The Metropolitan seeks the antidote to fatigue
An Atlético depleted by casualties receives Cádiz in search of its third consecutive victory
MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Sunday at the Cívitas Metropolitano against Cádiz (9:00 p.m./DAZN), Atlético de Madrid seeks a third consecutive victory that will boost its morale before the final rush of the marathon of September-October matches, all against a rival that has never managed to win at the home of the red and white team and wants to redirect its course.
Like September, the month of October will also come loaded with a selection window that will once again stop activity in the clubs, increasingly annoyed by the fatigue that so much accumulation of matches and trips means for their players. A fatigue that Atlético does not escape either.
“There are more national team matches than before and they break everything for us, the competitions that continually appear… There are more matches than in other times. There is no other way to recover than by resting and having a fresh head to compete again on Sunday, and on Wednesday, and again on Sunday,” Diego Pablo Simeone warned.
On October 8, when they play their last match before each player travels with their respective national teams, the Colchonero team will have played seven duels in 23 days, that is, one every three days, a series that began with the disaster of Mestalla (3-0) and that continued with the painful draw in the last minute of Lazio in Rome (1-1) in the ‘Champions’.
Cádiz will be the last match before a week in which they will host Feyenoord in the continental competition and Real Sociedad in LaLiga EA Sports, where, thanks to their last two wins against Real Madrid (3-1) and Osasuna (0 -2) is fifth (13th) just one point away from the Champions League access places.
To combat fatigue, the ‘Cholo’ team cling to their fortress in the Metropolitano, a true fortress where they have already won eleven consecutive league victories, including one against the Cádiz team (5-1) in the final stretch of last year. However, the Argentine coach will have to look to the reserve team to complete a team dismantled by the infirmary.
To the absences due to injury of Memphis Depay, Reinildo, Caglar Söyüncü, Thomas Lemar, Stefan Savic and Pablo Barrios, the team adds this week that of Álvaro Morata, who received a double yellow in the clash at El Sadar and will have to play a game of sanction. This could leave room at the top for the Argentine Ángel Correa, who has returned to training with the team after overcoming his sprained knee, or even for Roro Riquelme, who could delay his position to leave the Frenchman Antoine Griezmann as the only striker.
Behind, the Slovenian Jan Oblak will complete 400 games with Atleti, and Nahuel Molina and Samuel Lino, on the wings, and Azpilicueta, Giménez and Hermoso, in the center of the defense, will seek to help him achieve his 195th clean sheet; Llorente, Koke and Saúl will be the members of the midfield.
Opposite, Cádiz goes to the capital of Spain with the aim of leaving behind a series of three games without knowing victory. The defeat in San Mamés (3-0) and the draws against Real Betis (1-1) and Rayo Vallecano (0-0) have left Sergio González’s team in ninth place (9), three units behind the positions continental.
Two wins adorn the Cádiz team’s locker, both in the Nuevo Mirandilla, and now they aspire to achieve the first at Atlético’s home, where they have never won and have only managed to score once, more than 32 years ago.
The Catalan coach, who will rotate again, will have to deal with the absences of Uruguayan forward Brian Ocampo, with a knee injury, and midfielder Fede San Emeterio, also with knee discomfort.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
ATLÉTICO DE MADRID: Oblak; Molina, Azpilicueta, Giménez, Hermoso, Lino; Llorente, Koke, Saúl; Correa and Griezmann.
CADIZ: Ledesma; Zaldua, Meré, Fali, Pires; Alcaraz, Escalante, Navarro, Machís; Negredo and Chris Ramos.
–REFEREE: Iglesias Villanueva (C.Gallego).
–STADIUM: Cívitas Metropolitano.