Atlético face life without Barrios after fresh injury setback | OneFootball

Atlético have lost Pablo Barrios to a low-grade myofascial injury in his right leg. He is ruled out for Anoeta, and is a major doubt for the derby against Madrid. Diego Simeone, as from January to May last season, must again cope without his most important player.

February proved the turning point. He was injured in the Copa del Rey quarter-final against Betis, missing nine matches while Atlético faced Barcelona in the semi-finals and Tottenham in the Champions League last 16.

Barrios tried to return but quickly relapsed. He came back on 10 March against Spurs for 21 minutes, then suffered again and missed eight more games, with the Copa final ahead. He featured against Elche and Athletic, fell once more, and did not reappear, totalling 109 minutes across three matches since February as Atlético ended empty-handed.

Pre-season for 26-27 began early, with his minutes tightly managed. He played 90 against Málaga, was due 24 against Villarreal, then 90 against Sevilla and Athletic, and 77 against Liverpool when the alarms sounded. After five matches he was back in the treatment room, having played 371 minutes, 82.4% of the total, starting 80% of them.

“When a footballer like Barrios falls into a run of recurrent injuries, you have to view them more holistically, there is no simple cause and effect,” said sports educator Andrés Paris, speaking to AS. “An injury always has a physical component, but the mental load, stress, pressure and fear of breaking down again can weigh too, and you might compete with an unconscious protection that perhaps makes you more prone to injury.”

Simeone will now seek solutions. Llorente-Hjlulmand is one option, Koke-Hjulmand another, or it could be Cardoso’s moment as life without Barrios goes on.

Source: AS

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”