Saturday’s Madrid derby saw Atlético Madrid come away from the Santiago Bernabéu with a valuable point. However, this came at a cost, as in the first half of the game, Reinildo Mandava was taken off on a stretcher.
The worst was later confirmed when it was announced that the Mozambican defender suffered a torn ACL. Diario AS report that he has been operated on successfully, and while there’s no official recovery time, Diego Simeone has said he believes he’ll return in five to six months.
Reinildo quickly became a fan favourite at the club since joining from Lille in 2022 with excellent defensive performances on top of hard work, humility, and charisma enamouring supporters of Los Colchoneros.
The upcoming match against Sevilla will see Simeone have to work with a depleted squad. Not only is his main left-back recovering from surgery, but his backup Sergio Reguilón suffered an injury in training last week and will be unavailable.
Furthermore, the derby saw Ángel Correa receive a straight red card and Nahuel Molina’s fifth booking of the season, meaning both will be suspended for the next match. The two Argentinians had seen improving form and Molina in particular was cementing himself as the quality right-back the team had been searching for.
Added to Reinildo’s misfortune and the two suspensions, Marcos Llorente may also miss the next game due to the Real Madrid clash. While Thomas Lemar was preparing to come on for Saúl Ñíguez in the 60th minute, the plan had to be changed as Llorente had to come off with what looked like a knock.
With the previously existing injuries of Geoffrey Kondogbia and Rodrigo De Paul, Simeone’s 22-man squad has been reduced by seven. El Cholo will have to be creative to pull a good result from their next league clash with Sevilla on Saturday.
Nicolás Antúnez de Mayolo | GSFN
