ATLÉTICO BOSS SIMEONE STRUGGLES WITH ONE DECISION AFTER TESTING XI IN TRAINING BEFORE MADRID DERBY

ATLÉTICO BOSS SIMEONE STRUGGLES WITH ONE DECISION AFTER TESTING XI IN TRAINING BEFORE MADRID DERBY

With the Madrid derby quickly approaching, Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone is still unsure about one key spot in his starting lineup. That’s according to Marca, who this evening gave us a glimpse into the Argentine tactician’s current plans.

Naturally, Simeone will captain his team when they return to action on Thursday night in the Copa del Rey Last-16 matchup between Atlético and bitter rival Real Madrid.

With the latter fresh off sealing glory in the Supercopa de España, and likely to be fatigued on the back of a long journey home from Saudi Arabia, Atléti could well fancy their chances of springing a surprise later this week, to send their Neighbours packing from the cup.

However, for such a scenario to come to pass, manager Simeone will need to make the correct selections in addition to his tactics, and with just 72 hours remaining until kickoff at the Wanda Metropolitano, the Argentine still seems to be suffering from a headache.

This comes in the form of which central defensive partnership to depend upon in the derby. During Monday’s training session, Simeone tested the following XI:

Oblak; Llorente, Savic, Witsel, Hermoso, Lino; Koke, De Paul, Saúl; Morata and Griezmann

Marca, though, point towards stopper Savić’s place in the team being up in the air. This comes with José María Giménez also pushing for a starting berth.

Alternatively, Atlético could opt to field both, in the process either dropping Axel Witsel to the bench, or pushing the Belgian into his more recognised role in the middle of the park. A major call, and one which could prove to be pivotal in the outcome of Thursday’s clash.