Atletico Madrid to welcome back two key players for Barcelona showdown

Atletico Madrid are hoping to finish the job when they host Barcelona at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday. Diego Simeone’s side lead 2-0 from last week’s Champions League quarter-final first leg in Catalonia, which makes Los Colchoneros firm favourites to face Arsenal or Sporting CP in the last four.

Atleti got the win at the Spotify Camp Nou without a number of key players. Pablo Barrios was among those to miss out, and while he will again be absent on Tuesday, the same cannot be said for Jan Oblak and Johnny Cardoso.

According to Sport, Oblak and Cardoso have resumed training with their Atleti teammates, and barring any last-minute setbacks, both will be included in Simeone’s squad for the Barcelona showdown this week.

Simeone has big decisions to make with his line-up

This news is very welcome for Atleti, but it also gives Simeone a selection headache. Juan Musso has deputised very well in Oblak’s absence, so it would be a risky call to drop him, especially since the Slovenia international will not be at 100% by the time Wednesday rolls around. As for Cardoso, he will almost certainly start on the bench, with Koke Resurreccion and Marcos Llorente primed to continue in the centre of midfield.

Nevertheless, Atleti will be pleased to welcome both back, especially considering they will be without Marc Pubill (suspended) and David Hancko (injured) for the Barcelona match, while Jose Maria Gimenez is also unlikely to return in time from yet another physical problem. That means Clement Lenglet and Robin Le Normand will start in defence together, which is a pairing that has not often been utilised in tandem, especially this season.

It remains to be seen how Simeone will line up his side at the Metropolitano. It won’t be his strongest XI, but he’ll hope it’s enough to see off Barcelona’s expected fightback.

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