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Antoine Griezmann. EP
Atletico Distrusts Lille After Their Feat Against Real Madrid

Atletico Distrusts Lille After Their Feat Against Real Madrid

The red-and-whites, severely weakened in defense, rely on the Metropolitano fortress, where they have not lost in Europe for three years and no French team has ever won.

Ignacio Tylko

Madrid

Martes, 22 de octubre 2024, 17:45

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After being thrashed by Benfica in perhaps the most humiliating European match for Atletico under Simeone, the team faces a crucial clash at the Metropolitano against a Lille that causes concern after defeating none other than Real Madrid in the second round of the Champions League.

Although they remain unbeaten in the league after 10 rounds, the red-and-white team is not walking steadily this season. It seems the Argentine coach is still searching, with more shadows than lights. In the top continental competition, they started with a hard-fought victory against Leipzig, Bundesliga leaders alongside Bayern, but perhaps suffered the derby hangover in their setback at Da Luz, where they conceded four goals and Oblak was the best.

Atletico appeals to the Metropolitano fortress, which will already have the presence of the 5,000 fans who could not attend the recent match against Leganes due to the partial closure of the lower south stand because of incidents against Real Madrid with objects thrown at Thibaut Courtois.

Some incidents still linger. If on Monday the Belgian goalkeeper avoided controversy and simply said before the match against Dortmund that he has a different concept of what provocation is compared to Cholo, the Argentine responded also before the Champions League match with irony. "We may not agree and have different opinions, but I am grateful for what he did here and all he gave us, we won the league, played the Champions League final, and he was very important in that process."

It has been almost three years since the red-and-whites lost in continental competition at their stadium, specifically since November 2021 against Milan (0-1), but despite those eleven consecutive unbeaten matches, there is no room for complacency against a rival without the name of other greats, but dangerous and very physical. They arrive in Madrid elated after overcoming the reigning champion, but they must improve their defensive performance if they want to achieve another feat, that of being the first French club to storm the Metropolitano. They are fourth in the French Ligue 1, six points behind leaders PSG and Monaco, and are level with the Madrid team in the Champions League because they lost 2-0 in Lisbon against Sporting in the opening round.

The match, for which Simeone is unsure whether to bet on the trident formed by Griezmann, Julian Alvarez, and Alexander Sorloth, who shone with his brace against Leganes, is low on defenders. Cholo suffers the absence of five players, the central defenders Le Normand, Lenglet, and Azpilicueta, the wing-back Marcos Llorente, and the midfielder Pablo Barrios. Opposite, Bruno Genesio, Lille's coach, sees a full infirmary, especially also in defense. He has the former Barcelona player Samuel Umtiti sidelined, not even registered, and is worried about Mitchel Bakker, Ismaly, Tiago Santos, Bentaleb, Ethan Mbappe, brother of the Real Madrid star, and Haraldsson.

Probable line-ups

Atletico: Oblak, Molina, Witsel, Gimenez, Reinildo, Lino, De Paul, Koke, Gallagher, Griezmann, and Julian Alvarez.

Lille: Chevalier, Meunier, Diakite, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson, Bouaddi, Andre, Zhegrova, Gomes, Sahraoui, and Jonathan David.

Referee. Marco Guida (Italy).

Time: 21:00. Metropolitano Stadium.

TV: Movistar Champions League.

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