Atlético has started LaLiga as it finished last year, based on victories to shoot up to the highest positions in the competition. He beat Celta and Elche by the minimum and despite the suffering, he is able to solve that complicated start after more than half a squad joined training late due to the dispute in international competitions and has not yet found its peak of form.
If the physical condition of your footballers is improving little by little, without having yet seen Luis Suárez, Trippier or Lodi prepared to start from the eleventh, after the Villarreal game, Atlético will have to face the dreaded FIFA virus. LaLiga lives its first break to play international competitions, where again the bulk of Simeone's squad will disperse to compete with their national teams. And, if the first squads are already coming out, the first problems also appear.
Angel Correa, the rojiblanco scorer and author of the three goals that have meant six points for the Cholo and Rodrigo de Paul, assistant in the goal against Elche, have been cited by Argentina for the dispute of the qualifying matches for the World Cup against Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia, where the albiceleste arrives as the recent champion of the Copa América. And the great difficulty comes in that last duel. Argentina receives Bolivia according to peninsular time at dawn from Thursday to Friday, September 10 (1:30).
Laliga has published the schedules of day 4 of the competition, where Atlético will visit Espanyol on Saturday, September 11 at 2:00 p.m., that is, 36 and a half hours after Argentina's duel has begun in the South American country. Therefore, Simeone could not count on two very important pieces and with whom he is currently the only scorer of the team thanks to his inspiration in front of goal. A problem that also affects other LaLiga clubs with players called up for said match, such as Rulli and Foyth from Villarreal, Montiel, Acuña and Papu Gómez from Sevilla and Pezzella and Guido Rodríguez from Betis. Sevilla plays that Saturday, September 11, against Barcelona, Villarreal at 6:30 p.m. against Alavés and Betis on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. against Granada.
Giménez, Suárez, Lodi …
Argentina has already offered its squad list with the two Atlético present. But, this mismatch of dates can affect several more players of the rojiblanco team. The Uruguay of Giménez and Suárez plays against Ecuador an hour before Argentina and 37 and a half hours prior to the match against Espanyol. The Brazil of Lodi does it against Peru an hour after the albiceleste35 and a half hours before the game in Cornellà. It remains to know the calls of the two national teams.