Trippier or Arias: the debate for Lisbon

The long-awaited meeting of Champions League quarterfinals against Leipzig (Thursday the 13th at 9:00 p.m.) and Simeone has already made several tests to try to decide his starting eleven for Lisbon. So far he has done two tests And, although he seems to be clear about almost the entire line-up, doubts arise in some positions. For example, on the right side, since in each one of them he has chosen a different one: Arias in the first and Trippier in the second. Therefore, it seems that he has not yet decided who will be the owner of that band against the Germans.

In the most recent experience (the 11 days of LaLiga post-lockdown), the rojiblanco coach seemed to show the same uncertainty (mainly motivated by his rotation policy), since decided to alternate them, playing one game one and the next the other. The cycle began with Athletic (1-1) the Englishman as the starter, although Arias replaced him in the 63rd minute as it was the first game after the quarantine and Cholo did not want to play all of Trippier. Against Osasuna (0-5) it was the Colombian who started in the eleven and was the 90 minutes. This sequence of playing the entire game alternately was repeated until matchday 36, in which Trippier started, but was injured and Arias entered in his place in the 42nd minute. That broke the perfect cast that Simeone had designed.

Making an analysis of the results obtained by Atlético in that period, it is observed that during the matches in which Arias was the starter the rojiblanco club achieved three victories (against Osasuna, Levante and Getafe) and two draws (against Barcelona and Celta). For his part, with Trippier on the starting lawn the mattresses got three wins (against Valladolid, Alavés and Mallorca) and a draw (against Real Sociedad). The other two games (a draw against Athletic and a victory against Betis) were started by Trippier and finished by Arias, so we left them out of the comparison. Total, with the Colombian in the eleven throughout the game, those of Cholo conceded three goals and scored 11, while with the English he received two goals and scored seven (in the last game against Real Sociedad left the pitch in the 78th minute, but Giménez and not Arias came in his place, so we counted it for the British in the statistics).

In view of the data it can be concluded that both are equally valid options to face the Champions League match with guarantees, since the results with them are practically identical.