Injury-wracked Atlético Madrid will travel to Liverpool to kick off the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League league phase without Julián Alvarez, Johnny Cardoso, and others.
After a relatively fortunate campaign on the health front last year, Atlético’s early-season injury crisis this time around will give Diego Simeone plenty of headaches, with five starters unavailable for this marquee matchup on Merseyside.
Álex Baena (muscle injury/appendicitis),
Thiago Almada (calf injury), and Josema Giménez (calf injury) were already expected to miss the Liverpool game, while optimism around Alvarez (knee strain) turned to pessimism in the hours after Simeone substituted him at halftime of Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Villarreal. According to the club, Johnny suffered an ankle sprain during training on Monday, prompting his absence from the traveling squad.
In better news, Dávid Hancko (ankle sprain) has been included in the squad, but he is not expected to start at Anfield due to the injury. Nico Gonzalez and Robin Le Normand, who were also substituted late in the Villarreal game, were suffering from fatigue; both should be good to go from the start on Wednesday night.
Atlético and Liverpool are meeting for the first time in four years; the Rojiblancos’ previous visit to Anfield ended in a 2-0 defeat during the 2021/22 group stage. Of course, two years earlier, Atlético famously knocked the Reds out of the Champions League with an incredible second-leg rally, powered by a Marcos Llorente brace. And in April 2010, Atleti eliminated Liverpool in the Europa League semifinals via a Diego Forlán in extra time of the second leg.
