Diego Simeone believes that the competition between Jan Oblak and Juan Musso for a starting spot will only benefit Atlético Madrid.
Oblak has missed Atleti’s last two games due to an injury he aggravated while on international duty, and Musso has stepped up in his absence.
The Argentine goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Getafe, before making five saves as Los Rojiblancos defeated Inter 2-1 in the Champions League.
Atleti have won each of their last six games in all competitions since a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal, with four of those wins coming in LaLiga as they sit fourth in the standings.
Simeone’s team will face Real Oviedo next Saturday and the coach has not decided which goalkeeper will start in the match.
When asked if Musso has been Oblak’s most serious rival, the Atlético coach responded: “Well, I’m not going to go back to previous years or the guys who preceded Juan Musso.
“But I will talk about Juan, whose personality, presence, camaraderie and positive energy from his first minute at Atlético de Madrid have been valuable.
“Last season, when he played, he did so with personality and did what we believed he should do. Now he is performing at a very good level in the games he has played and that is very good for Oblak and the team.
“He [Oblak] trained pretty well [on Friday]then we’ll see [Saturday] with the training sessions we have planned, and then decide whether Juan Musso starts or continues.
Questioned about his current form, Simeone added: “The truth is that I don’t dwell on those thoughts. We take each day as it comes, each game as it comes.
“We are going to face a team that has grown in recent games with the arrival of its new coach, who has a quite bold approach. I can’t imagine another situation in which they have competed.”
Newly promoted Oviedo currently sit last in LaLiga, earning just nine points from their first 13 league games this season.
However, they tied two of their last three games (1L), but failed to score during that period.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atlético de Madrid – Julián Álvarez
Only Kylian Mbappé (13) and Robert Lewandowski (eight) have scored more goals in LaLiga this season than Álvaraz (seven).
The striker has scored in three of his last five games in all competitions, including the first goal in the victory over Inter.
Real Oviedo-Santi Cazorla
Cazorla has been involved in four goals in 18 LaLiga games against Atlético (one goal, three assists), but only one in every eight away games against them in the competition: an assist for Villarreal at the Vicente Calderón in March 2011.
MATCH PREDICTION – WIN FOR ATLÉTICO DE MADRID
Atlético is undefeated in its last 12 LaLiga games (W8 D4), winning the last five in a row. They have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five games in the competition, having conceded seven of their previous eight this season.
Simeone’s side have also scored in each of their 13 league games this season, scoring 25 goals in total. The last time he scored in each of his first 14 games of a season in the Spanish top flight was 1978-79 (28 goals).
Oviedo has not won any of its last six LaLiga games (D3 L3), without scoring in five of them; They have not suffered a longer streak without victories in the top flight since May 1999 (10 games, D5 L5).
Atleti are undefeated in their last three LaLiga games against Oviedo (W1 D2); Their last defeat against them was in October 1998 (3-1).
Oviedo will be the 33rd different rival that Simeone faces in LaLiga. They have achieved at least one victory against 31 of the previous 32, with the only exception of Racing de Santander (one match, one draw).
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Atlético de Madrid – 74.1%
Tie – 16.1%
Real Oviedo – 9.8%
