Football fans are anticipating the summit of the next round of the Spanish Football League when Barcelona, the defending champion and top of the standings, will host Atletico Madrid, the second-placed team, at the “Riyadh Air Metropolitano” stadium.
This match will be full of direct confrontations. Whether coaches Hansi Flick and Diego Simeone, or the two team stars, Lamine Yamal and Julian Alvarez.
This match will also be the last before the international break, which will stop club competitions for a period of approximately 14 days.
Both teams suffer from a long list of injuries, including players in the final stages of recovery, and they may be ready for Sunday's summit.
Atletico Madrid received good news about its American midfielder, Johnny Cardoso, and his return to the list against Barcelona, after participating in group training with the approval of the club’s doctors, so that Simeone gets an additional option in the midfield, giving him flexibility in developing the match plan.
Cardoso's importance in Simeone's plans gradually increased, and the Argentine coach gradually included him in matches after the player recovered from an ankle injury that prevented him from participating in the 2026 World Cup, which was held in his country.
Cardoso excelled by participating in 90 minutes in the derby against Real Madrid, then starting in 3 consecutive matches, confirming his physical readiness and that he is an important pillar in the Argentine coach’s plans.
For his part, Flick hopes that he will be as lucky as Simeone, in restoring an important player to his tactical plans at the level of the defense line and not the midfield.
The Catalan newspaper “Sport” indicated in a report that Eric Garcia is about to join Barcelona’s squad against Atletico, and may participate for a few minutes in the match, and his return will represent an outlet for the German coach.
Barcelona's defense line has been suffering recently, as young player Pau Cobarci is currently the most fit, while his teammate Gerard Martin complained of ankle pain.
At the peripheral level, both Kounde and Xavi Espart are suffering from injury, while Alejandro Balde lacks the confidence of Flick, who is more inclined to resort to the duo of Brian Fariñas at right back, and Frenkie de Jong in the heart of defence.
On the other hand, Simeone's squad will be without Koke, the team's captain, and Argentine Cristian Romero, who joined last summer to strengthen the back line that was behind Atletico's achievements in previous seasons.
The list of absences in Barcelona is long, as it includes the trio of Espart, Kounde and Christensen in the defense line, and Rodri and Dani Olmo in the midfield, in addition to the absence of Ronnie Bardji for the entire season.
Marco Rose, coach of the English Bournemouth team, highlighted the quality of the players available on the bench, after his team succeeded in coming from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 over its host Sparta Prague, on Thursday evening, in the fourth round of the league stage of the European Football League (Europa League).
With this victory, the team nicknamed “The Cherry Pies” maintained its perfect start in its first European participation, achieving its fourth victory in 4 matches in the continental competition, bringing it to a series of 7 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Bournemouth is currently in second place in the Europa League standings, with 12 points, maintaining the full score so far, on goal difference behind Benfica (the leaders), who are on par with them on the same score.
Things were not easy for the team coming from the southern coast of England. Lewis Cook missed a penalty kick, before Sparta Prague took the lead with a clean goal in the 35th minute through Ebrima Sengati.
But the Czech team gave Bournemouth a chance to get back in the match after their player Tobias Goodall was sent off in the 37th minute.
Thanks to their numerical superiority, Rose's team gave a strong performance in the second half, and the substitutes brought in by the German coach played a decisive role in the match, as Tyler Adams, Evanilson and Ryan each scored the three goals for the English team, which gave them points in the match and maintained their perfect European record.
In statements to the TNT Sports network after the match, which took place in the Czech capital, Prague, Rose said: “When you have such quality on the bench, it gives you as a coach a feeling of calm and confidence.”
He added: “In the end, we gave a good collective performance from everyone. Returning the result away from home is a positive indicator for everyone in the team.”
He stressed: “We faced a strong opponent, who excelled in keeping the ball, and it was difficult to pressure him, and he also scored a wonderful goal. At halftime, we stressed the need not to be discouraged and to continue to have confidence in our abilities.”
The Bournemouth coach added: “We had to be more accurate in front of goal and increase the tempo of the game.”
This streak of seven consecutive victories is Bournemouth's best since 2014, but Rose stressed the need for complacency not to seep into his team's ranks, saying: "It is a great achievement, and we must continue on this path."
Rose concluded his statements by saying: “We must remain vigilant and fully focused. It depends on us to exploit this momentum, especially since everyone will try to beat us. “If we get into a state of relaxation or complacency, we will get into trouble.”
In the next round of the English Premier League, Bournemouth will meet its host, Ipswich Town, on Sunday afternoon, seeking to achieve an eighth successive victory in all competitions.
Although Portuguese Benfica continued its perfect start in the European Football League (Europa League), and achieved its fourth successive victory in the continental competition, maintaining the perfect score, its coach Marco Silva admitted his mistake during the team’s victory over its guest, Lech Poznań, Poland.
Benfica achieved a valuable 3-1 victory over Lech Poznań, on Thursday evening, in the fourth round of the league stage of the continental competition, to sit at the top with 12 points, after winning its first four matches in the tournament, superior by goal difference to its closest rivals, the English Bournemouth and Hungarian teams, Ferencvaros, who are equal to it on the same score.
Silva confirmed during the press conference that followed the match that his team achieved a well-deserved victory, but pointed out that he made a mistake in thinking about the team's next match after being confident of the victory, which could have caused him to lose at least two points.
Silva said: “It was a well-deserved victory. We worked harder to deserve this victory.” We were favourites, but I said last night that we have to prove it on the pitch, and that's what we did. We completely controlled the first half, and we started the second half in the same way, as we carried out quick attacks that we could have finished better.”
In the 72nd minute, while the result indicated that Benfica was ahead by two straight goals, Lech Poznań took advantage of a defensive error by the hosts, so that Leo Bengtsson was able to score the goal to reduce the difference.
Minutes before that, Benfica's coach had made several substitutions, including removing Thomas Araujo and bringing in defensive midfielder Joao Baleña.
The Portuguese coach commented: “After we advanced by two clean goals, we started making changes. “Some players were suffering from fatigue, while others had already received yellow cards.”
He added: “The first three substitutions were aimed at achieving some stability, but we conceded a goal after the fourth substitution. "Maybe I didn't help the team with that substitution. I was already thinking about the next match, and I didn't want to risk bringing Thomas on."
He explained: “I pushed Balenya, but our performance declined. It's not about Joao per se, it's about the other players not getting enough time on the pitch. Thomas was playing in his natural position as a centre-back, and I shouldn't have taken him out. However, we had achieved a well-deserved victory by all standards.”
Jakub Kaminski had returned to participate in matches with Benfica, last weekend, after recovering from injury, and there was a chance that he would get some playing minutes against his former club, but the Polish player did not participate, as the coach replaced him with Gianluca Pristiani and Dodi Lukebakio, and the former succeeded in scoring the goal that made the score 2-0 in favor of the hosts.
Regarding Kaminsky’s situation, Silva said: “He started the season as a starter, but the competition is very fierce. There are other players fighting for his position, and it will be difficult to dislodge them. We have four or five high-level wingers, each of whom has different characteristics, and even Rafa plays in this position as well.”
He continued: “He (Cuba) got his chance, and he performed very well against Milan, and gained some confidence, but unfortunately, he suffered an injury while participating with the Polish national team. What stopped his good career. However, his self-confidence remains intact. “It now depends on him to prove that he is an effective option, and that he has the necessary skills.”
Silva, who spent the past few years in England, returned to European competitions this season, and it is a return that has been crowned with success so far. He spoke about this matter, saying: “It is wonderful to participate in European championships, as we face opponents from different football cultures.”
He pointed out: “Lech Poznań, for example, completely dominates its local league, but we adapted to this situation without significant training. We have tools that help players understand the strategy, but there was not enough time for training.”
The Benfica coach stressed: “We have come halfway. Before that, we played 6 matches in the preliminary rounds. This allowed us to get to know the players better. “Some players played a lot of minutes, and we have to manage that.”
Silva concluded his statements by saying: “It is important to achieve victory and collect points. Appearing at the top of the standings does not give us anything tangible at the present time, but we are seeking to avoid playing two additional matches in the next stage of the tournament.”
