Atleti banking on recovery for Barrios and Sorloth during intl break

Atlético de Madrid are set for their first international break of the season, which will last three weeks. LaLiga won’t restart for the Rojiblancos until 10 October, when they travel to Mendizorroza to face Deportivo Alavés, so the club is already working with the restart date in mind.

Two missing pieces

As Mundo Deportivo reports, Diego Simeone is currently dealing with a tough squad picture: he has only eight first-team players available, with two of them still sidelined in the treatment room. The two names under the microscope are Pablo Barrios and Alexander Sorloth.

Barrios suffered his setback at Anfield: it was a low-grade myofascial injury in his right leg. The club considered rushing him back for the derby, but ultimately decided not to push, especially since the domestic league was about to pause.

Sorloth’s timeline is more worrying. On 12 August, Atlético confirmed he had a muscular contracture. More than five weeks later, he has not trained with the team even once and has not played a single minute so far this season—an issue that affects Simeone’s planning in attack.

Back to work and targets

Atlético returns to training on Wednesday afternoon at Cerro del Espino after giving the squad two days off following the derby win. The goal is straightforward: get both players into the best possible shape during the break so they can be ready for the Oct 10 clash at Alavés, according to Mundo Deportivo.