However, the news has is focused on the injuries of players in both teams, players which are & have been very important all season for both Clubs. The long Spanish Football & European Soccer season has taken its toll on players who are now suffering the strains & wears with injury.
Atletico de Madrid has two main worries. The first, their star forward Diego Costa has a small back muscle thigh tear that has been diagnosed & has been recommended 15 days of rest. At first sight this would cancel out totally his participation in the upcoming Final. However, the player is looking for a "miracle" & has flown to Serbia to be treated by Doctor Marijana Kovacevic who uses "horse placenta" to recover players from muscle injury in record periods. She is famous for doing "miracles" with English Premier League Football players, example Man Utd forward Van Persie. Will he make it? Still very doubtful, but faith can move mountains. The worrying part to the Diego Costa story, & if he plays, is that if he "breaks" he could well put all his Spanish National Team duties in the upcoming World Cup 2014 in Brazil in the garbage. He could be watching Spain at home recovering from injury on the TV. Huge risk if he does finally jump onto the field.
The other injury cloud over Atletico de Madrid is Turan Arda. Here it is less dramatic as he suffered a knock on his hip last Sunday in Liga, & now seems to be moving freely. He is almost certain to make it to the final.
Real Madrid on the other hand has a longer list of important players under a cloud & it is more worrying for the Club. Apart, they will have Xabi Alonso sitting on the bench due to yellow cards accumulation & it is an important missing element to the side.
The "sick list" is a follows:
Pepe: a twin muscle problem. Difficult the he will make it.
Benzema: a groin muscle strain. Coach Ancelotti said that it will be difficult that he will make it 100%. The player is trying to recover in time...50/50.
Cristiano Ronaldo: back muscle thigh tear. Although minimal the tear, the player has been nursing this for weeks & has even risked in the past. The player made all the alarm bells sound when he retired from the field last weekend after "feeling something" in the warm-up. He has commented that he is OK & will make it to the Final.
In the Ronaldo case their is a psychological element as he has the fear of missing the World Cup if he "breaks", this may limit his efforts & play.
Overall, some big worries on both sides with Real Madrid the more affected. Stay tuned!
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