Luis Suarez goes from discard to trump card: Richard Buxton
Striker bags 20 goals to help Atleti close in on La Liga title, after being axed by Barca
Luis Suarez has emphatically helped strike a blow for football's old guard.
Rather than fade into the shadows after six trophy-laden years with Barcelona, the evergreen marksman shows that he still has petrol in his tank as he drives Atletico Madrid to La Liga's summit, while his former team splutter in his absence.
Just nine months after being deemed surplus to Ronald Koeman's requirements, the Uruguayan, 34, stands on the cusp of lifting the La Liga title.
For a second time in eight seasons, the Catalan side made the mistake of gift-wrapping one of their most experienced strikers to help Atletico assume domestic superiority.
But Suarez's impact has been more profound than the last time one of the Nou Camp's highly decorated front men defected to the Spanish capital.
He has already laid waste to David Villa's tally when Los Colchoneros pipped Barca to the 2014 crown.
In 37 appearances for Diego Simeone's side, the 34-year-old has plundered 20 goals to be the team's leading scorer.
Suarez's latest strike, last Sunday's late winner in a 2-1 victory over Osasuna, gave Atleti a two-point cushion over rivals Real Madrid as the Spanish top flight draws to a close this Sunday.
His former club, meanwhile, are seven points adrift of the summit and risk finishing outside the top three for the first time since 2002/03.
A dismal campaign for the five-time European champions is made even more excruciating by the fact that they chose to let Suarez leave to spearhead Atletico's attack for just six million euros (S$9.8m).
While Suarez is showing qualities associated with fine wine, some of his peers are also enjoying a sparkling renaissance, as evidenced by their surprise international recalls.
OLD GUARD
Didier Deschamps' decision to reintegrate Karim Benzema into the France set-up for their delayed Euro 2020 campaign arrives against all odds and past reasoning.
Real's free-scoring talisman, who is back in Les Bleus' fold after a six-year hiatus, is still awaiting trial over his alleged role in a blackmail plot against erstwhile international teammate Mathieu Valbuena in 2015.
Until this week, Deschamps refused to entertain any potential return for the 33-year-old; a line had been crossed which he was prepared to neither forgive nor forget, particularly when it extended to his own character being called into question.
Yet the World Cup-winning coach has relented despite Benzema also showing public animosity towards Olivier Giroud, one of his cohort in Les Bleus' 26-man squad for the Finals, where France aim to add a continental crown to their 2018 World Cup trophy.
Another Chelsea striker - Timo Werner - might fear the re-emergence of a once-discarded stalwart for Germany as Joachim Loew bids for a fitting farewell by turning to Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller.
Die Mannschaft's outgoing coach axed the 2014 World Cup-winning trio of Mueller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng in March 2019, in a bid to defuse tension between the squad's "Bavarian sect" and the so-called "bling-bling gang".
Loew, however, has been forced to swallow his pride by handing Mueller and Hummels surprise call-ups as he bids to add greater quality in depth to their country's stocks.
The 31-year-old Mueller's tally of 11 goals and 18 assists in the Bundesliga alone puts the misfiring Werner in the shade.
Elsewhere, Dani Alves, 38, is additional proof that class is permanent with a fresh inclusion in Brazil's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
With the Copa America also looming, Alves - who last played for the Selecao in October 2019 - has rekindled memories of his starring role in the last edition of the tournament.
Clearly, age is just a number where the game's best are concerned.
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