Diego Simeone rotated heavily at the weekend to rest his squad against an important second leg, but hope remains for Flick’s more tired Barcelona
Atletico Madrid have stepped up preparations for their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barcelona after the weekend’s defeat to Sevilla in La Liga.
Diego Simeone’s side lost 2-1 after Akor Adams and Nemanja Gudelj scored on either side of Javier Bonar’s solitary goal for the visitors.
Atletico were hardly in danger since, although they are now four points behind third-placed Villareal, they are still 11 points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis with seven games remaining, meaning that Champions League for next season is guaranteed and there is very little to play for in La Liga.
As a result, Simeone rotated heavily, resting the likes of Julian Alvarez, Ademola Lookman, Antoine Griezmann, Nahuel Molina, Giuliano Simeone and Marcos Llorente, with Tuesday’s decisive fixture in mind.
Atletico are in a strong position after securing a 2-0 first-leg win in Barcelona, with goals from Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth giving them control of the tie. Simeone is expected to rely on quick transitions and intensity in the second leg, areas he has emphasised in recent training sessions, to protect their advantage and reach the semi-finals.
POV: admin watching Julián’s golazo 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/HTdFnb1kDN
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) April 10, 2026
Barcelona, meanwhile, will be attempting yet again this season to overturn a sizeable deficit. In early March, Barcelona were faced with the challenge of overturning a first-leg 4-0 deficit to Atletico in the Copa del Rey. They managed to win 3-0 at Camp Nou and fell short by a single goal.
They are only down two goals from the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final but also face the sizeable challenge of attempting a comeback at Atletico’s Estadio Metropolitano.
Yet, unlike his counterpart, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick did not rest his squad at the weekend, starting both Lamine Yamal and midfielder Pedri, both nearing the red zone in terms of fitness and games played. This is because Barcelona needed a win in the Catalan derby against Espanyol to capitalise on Real Madrid’s dropped points against Girona.
Now Barcelona have a close-to-decisive nine-point advantage at the top of La Liga, even if his players are a bit less fresh than Atletico. But the one advantage on the horizon is that Barcelona have a break next weekend due to the Copa del Rey final. After facing Atletico on Tuesday, they do not play again until 22 April against Celta Vigo.
So Flick will be telling his players to leave everything on the pitch at the Metropolitano, knowing full well that there will be a seven-day break for rest after that.
