Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone certainly has some fitness concerns heading into tomorrow’s crunch class at FC Barcelona. It starts with stellar forward Antonie Griezmann who recently returned from an ankle injury to go 105 minutes in midweek continental competition.
Now he’ll face a late fitness test on St. Patrick’s Day, with strong speculation that Griezmann might be rested ahead of the March internationals.
FC Barcelona at Atletico Madrid FYIs
Kick: Sun Mar. 17, 8pm, Civitas Metropolitan Stadium, Madrid, Spain
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Preview Material for Both Sides: Starting XI Predictions Team News
La Liga Standing, Form: Atletico Madrid 4th, 55 pts, Barca 3rd, 61 pts
La Liga Form: Atletico Madrid LWDWL Barca WDWWD
Result Probability: Atletico Madrid 41% Draw 26% Barca 33%
Team News for Both Sides
Elsewhere Thomas Lemar (recovering from an Achilles rupture) remains out; ditto for Jose Gimenez (thigh muscle injury). And now Mario Hermoso (also a thigh problem) is joining them on the injured list.
Shifting over to the Blaugranes, we’ll do the bad news first, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Alejandro Balde remain out of commission due to various injuries while Gavi is out until next season.
Now to the good news, Marcos Alonso and Ferran Torres are in line to be available for selection here. Xavi will have to go with his strongest squad possible, and this crunch clash is massive for top four ramifications.
We’ll take a look at what that might look like in the next post.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.