LaLiga returns for Atlético and Simeone will have no contemplations despite the fact that 72 hours after facing Alavés, Manchester City is waiting in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Match by match is a philosophy for Cholo and the next meeting is always the most important. In addition, in the domestic competition there can be no relaxation despite the fact that the five consecutive victories have settled the team in fourth place.
The mattress technician has recovered pieces in the break, with Lemar, Vrsaljko, Cunha and Wass already with the group after overcoming their respective ailments and the first two with options to enter directly into the eleven. Everything could not be so beautiful at Atlético, which has one of its great evils of the season in injuries and announced that Herrera suffers a thigh injury that will keep him out of the match against Alavés and almost certainly from the match at the Etihad Stadium.
With Koke and Correa sanctioned, Simeone will continue with the team that had been doing so well before the break, but he will have to make changes in the middle to alleviate the casualties. The return of Vrsaljko can have in Llorente the great beneficiary. The man from Madrid had been acting as a patch in the right lane, but he loses arrival and the midfield is forced to give up his physicality. The Croatian would return to the eleven to accompany Savic, Giménez, Reinildo and Lodi, a defense of maximum confidence and a permanence in the eleven of the Brazilian despite the fact that Carrasco is sanctioned in the Champions League (he will play the last of his three games away).
To cover the absences of Koke and Herrera, Simeone apparently rwill go to Kondogbia as pivotinjured after a great performance against Manchester United and Celta and who already had minutes at Old Trafford and Vallecas and Lemar is fighting to win a place alongside the Central African and Llorente. De Paul has accumulated minutes with Argentina during the break and could be Simeone’s rotation by rest. Upstairs, the technician would continue betting on the couple formed by João Félix and Griezmann who have been offering such a good performance. Therefore, the eleven to receive Alavés could be made up of Oblak, Vrsaljko, Savic, Giménez, Reinildo, Lodi, Kondogbia, Llorente, Lemar or De Paul, Griezmann and João Félix. Players like Wass, Felipe, Hermoso (who trained without problems today), Carrasco, Cunha or Suárez would wait from the bench, with maximum internal competition in search of minutes.