The options that Simeone has to replace Joao Felix

[[Nike]]

Diego Pablo Simeone, coach of Atlético de Madrid, will face a new situation hitherto unknown since the season began, facing a match without being able to count on Joao Felix.

The Portuguese between two and three weeks off due to a sprained right ankle of grade 2, suffered in Saturday's match against Valencia at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which will lose at least the next four games of his team.

The player will miss at least four games: one from the Champions League, on Tuesday against Bayer Leverkusen, and three from the League, against Athletic, Alavés and Sevilla. The first two are at home and the last two are outside.

“Then doctors will report better. It didn't seem so much to me in the first situation and immediately the referee came to tell me that he had bent his ankle. It is an important twist. Hopefully it is as little as possible, ”said Diego Simeone hours before the end of a draw against Valencia at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

Therefore, the picture now presents Simeone with the choice of how to replace Portuguese. And there are few options. In preseason, Cholo opted for a double pivot formed by Koke and Saul, with which Correa and Lemar could play in the band, for example. But seeing the current level of Thomas it seems unlikely that Cholo will remove the Ghanaian from the pivot to get the two Spanish internationals.

MAN BY MAN

That is, the easiest solution would be to change man for man. That is, with Joao Félix outside, who played right inside, give entry to Correa, Vitolo or Lemar, keeping Koke in the other band. If it were Lemar, the vallecano would have to play on the right. If they were Correa or Vitolo, Koke could stay on the left.

Vitolo is already recovered and before the injury he got into several starting alignments. If the canary recovers that level it would be one of the most attractive options. Lemar has lost a lot of weight in the preferences of Cholo and Correa has not had the opportunities of the past year but it is always a recurring solution for Simeone.

REdo THE PIVOT

Of course, in the last league game, Cholo placed Saul, watching his performance with the National Team, almost from inside left. That suggests that Cholo could remake the pivot and bet on Saul and Koke in the bands. That would happen by placing Thomas and a companion on the pivot. Marcos Llorente or Héctor Herrera. Although Simeone likes bands with Koke and Saul very much, because they are two interiors with a media profile that help in the containment and at the same time in the creation, sacrificing a little the arrival that more extreme profile players would have, the fact of that Llorente and Herrera are not yet at the level of adaptation that the Argentine coach would like, suggests that it should not be the most likely option to solve this puzzle.