Simeone, between the need and the difficulty to rotate the team

Atlético returned from the break in June due to the coronavirus health crisis at a very high level. The rojiblanco team improved their version in a notable way despite the accumulation of matches and certified the third place, with its respective access to the Champions League, despite the fact that it had reached March sixth. In that period, Simeone exploited the five changes to give a new look to the team during the games and got used to the constant rotations in his eleven, averaging more than five variations per match until all players were finding their peak of form.

A plan that he had also begun to develop at the beginning of the course again with great results. Except in the position of right back, where Trippier has played it all and already exceeds 1,000 minutes (1,080), Cholo had proposed to give his most loaded players a rest from time to time to avoid injuries and have freshness with the dispute of matches during the week. For example Koke and Savic were not from the game in Huesca, João Félix was a substitute in Vigo and against Betis, Suárez did not even travel to Pamplona, ​​Llorente started three league commitments from the bench … until now.

The international break disrupted the coach's plans and bad luck was primed with the center of the field and the forward. Herrera returned from Mexico with a muscle injury and Suárez and Torreira infected with coronavirus. To the losses in the middle, where Herrera had made a hole in the eleven, he joins the impossibility of having Kondogbia in Champions, not being able to be registered until January. And when it seemed that Coast returned from his injury with the intention of taking an important role in the attack point, the Hispanic-Brazilian suffered “a spontaneous deep vein thrombosis in the right leg” that will keep him off the pitch for an indeterminate time.

These losses have caused the depth of the red-and-white squad to be reduced and the options to rotate are intensified. Between Saturday's victory against Barcelona and Wednesday's draw against Lokomotiv, only one piece of the initial scheme changed, Hermoso por Lodi. The other ten headlines repeated and ended up paying for the attrition. Although Atlético was once again better than the Russian team and once again deserved the victory without success, the pressure from the team and the arrivals in the rival area went from more to less, concentrating the clearest chances in the first 20 minutes.

A loss of gasoline that goes to more, since In seven days Atlético will face each other with Lokomotiv, Valencia and Bayern, with many things at stake. Continue leaving great sensations in the League to fight for the head and play a qualification for the eighth of the Champions League that has been difficult. On the visit to Mestalla he returns Kondogbia, who could have his first start as an rojiblanco against his team until last month. Luis Suárez is pending to test negative in the next PCR to be able to rejoin the group, the same case as Torreira, although the midfielder tested positive later. Other footballers like Lemar, Vitolo, Felipe or Hermoso they also aspire to the starting team.

However, Simeone will have to continue accumulating minutes in his same players, since there are few spare parts of his confidence (Saponjic is not expected in his plans). Cholo has to face the difficulty between rotate to rest your players and avoid injury that no matter how minimum they may be, they entail several low parties and continue competing at the highest level, immersed and without the option of failure in two suffocating competitions.