Former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates did not make the grade in the Premier League and endured a nightmare night for Sporting Lisbon.
On last night’s evidence, you never would have believed that Sporting Lisbon’s centre-backs had played for Liverpool and Barcelona.
Between them, Sebastian Coates and Jeremie Mathieu combined to gift Atletico Madrid a 2-0 lead in the Europa League quarter-finals, with the Uruguayan and the Frenchman at fault for each of the La Liga giants’ first-half strikes.
And the Liverpool fans who were tuning in to the mammoth clash at the Wanda Metropolitano would have found themselves suffering from some rather vivid déjà vu. Because Coates, who joined from Nacional in 2011 for a hefty £8 million, offered a clear indication why he never really made the grade at Anfield.
Coates might have been Sporting’s best defender this season but that form went out the window in Madrid.
It was his misplaced pass that gifted Koke the opening goal after 24 seconds and, in another dreadful misjudgement, played in Diego Costa for a simple chance which the Chelsea striker somehow spurned in the second half.
It was the sort of error-prone performance that restricted Coates to just 12 Premier League appearances for Liverpool before they sold him to Sunderland at a loss of £5 million in 2015.
Jurgen Klopp’s defence may have come under plenty of criticism this season but Coates’ display is a reminder that things could be worse.
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