Heavily rotated side secured victory with seven academy players involved
Diego Simeone made wholesale changes to his Atletico Madrid side against Valencia on Saturday, in anticipation of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal on Tuesday.
Simeone replaced all 11 players from the team that started last week’s first leg, opting for a heavily rotated lineup that included fringe and academy players.
Juan Musso started in goal, while Clement Lenglet and Robin Le Normand featured in defence. Several senior players, including Antoine Griezmann, were left on the bench. Griezmann was only introduced in the final stages.
Giuliano Simeone, Julian Alvarez, Alexander Sorloth and David Hancko were not included in the squad. Seven academy players were used, three of them coming off the bench. Atletico won 2-0 following goals from Iker Luque and Miguel Llorente.
The decision to rotate was of course aimed at preserving key players ahead of the return leg. The first leg was a tightly contested affair that ultimately ended in a stalemate after Alvarez’s early second half penalty cancelled out Viktor Gyokeres late first half spot-kick.
It is not the first time Simeone has prioritised European competition this season. He also made 10 changes for the league game against Getafe before their last-16 tie with Tottenham Hotspur.
