Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid: Five players ruled out injured as Diego Simeone confirms 22-man squad for Champions League clash

Atletico Madrid will be without five injured players for their opening League Phase fixture in the 2025-26 Champions League away against Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Diego Simeone’s side have made a below-par start to the new La Liga season, but they did claim their first three points in a 2-0 home win over Villarreal last Saturday, ending a three-game winless streak.

However, that victory came at a price as star forward Julian Alvarez was forced off at half time at the Metropolitano Stadium with a knee injury.

Asked to provide an update on Alvarez after the win over Villarreal, Simeone told reporters: "Until he wakes up tomorrow and gets through his first few hours after the discomfort he had. We hope it's nothing and we trust he'll be back in top condition as soon as possible."

Atletico have since announced their 22-man travelling squad for the trip to Anfield and Alvarez has not been included, confirming that the Argentina international will miss Wednesday’s match.

The absence of Alvarez comes as a significant blow for Atletico; he scored a team-high 29 goals across all competitions in his debut campaign at the club in 2024-25 and has since registered one goal and one assist in four games this term.

Alvarez one of five ruled out, but Atleti receive Hancko, Le Normand boosts

Alex Baena (adductor), Jose Gimenez (calf) and Thiago Almada (calf) all missed the win over Villarreal through injury and they will also miss the trip to Anfield.

Summer signing Johnny Cardoso watched on as an unused substitute last weekend, but the midfielder has since picked up an unspecified problem and is another who will not feature against Liverpool, meaning that a total of five Atletico players are ruled out of Wednesday's match.

On a positive note for Atletico, defensive duo David Hancko and Robin Le Normand have both been included in the 22-man squad despite coming off with suspected injuries against Villarreal, the former of whom was withdrawn with a twisted ankle.

It remains to be seen whether either player will be ready to start on Wednesday, with Clement Lenglet representing the only other natural centre-back option at Simeone’s disposal, although Javi Galan is capable of slotting into the heart of the defence.

Meanwhile, attacker Nicolas Gonzalez scored and was later taken off with cramp in the win over Villarreal, but he has also been included in Simeone’s squad.

Atletico are preparing to face a Liverpool side who have been boosted by the news that Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander Isak both took part in team training on Tuesday, but Curtis Jones was not included in the open part of the Reds’ training session in front of the media.