Rival watch: Atletico Madrid boosted by double return before high stakes Barcelona clash | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid completed their final training session before the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona, and the session brought a mixture of good and bad news for Diego Simeone.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the biggest positive from the training ground was the return of Nico Gonzalez. 

The Argentine was able to train normally with the rest of the squad and has recovered in time to be available for the crucial clash. 

His presence is expected to give Atletico more options in midfield, especially in a high-intensity match like this one.

Another encouraging sign was the return of Marc Pubill. The defender had missed the last match due to illness, but he was back in full training with the group. 

His availability offers Simeone extra depth at the back, which could be important against Barcelona’s attacking threat.

Players missing for Atletico

Despite those boosts, Atletico will still be without two important players for the semi-final. 

Pablo Barrios will miss the Barcelona clash. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Pablo Barrios was already expected to miss the match, and the situation has now been confirmed. 

Meanwhile, Johnny Cardoso has also been ruled out after failing to recover from the physical discomfort that kept him out of the team’s two matches against Real Betis last week.

Speaking ahead of the game, Simeone made it clear that he is not dwelling on the absences and is instead focused on preparing the players who are available.

“We’re without Barrios, and I need to focus on what we’re going to do, how we’re going to start the game and what kind of match we’re going to be facing.”

Barcelona, however, are also dealing with their own injury concerns, as the Catalan side travelled to Madrid without Marcus Rashford and Raphinha, both of whom are unavailable for the match. 

The situation in midfield is also complicated, with Pedri ruled out along with Gavi and Andreas Christensen.