Diego simeone to stick by midfielder for madrid derby with one Atletico madrid position in doubt.

After defeating Los Blancos, Atletico Madrid will take on Real Madrid, their city rivals, shortly after their triumph over Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup. Real Madrid has the advantage in momentum, but Los Rojiblancos believe they can win the Copa del Rey on Thursday at home. As the only manager to defeat Real Madrid thus far this year, Diego Simeone intends to largely hold things unchanged for their matchup at the Metropolitano.

Los Colchoneros were beaten 5-3 in extra time, after drawing three-each over 90 minutes. Atletico also took the lead on twice but could not protect their goal having done so. One of the key factors in that, in the eyes of many fans, was Stefan Savic, who returned to the side for the match but struggled. With Jose Maria Gimenez struggling for fitness, Axel Witsel will return to the side, and Marca say that Simeone will make a decision on Gimenez and Savic later in the week but has been training with Savic in situ.

The wide positions in midfield will be the primary areas of concern. In Saudi Arabia, Samuel Lino started the match against Real Madrid; Simeone may substitute Rodrigo Riquelme. Marcos Llorente might go into midfield, and Nahuel Molina could make a comeback on the other side. At that point, Saul Niguez would be the odd man out. Simeone, however, intends to keep things as they were as of Monday, barring Witsel’s return.

They will start at the front with Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann, who scored two of their goals last Wednesday. Memphis Depay worked out by himself on Monday because he is still having trouble staying in shape.

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