Atletico Madrid entertains Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night in a game Diego Simeone’s side has to win to remain in a good position to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Atletico’s European campaign got off to a positive start two weeks ago with a 1-1 draw away to Lazio, although the point was frustrating after Lazio keeper Ivan Provedel headed the 95th-minute equalizer to rob Atletico of all three points.
Feyenoord travels to Madrid as group leaders following their 2-0 win at home to Celtic, and they and Lazio are likely to be Atletico’s main rivals to go into the last-16.
The good news for Simeone was that Argentinean international Rodrigo De Paul was able to play 30 minutes of their 3-2 win against Cadiz at the weekend and should be able to start in midfield.
Meanwhile, Alvaro Morata returns after missing out at the weekend due to suspension and should be fresh, although Angel Correa showed his value with two goals to beat Cadiz.
FC Barcelona is also in Champions League action on Wednesday, with a difficult visit to play Porto, and coach Xavi Hernandez saw his injury problems increase during their fortunate 1-0 win at home to Sevilla on Friday night.
Raphinha suffered a hamstring injury in that game and he joins Frenkie de Jong and Pedri on the sidelines. That means 16-year-old Lamine Yamal is likely to start, two days after signing a new contract to keep him at the club until June 2026.
B-team players Fermin Lopez and Marc Casado have been named in the squad to travel to Portugal as Xavi looks to make up the numbers in the 20-man squad.
