Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis preview - Simeone hopeful of Falcao return

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2013 by PA

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is hopeful of being able to name top-scorer Radamel Falcao in his starting line-up for the visit of Real Betis as the striker recovers from a hamstring injury.

The Colombian missed last weekend's 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao and the 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, but has trained this week and Simeone has said it will be a last-minute decision on whether he and new signing Emiliano Insua will play.

He told the club's website: "We will go together to the Calderon in the morning and there we will resolve who is in good condition to play. Insua has a muscular strain so we will see how it evolves.

"The Betis game will be difficult, we know how they play and know us as well. They are a team that from the middle of the pitch forward has a lot of creativity and speed.

"They have been resting for a week and obviously they will try to take advantage of that. We need to recover well, the game on Thursday was very hard and I hope we will be able to play a good game."

Should Insua be fit he will almost certainly start at left-back as Filipe Luis is suspended, but otherwise Simeone has a full squad to choose from.

Betis suffered a setback to their Champions League aspirations last weekend when they were hammered 3-0 by Rayo Vallecano.

However, coach Pepe Mel is hoping that result was just a blip at the end of a busy month for Los Verdiblancos and that they will bounce back after a rare week without a midweek fixture.

He told the club's website: "The bad results people speak of were in January when we won two, drew one and lost one. I hope in February we do the same and in March too. What happens is that we are left with the impression of the last one, which we lost.

"It has been a tiring month and the same players have had to face all the matches. From now on we will improve physically and I see everything with great optimism."

Mel's squad has also been boosted by the return of Alex Martinez, Juan Carlos and Alejandro Pozuelo from injury, while Dorlan Pabon and Guillermo Molins have also joined on loan from Parma and Anderlecht respectively and could be involved.