The 1,000 club

Atlético faces a very demanding schedule. The rojiblanco team is aware that it cannot be neglected and that He did not know how to start after the last break, where he added a victory, three draws and two defeats with a balance of 12 goals in favor and another 12 against with games too busy for what Simeone would like, who will strive to reduce the bleeding behind.

The points have been slipping away and Atlético cannot afford more punctures, with the qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League in suspense and the lead in the League to five points, although Real Sociedad has played one more game than the rojiblancos. For this reason, it is so important to measure the effort load of your footballers. Simeone will recover Lemar and Llorente during the break, two fundamental players whose absence has been very painful for the team. And the coaching staff crosses its fingers so that all the internationals return healthy.

Koke, Oblak, Griezmann, João Félix, Carrasco, Herrera, De Paul, Correa, Savic, Cunha, Renan Lodi, Giménez and Luis Suárez They have been summoned by their respective national teams and will be reincorporating during the next week to the routine of the group. From Paul, Correa, Cunha and Lodi They will be the last to return, since the Argentina-Brazil is played in the early morning of Tuesday to Wednesday at 00:30 (peninsular time) in Buenos Aires. Will be the ones face the return of LaLiga against Osasuna with less recovery time (Saturday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m.), so Simeone will have to assess if they are available and if so if they can be from the game.

In that accumulation of kilometers, a total of six players have already exceeded 1,000 minutes so far this year only taking Atlético into account. The first on the list is a Oblak who has played it all (1,440), followed by Carrasco (1,211), Giménez (1,122), Hermoso (1,066), Koke (1,061) and Luis Suárez (1,037). Especially striking is the case of the two Uruguayans, since Giménez last season could hardly have continuity due to injuries and in the last break He returned with discomfort that prevented him from being in the game against Liverpool and Suárez is, at 34, the oldest footballer in the squad.

They are followed in the list by a Griezmann who at Atlético has added 729 minutes on his return (five goals and one assist), but who added his participation with Barcelona He is already seven minutes away from 1,000 just counting the clubs. The eighth is a Trippier (928 ‘) who was injured in Mestalla. El Cholo faces the dilemma between starting to manage efforts, and the need to win games. Since the last stop, players like De Paul (887 ‘) or João Félix (568’) have taken a step forward, but Simeone will have to show off the depth of the squad for when the encounters accumulate. Keep in mind that team members such as Cunha (158 ‘) or Vrsaljko (125’) have played less for Atlético than Saúl (200 ‘) who left at the conclusion of the third day of the League.