Comment Absences of Godin and Gimenez nothing to worry about

One of the favourite mantras in the world of sport is that whenever a starter goes down injured or picks up a suspension, no matter how talented the lost individual may be, the team will cope just fine so long as the next man up does their job.

Listening to some LaLiga, Premier League or Serie A pre-match press conferences, you'd be forgiven for believing that the opposite was true, given that so many coaches try to submit their excuses early by playing up the absence of a star player.

But not Diego Simeone.

With concern regarding Diego Godin's ankle ligament strain still marked on the medical report like a bad coffee stain, the Argentine knew that the right thing to do for Sunday's match against Valencia was to rest the Uruguayan - yet he also made that decision safe in the knowledge that the next man up would do an acceptable job.

That man was 20-year-old French youth international Lucas Hernandez, who had also featured for 54 minutes in the previous weekend's 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna, coming on when Jose Maria Gimenez picked up a first half knock.

At the Estadio Mestalla, he lined up alongside Stefan Savic - who was a backup himself this time last year - from the beginning in what was just his 16th start for Los Rojiblancos.

Immediately, however, he proved to the millions of spectators watching across the globe that he was up to the task, intercepting a second minute Nani pass that would otherwise have found an unmarked Rodrigo in Jan Oblak's penalty area.

He had completed a similarly vital highjacking of the ball in the win over Deportivo, leaping through the air to head away a dangerous-looking cross, but demonstrated on Sunday that last weekend's top-class play was no fluke.

Having started his Valencian afternoon in the best possible way, Lucas then added to his highlight reel of decisive moments by sliding in front of a Santi Mina shot in the 54th minute to deny a would-be goal with a block that Godin himself would have been proud of.

In total, the Frenchman made a total of two blocks and two interceptions on Atletico's way to victory, while he also won four of his five aerial challenges and won the ball with two of the four tackles he attempted - with those ratios both working out better than Godin's equivalents.

There is, of course, no argument being made that Lucas is a better player than his Uruguayan defensive mentor - at least not currently - but the point is that he has played well enough in each of the past two Sundays to ensure that the absences of Godin and Gimenez did not become problematic.

Throughout his Atletico tenure, Simeone has been forced to put together some makeshift starting XIs when injuries have hit the hardest, but he has always been able to squeeze out just enough talent from the next man up to ensure Los Colchoneros remained competitive.

Lucas Hernandez is simply the latest example of this inspiring philosophy.