Atletico Madrid suffer huge injury blow just days before Chelsea Champions League clash
Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday night, and ahead of the game, their Spanish counterparts have received mixed injury news.
Atletico Madrid have been dealt a blow ahead of their Champions League Round of 16 clash with Chelsea.
The two sides face off in Bucharest on Tuesday after the fixture was moved due to an extension of Spain’s ban on UK arrivals due to coronavirus.
And ahead of the game, Atletico have suffered an injury blow in the form of Yannick Carrasco, who has suffered a muscular injury in his left leg, as confirmed today.
Carrasco has made 21 appearances for Atletico so far this season and he now looks set to miss the Chelsea clash in what is a significant blow for Diego Simeone.
But it’s not all bad news for the Atleti boss. After Jose Maria Gimenez and Joao Felix returned to action during the week, midfielder Thomas Lemar has been cleared to play.
Lemar has been out since early February after he tested positive for coronavirus, but he has now tested negative and is free to join the group ahead of Atletico’s La Liga clash with Levante on Saturday and the Champions League fixture with Chelsea.
Los Rojiblancos are also hoping Moussa Dembele, on loan from Lyon, and Hector Herrera will follow suit in the coming days after also testing positive earlier in the month. Though, at this stage, neither have been cleared to play.
So, it’s very much mixed news for Atletico, but the return of Dembele and Herrera would be very much welcomed having been stripped bare due to coronavirus in recent weeks.
The return of the creative Felix is also a huge boost in what is a busy week for the Madrid club. Simeone’s men drew with Levante in La Liga during the week, and they play the Valencian club again on Saturday before facing Chelsea on Tuesday in Romania.
Meanwhile, Chelsea haven’t had a mid-week game to worry about, taking on Southampton on Saturday before taking on Atleti, and Thomas Tuchel also has the benefit of having a largely fit squad at this stage of the season.
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