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Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord meet on matchday two of the group stage of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League. The Dutch side made a winning start but will expect a tougher test here in the Spanish capital. Here’s a look at the Atletico Madrid vs Feyenoord predicted lineups for the big game.
Atletico Madrid vs Feyenoord UEFA Champions League team news
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Atletico Madrid have been dealing with a major injury crisis but are hoping to have some key men back for this game. Having bowed out at the group stage last season, Diego Simeone will want his strongest possible eleven out here as he bids to avoid another early European exit.
Atletico Madrid
During this busy period of the season, Atleti have done well to get good results despite the number of players they have been missing. They’ve won their last 3 games in La Liga including the Madrid derby. That came on the back of a 1-1 draw away to Lazio in their opening Champions League group game.
Their problems are clearing up slightly now but Thomas Lemar, Reinildo, Caglar Soyuncu, Pablo Barrios and Memphis Depay are all still struggling with injuries and expected to miss this game.
In addition, Simeone is sweating over the fitness of Jose Maria Gimenez, Stefan Savic, Cesar Azpilicueta. He’ll be hopeful at least one of those defenders can recover in time for kick-off here, otherwise Atleti really will be short on options in the back three and a switch to 4-4-2 could even be considered.
Atletico Madrid predicted lineup
Oblak, Hermoso, Witsel, Savic, Lino, Llorente, Koke, De Paul, Molina, Morata, Griezmann
Feyenoord
Feyenoord have a slight advantage in that they’ve only had to play two league games since the first matchday. One of those was the 4-0 demolition of Ajax in Amsterdam, a fantastic result for Arne Slot’s team in De Klassieker which had to be completed behind closed doors after chaotic scenes halted the original match.
The Rotterdam side then fielded another strong lineup at the weekend in the 3-1 win over Go Ahead Eagles with Slot expected to name a similar eleven here. The Feyenoord boss does have a few selection issues though.
Luka Ivanusec and Justin Bijlow are both injured. They’ll also be without the suspended Santiago Gimenez here. That’s a significant blow given Gimenez scored 3 of the 4 goals in the win over Ajax but he’s serving a European ban which dates back to a Europa League red card against Roma last season.
Feyenoord predicted lineup
Wellenreuther, Hartman, Hancko, Trauner, Geertruida, Timber, Wieffer, Stengs, Paixao, Ueda, Minteh
Atletico Madrid vs Feyenoord predicted lineup – featured duel: Antoine Griezmann vs David Hancko
With three points on the board after their win over Celtic, Feyenood will certainly see a draw as a good result from this trip to Madrid. A bit of caution may therefore prevail and they’ll expect to be on the back foot for much of the game with Antoine Griezmann likely to see plenty of the ball for the hosts.
He’s still very much the danger man for Atleti, although the Frenchman’s stats are not as great as they were in the second half of last season when he was the standout player in Spain. Griezmann is yet to assist a goal for Atleti this term, having registered 16 assists in La Liga last term.
Griezmann is still carrying a goal threat though with 3 in 8 club appearances and he’s likely to lock horns with Feyenoord centre back David Hancko here. The 25 year old Slovak is building a real reputation for himself and already looks great value for the €6m fee that Feyenood paid for his services in the summer of 2022.
This is a step up in class though for Hancko who has only limited Champions League experience and it’ll be really interesting to see how he gets on in direct competition against one of the game’s elite forwards.
Will Rodrigo de Paul play against Feyenoord?
Rodrigo de Paul has emerged as an important player for Atletico Madrid in 2023 but an injury has kept him out in recent weeks. The Argentine made his return off the bench against Cadiz at the weekend and is fit and available for this match. To fit him into the eleven, Diego Simeone will most likely have to drop either Saul or Marcos Llorente.
Atletico Madrid vs Feyenoord predicted lineup – The Final Word
Atletico Madrid are clearly the favourites for this game but they’ve slipped up regularly in these kinds of Champions League fixtures in recent years.
Their injury problems have been significant so some players have barely had a rest over the past few weeks. That’s a worry for the hosts but they are getting some key men back now and they’ll be happy to not have to face Feyenoord danger man Santiago Gimenez.
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