Atletico Madrid Need Gabi or Augusto to Shine in Defence to Stay Competitive
Injuries are part and parcel of life in La Liga and everywhere else, but rarely will a side have to cope with a spate of absences in such a key area of the pitch as Atletico Madrid are facing right now.
Five centre-backs are currently sidelined through injury ahead of the weekend match against Real Betis, meaning the manager, Diego Simeone, has to choose between playing two midfielders out of position or else incorporating a debutant in his defence.
Regardless of who is chosen to play at the back, both captain Gabi and recent midfield signing Augusto Fernandez will have to step up and produce a big performance to protect the decimated defence to ensure Atleti get back to winning ways.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Critical level
It could hardly get any worse: Three senior centre-backs, one youthful option and an emergency option who could drop back from midfield—all are injured and unavailable to Diego Simeone.
Stefan Savic hasn't been seen since the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg against PSV, Diego Godin went lame shortly afterward and Josema Gimenez suffered a hamstring injury just before the international break against Sporting Gijon. Atletico thus finished that match with Lucas Hernandez and Saul at centre-back—and both of those have been injured during the time with their international sides.
A game against Betis at home would usually be one that Atletico hope to win, so they'll perhaps be hopeful of dominating the match more than usual so as to ease the pressure on their makeshift defence, but Barcelona are up next in the Champions League. They may have a senior centre-back in time for that, with Godin most likely, but this is a big test for Atletico to get through first.
Debutant plus experience?
Nacho Monsalve is surely the first in line to come in—he's a B-team centre-back for Atletico and played a part with the seniors in preseason.
If he does come in, he'll certainly need an experienced head alongside him to guide him mentally, if not positionally, and captain Gabi has to be the most likely candidate. The midfielder is a constant talker, is aggressive in winning back the ball and, of course, has an enormous sense of responsibility—not to mention the trust of Simeone himself.
The alternative is to leave Gabi in midfield and hope his experience tells in a different way: Boss the game higher upfield, probably with Koke or Matias Kranevitter, and leave the defence rather more protected. If that were the case, Augusto is the next potential emergency centre-back; not that he has featured there at all but because he is a defensively astute and positionally aware option.
Neither is an ideal scenario, but Atleti are facing an unprecedented shortage; something has to give.
Alternative options
If Simeone either doesn't want to move one of his midfielders into the back line or doesn't have enough trust in Monsalve, he has one or two other options.
The first would be to slot the versatile and dependable Jesus Gamez into the centre of defence—a risk given he has never played there, but he's at least reliable in his performances and would be diligent about his more restricted role.
An even more unlikely alternative is to ask Kranevitter to drop back and act as a game-reading, ball-playing defender—or move to a back three, with Juanfran and Filipe Luis on the sides of the defence and selecting just one of the unusual defensive names to play centrally. Simeone has not, however, made any move to play with a back three throughout the campaign so far.
It's a tricky situation for Cholo, but with Barcelona on the horizon and possibly only one defender back by that time, the Betis game almost has to act as a dress rehearsal for a fixture against the planet's best attacking combination.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
