Espanyol, a rival for Suárez

Simeone has among his ranks a weapon to try to overthrow that rival that costs him so much: Espanyol in Cornellá. He has not beaten him there since 2017. But the Uruguayan, if he arrives as he seems, could be his great solution. And it is that Luis Suárez ended up with an edema in the knee the rojiblancos' last league game, against Villarreal, before the national team break, which is why they did not travel with Uruguay. On Tuesday he was still working on the sidelines with one of the red and white team's recuperators, but on Wednesday he was already participating in a demanding session in which Simeone worked the shots on goal.

Sunday (2:00 pm) will be Suárez's first match against Espanyol as rojiblancoSince last season, their first at Atlético, the parrots were in the Second Division. But in all his seasons at Barcelona he was a rival who suffered. And a lot. Ten goals in 14 games, with three doubles.

Ten in 14 games

In fact, in Suárez's private account he only has one injury to Espanyol, a defeat, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey 2017-18 (1-0). A game in which, by the way, Suárez did not score, but he did in the return leg: one of his two goals served the Catalans to turn the eliminatory around (2-0). The 2015-16 season was the first in which the Uruguayan saw the door against Espanyol. Party that ended up winning the Barcelona 5-0, with two so many his. It was his fifth game in the Catalan derby. In the next three he would see the door five times. Two doubles in the matches of the first and second round of the 2016-17 and a goal in the Barcelona-Espanyol of the 2017-18. In 2019-20, in his last two matches against the parakeets he also saw the door, in the first and second round, with a goal for 2-2 and another for the 1-0 victory of his last time. Until Sunday.