Nacho Donado: 'Injury cost Marc Pubill his World Cup place'

Nacho Donado recounts Pubill's improbable arrival, signed as a full-back and converted into a centre-back, and goes further: for him, Pubill is better than Laporte, Porro and even Cubarsí, and will end up kicking the door down with Spain.

Rubén Uría recalls the string of coincidences that brought Marc Pubill to Atlético, which began when Jesús Areso chose to play for Athletic Club instead. Nacho Donado adds a detail that left him open-mouthed: he was told that the player Atlético really wanted was Pubill, but that they went for Areso first because he was more expensive. "That's Atleti for you," he sums up.

Pubill arrived as a right-back and ended up playing at centre-back. He spent the whole pre-season in that position because Simeone did not trust Giménez to stay fit and because Nahuel Molina's departure never quite materialised. Donado jokes that the story deserves a chapter in one of Uría's books.

Then he goes further. He considers it a real shame that Pubill picked up an injury before the game against Tottenham in London, because he was set to be called up by Spain, and he believes that cost him a starting place at the World Cup. Although Laporte, Pedro Porro and Cubarsí had a great tournament, he rates Pubill above all three, Cubarsí included, with whom he would form the ideal centre-back pairing. His conclusion: just as he did at Atlético, Pubill will end up kicking the door down.