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Atletico Madrid has received a quadruple injury boost for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final with Arsenal, which Diego Simeone has named his 25-man squad.
Los Rojiblancos head to the Emirates on the back of a 2-0 La Liga triumph over Valencia with a second-string team, as Simeone kept his big-hitters fresh for the journey to North London.
Atletico had lost Julian Alvarez to an ankle injury during last week’s 1-1 first-leg draw with Mikel Arteta’s side, and the Argentina international was not involved in the squad at the weekend.
Simeone also claimed that striker Alexander Sorloth and winger Giuliano Simeone would not have made the game against Valencia even if they were required, as the attacking pair picked up knocks of their own last week.
Finally, experienced defender Jose Gimenez was a major doubt for the second leg with Arsenal due to a muscular injury, which had kept the Uruguayan out of each of Atletico’s last eight games in all tournaments.
However, Gimenez has been named in Atletico’s travelling party for Tuesday’s game, as have Alvarez, Simeone and Sorloth in a quadruple fitness boost for the visitors.
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Two other notable players who were omitted from the squad against Valencia – Marcos Llorente and David Hancko – are also in the squad for the second leg and expected to start in Simeone’s defence.
In the first leg,Viktor Gyökeres’ first-half penalty was cancelled out by Julián Alvarez, who also converted from the spot after the break, leaving the tie on a knife edge heading to north London.
Diego Simeone’s side carried the greater attacking threat as the first leg at the Estadio Metropolitano wore on, underlining Atleti’s firepower in their most prolific Champions League goalscoring season to date – with a club-record 35 goals, including ten from Alvarez.
Arsenal remain the only unbeaten team in this season’s competition (W10 D3) and boasts the meanest defence, keeping eight clean sheets and conceding just six goals, yet Atleti have not drawn a blank in 37 UEFA matches.
Arsenal’s 4-0 win against the La Liga side on home soil in the league phase – when Gyökeres struck twice – will boost Mikel Arteta’s confidence, while Atleti’s recent record against English opposition offers further encouragement, with just two wins in their last 13 UEFA meetings (D3 L8). However, when the teams last met over two legs, in the 2017/18 Europa League semi-finals, Atleti edged the tie 2-1.
Both clubs are chasing a first European crown, but first Arsenal aim to reach a first final since 2005/06 and Atleti seek another opportunity to etch their name on the trophy after near misses in 2013/14 and 2015/16.
