Diego Simeone, the coach of Atlético de Madrid, already has Ángel Correa, whom he recovered in training this Thursday to place him directly in the tests of the starting eleven for the match against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, conditioned because both Luis Suárez as Matheus Cunha and José María Giménez did specific work after the meetings with their respective national teams and because Héctor Herrera has not yet rejoined.
The Mexican midfielder is the only international left to join the work of the rojiblanco team to prepare for the return to competition after a two-week hiatus, once Correa, who has scored four times in the three most recent league games, has already He joined training this afternoon after his concentration with Argentina.
The attacker completed the entire session normally and ran for the chance to be a starter at the Camp Nou, as evidenced by Simeone’s rehearsal with him along with Joao Félix up front, as he played against Athletic Club in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup and against Real Sociedad in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, in both cases with eliminations for the Madrid team.
It’s not conclusive proof yet, especially since the other two options for the attack, Cunha and Luis Suárez, did not participate in most of the training or in the tactical movements, once both, like José María Giménez, who will start at the Camp Nou in the center of defense along with Stefan Savic, had alternative work. After warming up they went to the gym after playing early Wednesday morning with their national teams.
In the rest of the eleven with which Simeone rehearsed this Thursday, very similar to the one he already drew last Tuesday, the other novelty was Reinildo Mandava, whom he used on the left side.
If on Tuesday he had first Renan Lodi, then Mario Hermoso and finally with his new signing from Lille, this Thursday he always bet on the Mozambican footballer in that position, with Mario Hermoso as central (it is expected that Giménez will play there and that it will be Hermoso whoever moves to the left flank) and with Renan Lodi, reinstated in training after missing Wednesday’s session due to the reaction caused by the second dose of the covid-19 vaccineamong the substitutes.
In the rest of the positions he insisted on the same: Jan Oblak as goalkeeper; Daniel Wass confirmed on the right side; Stefan Savic as right central; the midfield made up of Thomas Lemar, Koke Resurrection, Rodrigo de Paul and Yannick Carrasco and a place up front for Joao Félix. All of them seem safe for this Sunday’s lineup, as well as Giménez and perhaps Mario Hermoso, with the question of who will enter the attack: Correa, Luis Suárez or Matheus Cunha.
Neither Antoine Griezmann nor Marcos Llorente nor Geoffrey Kondogbia exercised with the group this Thursday, three days before the duel at the Camp Nou. The three continue to recover from their respective muscle injuries that put them in serious doubt for Barcelona.