Deportivo La Coruna vs Atletico de Madrid preview - Mandzukic rested for Depor clash

Posted Friday, April 17, 2015 by PA

Diego Simeone has chosen to rest Mario Mandzukic for Atletico Madrid 's Primera Division match with Deportivo La Coruna.

The Croatian striker suffered a cut on his eye after a clash with Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos during Tuesday's 0-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg draw.

When Simeone revealed his 18-man squad for the match at Estadio Riazor, Mandzukic was not one of the inclusions, meaning Fernando Torres can expect to lead the line in Saturday's contest.

The Argentinian is expected to make other changes for the Depor game, with next week's second leg against Real at the Bernabeu in mind.

Defender Jose Gimenez and midfielder Saul Niguez, both on the bench on Tuesday, could start in place of Miranda and Arda Turan.

With seven Primera Division games remaining, Simeone told reporters: "We are focused on the game and will try to do well.

"This match is key because it is our next one, and we need to continue to compete with Valencia and Sevilla."

Atletico currently occupy the third Champions League place but have only a one-point advantage over Valencia, with Sevilla a further three adrift.

Deportivo are 38 points adrift of their opponents, with a run of nine games without a win leaving them out of the bottom three only on goal difference.

However, boss Victor Sanchez could opt to name an unchanged line-up after the encouraging 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad last time out.

That would mean Oriol Riera leading the line and on-loan PAOK Salonika winger Lucas Perez starting ahead of former Barcelona man Isaac Cuenca.