Atletico Madrid star loses Diego Simeone’s trust after two costly errors in space of 13 days

Up until February 2023, Reinildo Mandava has been an undisputed starter for Atletico Madrid – that was until; he suffered an ACL injury at the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid. He returned to action in December, although he no longer holds the same status in Diego Simeone’s squad.

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Reinildo has made just 15 appearances for Atleti since returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Mozambique, with eight of those being from the start. However, as per Diario AS, he is no longer trusted by Simeone, which was shown on Saturday during the victory over Mallorca, when Cholo opted to use Cesar Azpilicueta as a left-sided centre-back instead.

Back in February, he gave away a penalty against Athletic in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash, which proved to be the decisive moment as Los Leones won 1-0, before eventually progressing 4-0 on aggregate. Less than two weeks later, he was at fault for Inter’s winner at the San Siro, although Atleti did manage to progress from that Champions League round of 16 tie after winning the return leg.

Reinildo could very well end up being part of the exodus of players at Atletico Madrid this summer. His contract is up in 2025, and if there are no plans to renew, club bosses would need to cash in now. Regardless, it seems like he won’t be able to make his way back to being a starter in Simeone’s eyes.

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