A leading member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Atlético Madrid was a notable absence from first-team training on Tuesday.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who point towards Pablo Barrios as the player in question.
Youngster Barrios for his part sat out group training in Spain’s capital on Monday, owing to what was understood to be little more than fatigue.
As alluded to above, though, this morning, the 21-year-old was again put through an individualised session, away from the rest of Diego Simeone’s squad.
As much would appear to point towards a potential fitness issue for Barrios.
Atlético, as a collective, are primed to return to action on Thursday evening, in a La Liga meeting with capital rivals Rayo Vallecano.
And as per MD, Barrios ‘has not been ruled out for the derby’.
The Spaniard, though, has seen his participation thrown into serious doubt, with Wednesday’s training session likely to prove decisive in determining Barrios’ status to face Rayo.
Conor Laird – GSFN
