Krishnan Sreekumar
Atletico Madrid ace Luis Suarez expected to miss Champions League clash against Manchester United
According to Spanish journalist Javier Diaz (h/t Mirror), Atletico Madrid will be without star striker Luis Suarez as manager Diego Simeone is planning to leave the forward out against Manchester United in the Round of 16 tie of the Champions League.
Suarez is no stranger to United, having faced them multiple times in the Premier League with Liverpool and also coming up against the Red Devils with former club Barcelona.
Now, it looks like Simeone has decided to drop the player in their important first leg of the Round of 16 against United. Atletico have the home advantage in the first leg of the tie on Wednesday night.
This is sure to be a boost for Man United, as Suarez has loads of experience playing against us in the past and is also a world-class forward. Without the Uruguayan, Atletico may be weak up front, in what is good news for the Red Devils’ rearguard.
Defensive reshuffle
Atletico are heading into the Champions League clash against the Old Trafford side off the back of a 3-0 away win against Osasuna, bouncing back strongly after their home defeat against Levante previously. The La Liga champions are currently fifth in the league, doing a poor job of retaining their title.
It is said that Simeone may opt to play with five at the back, which rules out a starting spot for Suarez in the side as Angel Correa and Joao Felix may link up front together against Man United on Wednesday.
This is sure to come as good news for Man United’s defence, who themselves have been struggling this season. The Red Devils have not managed to hold on to slender leads of late, which has led to the side dropping precious points in the Premier League.
Like Atletico, the Old Trafford side have always been poor domestically, holding on to fourth place at the moment, despite the teams under them having multiple games in hand to make up the deficit. We can only hope that our European story is different on Wednesday.
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Suarez has scored 11 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions this season which is only a decent amount, but there can be no questioning the striker’s instincts and abilities to produce when it matters most. He was hugely influential in the La Liga side winning the league last year with his goals, and so his omission from the team will be a big miss for Diego Simeone’s side.
Rangnick and co meanwhile, will hope that their own talisman Cristiano Ronaldo will give his best against Atletico, with the Portugal superstar haunting the opponents on multiple occasions during his time with Real Madrid and Juventus. We can hope he continues the same trend on Wednesday with United.
