This afternoon, Atlético measures its crisis against a regional rival who should only be a procedure for those of Simeone, even if the not too distant antecedents before Cultural Leonesa and Cornellà invite caution. However there are five categories of difference between one team and another, and everything except leaving the stadium today with a clear victory Hipolit plans of Vic, a town located just 70 kilometers from Barcelona, would only aggravate a wound that continues to bleed in fits and starts.
The Copa del Rey may be one of the most realistic titles the team could aspire to this season, and after almost reaching the final last year, the goal is to try to get back up a trophy which no longer remains in the red and white display cases since 2013, in which was the first great success of the Cholo. 12 years have passed since then. Too long.
To prepare for the cup debut Simeone maintain the declines Pablo Barrios, Marcos Llorente, César Azpilicueta, Robin Le Normand and Clément Lenglet and summoned seven players from the reserve team to training, Kostis, Spina, Carlos Giménez, Javi Serrano, Alberto Moreno, Adrián Almeida And Javi Bonar. We’ll see how many end up playing, but central defender Kostis and midfielder Javi Serrano appear to have plenty of optionsas we saw yesterday during the previous training.
But the big news in the starting XI is will be the presence of the Frenchman Lemar, who played a few minutes of testimony last Sunday in Seville, but who has been absent from the lineup since rupturing his Achilles tendon in Mestalla on September 16, 2023, over a year ago. Atlético wants to put him in the window with the intention of seeing him leave in January and thus leave room for some reinforcements, but it will be complicated because after such a long absence he barely has a market.
According to Simeone’s latest test, Vic’s starting XI will consist of Musso, Nahuel, Witsel, Kostis, Galán, Giuliano, Javi Serrano, Gallagher, Riquelme, Lemar And Belt. They fall Giménez, Koke, De Paul, Lino, Sorloth And Julien Alvarez compared to the usual ones, but it makes sense.
The Balearics whistle the match Guillermo Cuadra Fernández and we must not forget that in the first Cup qualifiers there is no VAR, so the referee’s criteria will prevail yes or yes without the possibility of modification.
How logical The match brought huge expectations to Vic and throughout the region. Tickets were sold out yesterday and the Hipòlit Planes stadium, with a capacity of 4,000 spectators, should of course be packed. Be careful because the pitch is artificial grassa surface to which Atlético players are not accustomed but which, of course, should not serve as the slightest excuse.
