Atletico Madrid is confronted with a crucial eight days that start on Sunday, while in three games they could define their La Liga campaign, and certainly their European run. Diego Simeone will keep a close eye on which resources he risks and has available.
Now that Koke Resurreccion has been missing in recent weeks due to injuries, the Simeone has left without its most natural alternative to Pablo Barrios and Rodrigo de Paul in midfield. The captain of Atletico is recovering from a hamstring injury and played alone on the field on Friday. He is desperate not to miss their Champions League Derby Return bone with Real Madrid on Wednesday and does everything to return on time.
That can be just in the nick of time. Four days after their collision with Real Madrid, Los Rojiblancos Barcelona organizes in the Metropolitano in a crucial league luminaire. According to Diario As, Pablo Barrios is one of the three important players that are suspended for the Barcelona game when they are booked, alongside Julian Alvarez and Jose Maria Gimenez.
A player who will come back for all three of their luminaires in their run-in for the international break is Cesar Azpilicueta. The Basque defender was trained as normal on Friday and will be fit against Getafe.
With Azpilicueta back as an option, Simeone will be able to do another alternative to left back, where Javi Galan struggled on Tuesday evening, and before that, against Lamine Yamal. Reinildo Mandava is another option, but the Mozambique International has been used sparingly by Simeone.
Although Getafe is clearly the least demanding of the run of luminaires that Atletico has had lately, it is also not an ideal opportunity to rotate. Los Azulones can be a tough opponent, especially in the Coliseum, and it uses the two best defenses in La Liga against each other.
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