Atletico Madrid Manager Diego Simeone has complained that his injury crisis is down to international duty often returning him injured players.
Los Colchoneros are going through another injury crisis, as happened at the start of last season, and have already seen 11 players miss game time through injury, with some picking up multiple problems. Reinildo Mandava came into the season injured, recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament problem, but Thomas Lemar is also out for several months with a torn Achilles’ tendon.
Simeone was asked how he was dealing with the injury crisis by Diario AS ahead of their Champions League clash. Los Colchoneros have just one central defender fit.
“Like every coach who loses important players along the way. With so many games we need the players and in this aspect Barrios left with the national team and returned with a calf problem that he later injured, Soyuncu also left with his national team and returned with a pubic problem and has missed six games.”
“We can’t do anything about that, no one is going to care at the conclusion of the game if one player played or another played.”
Rodrigo de Paul is another who returned from international duty to miss game time, and on the whole, it’s been a major issue for Los Rojiblancos. Once out of European competition, Atletico did manage to find their fitness, but while playing two or three games per week, they struggled last season too. The schedule is no doubt responsible, but it would be fair to argue that it has not been handled that well by Atletico either.