Jackson Martinez, Antoine Griezmann Must Lead Atletico Madrid Attack V Barcelona

Two league games, two wins, four goals scored and none conceded—Diego Simeone couldn't have asked for much more from Atletico Madrid's start to the season.

Most of the starting team in that time has remained intact, with just Filipe Luis' injury forcing a switch at left-back at Sevilla, while the only managerial change came in attack, where Fernando Torres replaced Jackson Martinez, who had started on the opening day against Las Palmas.

With one of the toughest games of the season up next, at home to reigning champions Barcelona, Simeone has a decision to make about his front line. There are reasons why any one of three attackers should get to partner regular starter Antoine Griezmann, but it should be a recall for Colombian striker Martinez.

Options and Internationals

Coming off the back of an international break, neither side will have had a completely clear schedule of training and many players have been in action for 100 minutes or more over two games for their national teams. For Colombia, Jackson came on as sub for half an hour on Tuesday night against Peru, while Griezmann played the full 90, minus a few seconds at the end after a late substitution, for France on Monday.

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Fernando Torres is no longer part of the international scene. New signing Luciano Vietto has not yet made the step up to senior selection for Argentina—but Angel Correa has, and he played 75 minutes or so from the start against Mexico on Tuesday.

His call-up and exciting play will inevitably lead to discussions about when he should be brought into the fold as a starter for Atletico, but against Barcelona isn't the right time unless Simeone opts to switch to a 4-3-3. That's not entirely implausible, trying to bulk up the centre and stop Barcelona playing through, but Atleti should back their own form and organisation and retain the dual threat of a two-man attack on the break, at least to start the game at the Vicente Calderon.

Early Form

Jackson was a little quiet on the opening day, which is perfectly understandable. He didn't get too much service centrally against Las Palmas, and his movement was below what was required, but things looked better at Sevilla. Granted, Atleti were already in control, but he was a presence on the counter and linked well with Griezmann to open his goalscoring account for Atleti with a fine finish.

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Top Transfers: How good can Jackson Martinez be at his new club, @atletienglish? He cost £25m | Courtesy: YouTube pic.twitter.com/WtxJmDn2Cc

— fanatix (@therealfanatix) September 2, 2015"

He, along with Oliver Torres from the "new" faces in this year's team, has shown the best signs of exchanging passes and positions with Griezmann, and that's where Simeone needs to base his decisions from against the league's best side.

Griezmann will trouble Barcelona's back line, both on the counter and during more constructive buildups. As such, it's imperative someone is running off him, occupying defenders in the box and stretching play as much as possible to open the gap between Barcelona's dominant midfield trio and the centre-backs, giving Griezmann and Oliver room to play.

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It's also worth noting that with Barcelona's full-backs usually pushed up high, a few early crosses from wide and deep zones could be a more direct route to goal for Atletico—and again, Jackson could be the best bet to make use of those, with perhaps the exception of Fernando Torres.

Barcelona

As things stand, Atleti have a near-full squad to choose from, with just Filipe Luis' availability in question.

Barcelona, on the other hand, are still suffering with absences, particularly in defence: Dani Alves is injured, Gerard Pique is suspended (pending an appeal) and Adriano Correia is also missing. It will still be a strong team regardless, but one other significant absence has cropped up: Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo suffered a calf injury during the week, meaning Marc-Andre ter Stegen will likely play in goal.

The German has plenty of quality, naturally, but he hasn't regularly featured since the end-of-season cup run and wasn't at his best in the early games, conceding four against both Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao in the UEFA and domestic Super Cups respectively.

If there is any chance he's lacking self-confidence, Atleti need to target him with aerial balls, runs behind the defence and any set-piece physicality possible—all further reasons that point to Martinez being the man who should be in place to try and secure what would be a huge third consecutive win to start the season.

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