Luis Suarez, the Atletico Madrid player, wanted to teach his former team Barcelona a soccer lesson when they meet the day after tomorrow, Saturday, in the tenth round of the Spanish League at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, the stronghold of "Al Atleti".
However, the Uruguayan attacker is in quarantine after it was confirmed that he was infected with the new Corona virus in his country;
Which means his absence from facing the team he left last summer.
Suarez still believed he had a lot to offer Barcelona;
But the club's board of directors and new coach, Ronald Koeman, agreed his days were over.
Suarez scored 5 goals from 6 matches that he participated in with Atletico this season;
But the latter must now place his hopes on rising player Joao Felix.
The Portuguese striker joined the Rojiblancos last season for a club record amounting to 126 million euros, and he is performing a great performance with the team this season.
Felix scored 5 goals and scored 2 goals in 7 La Liga matches;
To show that he has matured to be the striker that coach Diego Simeone needs to reinforce the team's dream of winning the league title.
"These are the games we like to play (against Barcelona). We will have to run a little more than usual because of the way they play, and because they like to own and possess the ball," Felix said on Wednesday.
Felix is looking to do more damage to Barcelona, who are suffering from fluctuations in form under Koeman.
A series of negative results for Barcelona in their last matches before the suspension period ended with a 5-2 win over Betis, however questions remain about Coman's squad with the team, which is ranked eighth in the table.
A win over Atletico Madrid will go a long way to assuage fears that Koeman is not the right person to return the LaLiga title to Barca's coffers this season.
Atletico Madrid signed Felix to fill the void left by Antoine Griezmann, who did not present his known level with Barcelona in the first season and a half of the season with the Catalan team.
Coman told Diario Sport that Griezmann "is doing a good job, although he personally said weeks ago that his performance should improve."
"The players go through moments of doubt, and we must help them to regain their best levels, but in the end it is up to the player," he added.
Atlético will also miss the efforts of Lucas Torreira, who contracted the Coronavirus while he was with the Uruguayan national team.
Real Sociedad, leaders of the standings, can maintain their position if they win over Cadiz, on Sunday, while Real Madrid will visit Villarreal, who is making good performances with coach Unai Emery.
The Real Madrid team, led by French Zinedine Zidane, suffered a defeat by Valencia before the international break, and the team will be determined to compensate when it faces the "yellow submarines."
Real enters the match and has many injuries, as doubts are raised about the participation of defense duo Sergio Ramos and Rafael Varane, who are racing against time to catch up with the match, while the duo Eden Hazard and Ider Militao are still waiting for the appearance of a negative sample in the tests that they underwent to detect the Corona virus.
Casemiro is no longer infected with Corona virus, and he can play after missing the match, which the team lost to "bats", while Karim Benzema and Danny Carvajal hope to participate in the match;
But they may not be able to heal in time after their bruising.
In the rest of the matches of this round, Osasuna will meet Huesca, Levante with Elche, Seville against Celta Vigo, Eibar with Getafe, Granada with Valladolid, Alaves with Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao with Real Betis.