Diego Simeone confirmed Julian Alvarez will miss Atletico Madrid's trip to Valencia this weekend and insisted his side are not in a position to rest players.
Ahead of their league clash with Valencia, Atleti drew 1-1 with Arsenal in their Champions League semi-final first leg.
Alvarez scored before suffering an injury in the match, with the second leg taking place at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Atleti are fourth in LaLiga, five points behind Villarreal, though they will also be without Alexander Sortloth, Giuliano Simeone, Pablo Barrios and Jose Maria Gimenez.
Simeone believes Atleti could not rest players if they wanted to against Valencia, due to their injury problems.
"It's clear that, regardless of if there is a match on Tuesday, Julian Alvarez probably wouldn't have been ready for Saturday," said Simeone.
"Sorloth wouldn't have been ready for Saturday, Giuliano wouldn't have been ready for Saturday, Barrios wouldn't have been ready for Saturday, Gimenez wouldn't have been ready for Saturday, so I don't think I'm forgetting anyone else.
"It's more than clear that we’re going to field the players who are in the best shape to compete.
"We're thinking about [Saturday's] match, about how important it is to try to catch up to Villarreal, who are ahead of us.
"And obviously, to play a crucial match against a team that needs points, one that will be playing under the pressure of their fans and with the intensity that Valencia has shown since their coach arrived.
"I can't think about any other match than that."
Airplane mode on pic.twitter.com/WQEfxUnRh9
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 1, 2026
Valencia are 12th in LaLiga, five points clear of the relegation zone with five games left to play.
They picked up a crucial 2-1 win over Girona last time out, ending a three-game winless run in the league.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Valencia – Hugo Duro
Hugo Duro has scored five goals in eight LaLiga appearances against Atleti, his joint-highest tally against any opponent in the competition (also five in 10 games against Real Madrid), netting two of his four top-flight braces against them.
Atletico Madrid – Antoine Griezmann
Griezmann has scored 14 goals in 27 LaLiga appearances against Valencia, his highest tally against any opponent in the competition.
He has been involved in at least one goal in eight of his last nine top-flight matches against them (six goals and two assists).
MATCH PREDICTION – VALENCIA WIN
Valencia have won four of their last six home LaLiga matches (L2), having won only one of their previous seven at home in the competition (D4 L2).
Atleti, meanwhile, have lost three of their last eight away LaLiga matches against teams from the Valencian Community (W2 D3), having remained unbeaten in their previous 15 such away games in the competition (W6 D9).
However, Valencia have lost their last four LaLiga matches against Atleti and have never lost five consecutive top-flight games against them in their history.
Atleti have lost only one of their last 10 away LaLiga matches against Valencia (W5 D4), a 3-0 defeat in September 2023, having lost six of the previous nine (W1 D2).
Atleti have scored 49 LaLiga goals against Valencia under Simeone; they could become the fourth opponent against whom the manager has reached 50 goals in the competition, following Sevilla (55), Real Sociedad (52), and Getafe (51).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Valencia – 52.2%
Draw – 23.8%
Atletico Madrid – 24%