Rival watch: Atletico Madrid to welcome three stars back ahead of Barcelona game | OneFootball

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are already preparing for their next match-up which is scheduled days after their meeting in La Liga that ended in a win for the Catalans.

The next meeting will take place at the Spotify Camp Nou and will be a high-stakes night for the Blaugrana as they will look to secure a lead on aggregate in the first-leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.

Still feeling the fatigue of a high-intensity game at the weekend, Barcelona will not have it easy on the night, especially with even Marc Bernal being injured. Atletico Madrid, however, will appear more rested and with a fuller squad.

Key returnees

Diego Simeone managed to hand several key starters a rest at the weekend, and will not mind the defeat much given his team’s situation in La Liga. However, he is also set to gain some players back in his squad, as relayed by AS.

Jan Oblak is back for Atletico (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

For starters, Jan Oblak trained with the group earlier today, which comes as a massive boost for the Colchoneros in goal. He will likely replace Juan Musso in the starting lineup.

Marc Pubill is another player who returned to group training and is thus expected to make it for the first leg against Barcelona. He has not played since mid-March and may well return to the starting lineup.

A third player who will be back in Simeone’s plans is Rodrigo Mendoza, who may not start but will serve as a valuable option off the bench regardless.

Johnny Cardoso and Pablo Barrios continued to train away from the club and are expected to be unavailable for the game midweek.

Barcelona, meanwhile, will be without four players as Marc Bernal became the latest name to join Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, and Andreas Christensen on the sidelines.