Atletico Madrid are making their final preparations for Thursday’s Champions League opener against RB Leipzig, taking place at the Metropolitano. Diego Simeone appears to have settled on his line-up for the match, and there are a couple of notable changes from the side the defeated Valencia last weekend.
As per Marca, Simeone is set to make two alterations from Sunday. Perhaps the biggest surprise will be that Conor Gallagher is projected to be benched, despite opening his scoring account for Atleti against Valencia. Rodrigo Riquelme is to take his place, which would allow Samuel Lino to play further forward.
The second change would see Julian Alvarez, off the back of also scoring his first Atleti goal at the weekend, coming into the side for Alexander Sorloth.
Atletico Madrid will fancy their chances of kicking off their Champions League campaign with a victory, especially as they are at their fortress home stadium. It remains to be seen whether these expected changes are a help, or a hindrance.