Simeone bemoans 'difficult' Atletico Madrid injury after triple Arsenal scare

Arsenal and Atletico Madrid come together next week in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final but both sides have a number of injury concerns ahead of the game

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is keeping his fingers crossed that star Pablo Barrios has avoided a serious injury ahead of next week’s showdown with Arsenal. The Spanish side welcome the Premier League leaders to the Metropolitano on Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash.

Barrios, 22, was withdrawn as Atleti beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and Simeone has confirmed that he will undergo further testing to determine whether he has picked up a long-term issue.

He said: “I haven’t seen him yet. The doctors will inform us what injury he may have. Life often makes it difficult for us and they are doing it with him this year, with respect to injuries.

“He has to take it as a learning curve, with the strength and willingness to learn from what is happening to him. He must be strong and work.

“Before the game I told him that I trust him a lot, he is very important for us and we are waiting for him. Hopefully the injury is as small as possible and he can be with us at the end of the season.”

Barrios has made 35 appearances for Atletico Madrid this season, scoring once. He played the full 90 minutes as the Spanish side fell to a 4-0 defeat against Arsenal in the league stage of the Champions League earlier this season.

While Simeone has his concerns, his opposite number Mikel Arteta has his own. A trio of Arsenal stars came off midway through the Gunners’ 1-0 win against Newcastle at the weekend.

Kai Havertz, Eberechi Eze and Martin Zubimendi were all withdrawn and Arteta gave updates on the three after the win against Newcastle.

He said: “[Eberechi] Eze is a big player for us and he's in a really good moment. He produced an incredible moment to score the goal. Hopefully he's fit and he can be with us on Wednesday.

“Zubi [Martin Zubimendi] was sick, and at half-time, he wasn't feeling good. He tried his very best. He played a really good game, and in the end, we had to take him off.”

Asked if he had spoken to Havertz, the Arsenal boss added: “No I haven’t, but he had a little niggle so I don't know how serious it is. It didn't look too big because the action, the way he describes it, is not too sharp, but I have to wait and see.”