One game against Ireland and all of a sudden Mario Mandzukic was a European superstar. The big Croation has a lot to thank Ireland's leaky Euro 2012 defence for.
Okay, that may be stretching things a bit but there's no doubt his two goals to kick off that Championship set him up for a very good summer. Strong performances in Poland and Ukraine saw Bayern Munich splash out to take him to Bavaria from Wolfsburg.
At Bayern, he was a good player in an exemplary team. He more than held his own in the goalscoring department but you knew that once someone better came along, Bayern would happily ship him out. Sure enough, Robert Lewandowski became available and Mandzukic was on his way to Atletico Madrid.
Once again he did well without really setting the league on fire. 12 La Liga goals didn't quite replace Diego Costa's haul and now that Juventus have come calling, Mandzukic is on the move once more.
.@MarioMandzukic9 has just touched down in Turin! Welcome, Mario! pic.twitter.com/rkfLu5lXFm
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) June 21, 2015
That's interesting enough in itself but as the folks over on /r/soccer pointed out, Mandzukic's latest move continues a rather curious sequence.
In 2012, Bayern lost the Champions League final to Chelsea. That summer they bought Mandzukic. In 2014, Atletico lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid. That summer they bought Mandzukic. In 2015, Juventus lost the Champions League final. You get the point.
It worked out perfectly for Bayern in 2013. They defeated Dortmund 2-1, with Mandzukic grabbing one of those goals. It didn't work out quite so well for Atletico. They were knocked out in the quarter finals by Real without looking like they'd score if they were there for two weeks. And now it's Juventus' turn to take a chance on Mandzukic to try and go one better.
