8 players at risk of suspension this weekend ahead of Atletico Madrid-Barcelona clash

Atletico Madrid and Barcelona probably haven’t given much thought to their clash in two weekends time yet, but it will be in the back of the minds of a number of players involved this weekend.

Los Rojiblancos head to Cadiz this weekend, while Barcelona welcome Real Mallorca to Montjuic on Friday night, but both will be laser-focused on their Champions League clashes next week. Atletico Madrid must overturn a deficit at home to Inter, and Barcelona will face a revived Napoli under Francesco Calzona.

Ahead of the league clash at the Metropolitano though, Atletico’s Rodrigo de Paul, captain Koke Resurreccion, Gabriel Paulista and Jose Maria Gimenez are all at risk of suspension if they pick up another yellow card against the Yellow Submarine. Gimenez is likely to miss the trip through injury, but Diego Simeone will not want to be without the other three. De Paul and Koke are the mainstays for Simeone in the middle of the pitch, and losing them would require altering their plan.

Meanwhile Xavi Hernandez must be wary of losing Robert Lewandowski, Joao Cancelo, Andreas Christensen and Oriol Romeu for the same reason, as reported by MD. The former pair would have a major impact as two of Barcelona’s most dangerous players in the final third, while the absence of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi will mean key contributions from at least one of the latter pair.