It was before a game against Chelsea in 2017 that Saul Niguez sat down with Sportsmail and told the story of his burst kidney - one that illustrated perfectly what lengths he would once go to at Atletico Madrid to just get in the starting XI.
Saul was in his favoured central midfield position that season and that’s where he started the game against Chelsea. Atletico lost the match 2-1 thanks to a 93rd minute winner from Michy Batshuayi.
They finished third in that Champions League group and they dropped into the Europa League but they won the competition, beating Marseille in the final, again with Saul in midfield.