced Casemiro in that role, and two years later, Llorente moved to Atletico in July 2019 for an expensive €40 million fee.

In the midst of a solid debut season, one match changed everything: 11 March 2020, Atletico’s Last match before lockdownwon 3-2 at Liverpool That caused the champions at that time to be eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16.

At that time, Llorente’s introduction – replacing Diego Costa at 1-0 – seems like a confusing and negative move. He responded by scoring twice and creating the third goal in extra time. Reinvented as a maracking attacking midfielder, the key man in one of Atletico’s best European nights, he later named my pet dog at Anfield.

“Marcos never imagined he could play as a striker,” coach Simeone said afterward. “But watching him train, his technical and physical ability and shooting ability give us options… When the players show they have the tools, the coaches have to pay attention. “

Llorente went on to become a candidate for the title of La Liga Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season, scoring 12 goals to help Atletico win their first title since 2014. Although he is now 27 years old and in terms of face Theoretically close to reaching the pinnacle of football, the Spaniard was already thinking about what came next.

“A player’s career, depending on how you get injured, ends sooner or later. At 35, at 37, it’s over,” he told ESPN. “You have to find another source of income, but more importantly a source of entertainment, a source of work. If you lose your aim, you lose the way in life. Some players and sportsmen. Sportsman fell into depression when he retired because of them. No goals, no dreams.”

Llorente is speaking at the Madrid restaurant he co-owns – whose menu features gluten, sugar and additives – one of several business ventures he’s been pursuing since football.

“You have to separate what’s ‘fit’ from what’s healthy,” he explains. “Usually what ‘fits’ isn’t healthy, it’s what doesn’t make you gain weight, what doesn’t have a lot of calories. People add many ingredients that are not healthy. They think that eating healthy means eating a salad, or something a little boring. It’s not like that. You can eat a healthy pizza or a healthy waffle… I have carbohydrates, protein sources, vegetables. I know what to eat. “

So that’s when to eat and what to eat covered. Maybe that’s not all it takes to looks like this?

“You’ll have to work out too! Eating good food isn’t enough,” he laughs. “There are five basic pillars: diet, rest, exercise, your head… actually, there are four! Rest is something I look at a lot.”

According to webpage of the manufacturer Hogo. It’s no surprise that the top California king model retails for (swallow) just under $40,000. Llorente loved it so much that he invested in the company and brought one to Spain’s Las Rozas training facility for Euro 2020.

“I sleep eight and a half hours or nine hours a night,” Llorente says. “Above all, it’s about going to bed early. Sleeping between 12 and 8 a.m. is not the same as sleeping between 4 a.m. and 12 p.m. Goes to bed when the sun goes down and wakes up at sunrise. basic.”

Sleeping after Atletico’s win at Old Trafford last month must have been difficult?

“It’s very important,” Llorente said, when asked about getting rid of United. “Even more so at that historic stadium… It’s important for the whole team to go through. It gives us strength for what’s to come. We know it’s going to be tough, but The whole team believes that at least we can make things complicated for [United]and that’s what we did. “

What’s next is the Champions League quarter-final against City of Manchester. Atletico went into the first leg last week in their best form of the season: they had won their previous six, Llorente catching them all.

That didn’t stop Simeone from adopting an extreme defense (and was criticized a lot) 5-5-0 formation in Manchester. Atletico failed to score a shot on target or off target in the 1-0 defeat, but the small danger they posed, two breakthrough counter-attacks in the second half, came when Llorente – always different – rushed up from the right.

Turning a draw in Wednesday’s second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano would be an achievement worthy of their victories at Anfield and Old Trafford. If Atletico wants to create an upset, don’t doubt for a second that Llorente will be at the center of it.