On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid host Arsenal at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie, but they are set to do so without the services of one of their key players. Star midfielder Pablo Barrios was forced off during their victory over Athletic Club on Saturday, and barring a miracle, he will miss that match at the very least – the return leg is London could also be difficult for him to feature in.
Barrios has suffered multiple muscle injuries this season, and the blow he sustained during the Athletic match is in a similar mould. He was making his first start since returning to action, but another spell on the sidelines appears to be ahead of him again.
As per Diario AS, Atleti head coach Diego Simeone rued the incident with Barrios when he addressed it after Saturday’s match.
“I haven’t seen him yet. The doctors will inform us what injury he may have. Life often makes it difficult for us and they are doing it with him this year, with respect to injuries. He has to take it as a learning curve, with the strength and willingness to learn from what is happening to him. He must be strong and work. Before the game I told him that I trust him a lot, he is very important for us and we are waiting for him. Hopefully the injury is as small as possible and he can be with us at the end of the season.”
Atleti will know more in next 24 hours
The extent of Barrios’ blow should be known before the end of the weekend. He’s very unlikely to be involved against Arsenal on Wednesday, but if it is a minor issue, he could have chances to travel to London the following week for the second leg, but that is likely to be the best case scenario for both he and Atleti.
