Atletico Madrid will begin their Champions League campaign on the road in one of the marquee matchups of the opening round: a visit to Anfield to face Premier League champions Liverpool. But Diego Simeone’s side will have to do it without star forward Julian Alvarez.
The Argentine international picked up a right knee strain last weekend against Villarreal, forcing him off at halftime. Tests confirmed the injury would sideline him for several weeks, ruling him out of Tuesday’s clash in England.
While Liverpool manager Arne Slot can count on newly signed striker Alexander Isak—who will make his competitive debut for the Reds—Simeone must adjust without two of his top attacking options. Along with Alvarez, Thiago Almada remains unavailable due to a muscle issue suffered during international duty with Argentina.
The injury list doesn’t end there for Atletico. Johnny Cardoso, Alex Baena, and Jose Maria Gimenez are also out, leaving Simeone short-handed for one of the toughest fixtures on the calendar. New signing Giacomo Raspadori is set to step into the starting lineup alongside Antoine Griezmann.
Julian Alvarez during a game against Villareal. (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
Confirmed lineups
With several key players unavailable, Simeone will field the following lineup against Liverpool: Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, Clement Lenglet, Javi Galan, Robin Le Normand; Conor Gallagher, Pablo Barrios, Giuliano Simeone, Nico Gonzalez; Antoine Griezmann, Giacomo Raspadori.
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The only absence for Liverpool is midfielder Curtis Jones, but with Isak joining Salah and Gakpo in attack, the Reds will still present a formidable challenge for Simeone’s depleted squad.
This will be Liverpool’s lineup for tonight’s game: Alisson; Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Jeremie Frimpong; Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch; Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah.
