Madrid / Elche (Alicante), Aug 21 (EFE) .- One year, five months and two weeks later, the Atlético de Madrid fans will return to Wanda Metropolitano to reunite with their team, with the champion, in the match of the second matchday against Elche, with the debut in the eleven of Rodrigo de Paul and still without Luis Suárez, still a substitute.
Not yet completely, still with the conditions of a capacity reduced to 40 percent -27,000 spectators-, with the safety distance, with the inseparable mask and with the restrictions of the pandemic, the rojiblanco team will feel again from the stands to his followers, to listen to the noise, to vibrate …
Since March 7, 2020, with the 2-2 match between the rojiblanco and Sevilla, when his team competed only to enter the Champions League two seasons ago, in 2019-20, with eleven appointments to go to close. of the championship, the Atlético fans had not returned to their ‘home’. Neither then nor in the entire 2020-21 academic year.
He could not see on the field any of the 38 games, neither in the 19 in his territory nor in the 19 as a visitor, of the entire historic past season of his team, the undeniable leader of LaLiga Santander almost from the beginning, hurried later, and final champion in Valladolid, with the encouragement of the fans outside the stadium.
The Wanda Metropolitano could not roar with that goal by Luis Suárez that signed the champion comeback against Osasuna (2-1) in the penultimate date of the tournament, when Atlético felt more pressure in a first position then in doubt, stalked by the Real Madrid. Not even in the debut of the Uruguayan ‘9’ on the first day, in that 6-1 against Granada from which he contributed two goals.
The first victory against Barcelona in the League of the Diego Simeone era was also behind closed doors, as was the sequence of triumphs, eight in a row -including the 1-0 against the Barça team- with which Atlético showed last season that it was a firm aspirant, later champion, to win the 2020-21 League.
Nor did they suffer in their stadium seats with Celta 2-2 in the final moments or the 0-2 defeat against Levante (the only one of the course at home). Nor could he acclaim the hero Jan Oblak when he saved a penalty against Joselu Mato, of Alavés, on the verge of the end, with the League in boiling point. Today they are television memories.
Until this new season, until the second day of the 2021-22 campaign, in the defense of Atlético’s title, with its capacity of 68,000 spectators reduced to 27,000 fans, who will cheer on a winning Atlético last Sunday in its debut as current champion in Balaídos (1-2) and undeniable in two years in his stadium.
Between 2019-20 and 2020-21, with 45 official matches on their land, Atlético only lost two (0-1 with Barcelona in 2019-20 and 0-2 with Levante in 2020-21). At the same time, he tied 12. And won 31. Now he accumulates five victories in a row at the Wanda Metropolitano, where he will start this Sunday even without the scorer Luis Suárez, still in shooting.
For the second game in a row, the Uruguayan attacker will start from the bench. Also Kieran Trippier and Renan Lodi, the last to join the preseason, along with Ángel Correa. The Argentine will play from the beginning, like a week ago in Balaídos, where he was the main protagonist with two goals. He has eight in the last ten games, between the final leg of the League and the start of the current one, plus the pre-season friendly that he played against Feyenoord.
At his side will be Yannick Carrasco, as in the first appointment in Vigo. In fact, they will repeat ten of the eleven headlines in Balaídos: Jan Oblak, Marcos Llorente, Stefan Savic, José María Giménez, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Saúl Ñíguez, Koke Resurrección and Thomas Lemar, in addition to Carrasco and Correa, also structured in a 5-3 -2.
The novelties are Rodrigo de Paul, who makes his debut as a starter in the center of the field, and the position of Kondogbia, who, according to the evidence, will replace Mario Hermoso, sanctioned for his expulsion in Vigo, in the center of defense. Joao Félix and Santiago Arias are also not available and Felipe Monteiro and Héctor Herrera are doubtful, in the absence of the last training session, this afternoon at the Metropolitano.
Opposite, Elche faces the game with positive feelings after the good image offered in their league debut and with little to lose in a match that is not in their League, since they have never managed to win the current champion as a visitor.
The group from Elche, with a block almost identical to that of last year, clings to the effect caused by the arrival of Argentine Darío Benedetto, its most media striker, to improve its success against the rival goal, the only negative aspect left by its premiere in the competition.
Benedetto has arrived fit and fit to play, although he barely accumulates four training sessions with his teammates, so it is most likely that he will start the game from the bench and that the attack point will be for his compatriot Lucas Boyé and Pere Milla.
Elche coach Fran Escribá keeps Pablo Piatti out due to injury, in the final stretch of his recovery after a muscular ailment, and recovers young youth midfielder Jony Álamo.
The team will not vary from the one that equaled against Athletic, especially because Escribá does not have too many pieces in his squad to perform rotations, especially in the midfield. Nor does it seem likely that Escribá will vary the system of three centrals with which Elche seems to feel more comfortable.
– Probable lineups:
Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Llorente, Savic, Giménez, Kondogbia, Saúl; De Paul, Koke, Lemar; Carrasco and Correa.
Elche: Kiko Casilla, Bigas, Gonzalo Verdú, Roco, Josan, Marcone, Guti, Fidel, Mojica, Milla and Lucas Boyé.
Referee: De Burgos Bengoetxea (C. Vasco).
Stadium: Wanda Metropolitano.
Time: 19.30
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Positions: Atlético Madrid (4th, 3 points); Elche (14th, 1 point).
The key: Correa’s inspiration.
The fact: Atlético de Madrid have only lost two of their last 45 games at the Wanda Metropolitano among all competitions.
The phrase: Fran Escribá: “Atlético has the best squad in the League.”
The environment: Atlético fans return to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium one year, five months and two weeks later.
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