Atletico Madrid suffer 2 injury blows ahead of Barcelona clashes

Atlético Madrid have suffered a double injury blow ahead of their crucial trio of fixtures against Barcelona, with key players Alexander Sørloth and Johnny Cardoso picking up physical issues during the international break. 

Ahead of their upcoming LALIGA clash on Saturday, the Rojiblancos’ unit of a striker, Sørloth, sustained a severe head injury, specifically an "incised-contused wound in the right frontolateral region that required several stitches,” following an elbow to the head while representing Norway against Switzerland. 

Consequently, the striker is a major doubt for Saturday's league encounter at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano due to standard concussion protocols, which typically require a 7-to-10-day recovery period. 

Meanwhile, American midfielder Johnny Cardoso was forced off at half-time during the United States' match against Belgium after suffering a grade one muscle injury to his left thigh. 

The midfielder is expected to undergo physiotherapy and be sidelined for approximately 10 to 14 days, completely ruling him out of the first in three clashes.

The timing of these setbacks is precarious for Diego Simeone's squad, as they prepare to face Barcelona in the league and also in a Champions League quarter-final double-header. 

While Sørloth is expected to be cleared in time for the crucial first-leg UCL tie, Cardoso's timeline makes him a massive doubt for possibly the entire Champions League quarter-final stage. 

However, Barcelona are dealing with severe injury problems of their own that will significantly impact the triple-header. The Catalan giants lost star winger Raphinha to a right hamstring tear (femoral biceps) during Brazil’s 2-1 friendly defeat to France last week, ruling him out for five weeks and entirely excluding him from all three clashes against Atlético. 

Hansi Flick's side are now desperately hoping to recover defenders Jules Koundé, Alejandro Balde, and Eric García from their respective hamstring issues to help navigate this season-defining stretch of matches.