Atletico Madrid are having a difficult time of things when it comes to the fitness of their centre-backs.
Diego Simeone lost Stefan Savic to a muscular injury last week, a big blow just two weeks before the start of the La Liga campaign.
And so the Atleti boss must have been at panic stations when he saw his other starting centre-back suffer an injury in his side’s last pre-season friendly.
During Atletico’s 1-0 defeat to Salzburg, Mario Hermoso had to be replaced due to an injury 20 minutes from time.
And it has not yet been revealed whether he will miss any time, but there was some good news in that the defender worked in the gym on Thursday as he looks to regain full fitness, according to Diario AS.
Fortunately for Simeone, he does have depth at centre-back, but Jose Maria Gimenez and Felipe have only just returned to pre-season training.
Meanwhile, Fran Gonzalez of the B team has been involved in pre-season friendlies and did a solid job in the defeat against Salzburg, despite being outpaced for the goal.
Image by Getty Images