Simeone welcomes Barrios and Julián Álvarez back as Atlético already look different | OneFootball

According to La Colina De Nervion, Diego Simeone will have Pablo Barrios back after the break and Julián Álvarez available again. Both return to an Atlético that looks different, with Johnny Cardoso emerging in midfield and Jonathan David in form.

Barrios was injured after the Champions League match against Liverpool, a low-grade myofascial issue in his right leg. He missed Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Real Madrid and is set for Alavés away on 10 October.

Cardoso had played only 19 minutes in the first five games, then grew in Barrios’s absence. He came on in the second half at Anoeta and started against Osasuna and Real Madrid. With Morten Hjulmand, Koke and Marcos Llorente, Simeone now has multiple blends.

In attack the pattern is similar. Álvarez missed Real Sociedad and Osasuna with a muscle overload and returned in the derby, but Simeone kept the Canadian up front and the Argentine entered in the 62nd minute to replace him. David then scored against Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Real Madrid.

The derby hinted at a split, David starting and scoring, Álvarez taking the final half hour. After the break, Álvarez can regain rhythm, yet his team-mate’s streak will weigh on selection. Simeone need not reduce it to one role, only reintroduce the Argentine without dimming David.

Atlético have tightened up while finding solutions. After conceding eight in their first five matches, they let in only one in the next three, Rüdiger in the 89th minute of the derby.

Source: La Colina De Nervion

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