Atlético Madrid have suffered another setback ahead of their La Liga clash with Barcelona, scheduled for this coming Saturday.
The newspaper "Sport" reported: "Pessimism is growing at Atlético Madrid regarding the recovery of a number of players suffering from injuries ahead of the clash with Barça."
Barcelona are set to face Atlético Madrid on 4 April in La Liga, following the international break, before meeting again on the 8th and 14th of the same month in the first and second legs of the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Rojiblancos announced yesterday, Wednesday, that two of their players had been injured: American Johnny Cardoso and Norwegian Alexander Sørloth.
The newspaper reported today that the player currently causing concern for Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone is Marc Poblet.
The Catalan defender was injured in the Champions League match against Tottenham and is still not ready to return.
This injury is a major blow to Atlético Madrid’s defence, as the former Almería player has become a key part of the manager’s line-up since being handed a starting place at the end of November.
Pobel is currently training at Cerro del Espino with the rest of his teammates, but he will not be available for Saturday’s league match against Barcelona, and his participation in the first leg of the Champions League tie, which takes place next Wednesday at the Camp Nou, also against the Catalan side, is also highly doubtful.
Pobel’s absence will force Simeone to reshuffle his defence.
Marcos Llorente, the first-choice right-back, will miss one match due to suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card in the Real Madrid derby.
Simeone will therefore have to rely on a back four of Nahuel Molina, Giménez, Hanko and Rogeri, with Jan Oblak or Juan Musso in goal.
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