![[Polo] In the test that Flick did yesterday, he formed the team with Joan Garcia in goal; Araujo at right back, Koundé and Gerard Martín as centre backs and Cancelo at left back; in the double pivot he placed Eric Garcia and Pedri ; in front, a line of three with Yamal, Olmo and Rashford.](https://www.eucup.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/p-KEdEj49Nf0YbggXaKQFQQPLkHVCN6cjCxJehWKvcc-1024x576.jpeg "[Polo] In the test that Flick did yesterday, he formed the team with Joan Garcia in goal; Araujo at right back, Koundé and Gerard Martín as centre backs and Cancelo at left back; in the double pivot he placed Eric Garcia and Pedri ; in front, a line of three with Yamal, Olmo and Rashford.")
[Polo] In the test that Flick did yesterday, he formed the team with Joan Garcia in goal; Araujo at right back, Koundé and Gerard Martín as centre backs and Cancelo at left back; in the double pivot he placed Eric Garcia and Pedri ; in front, a line of three with Yamal, Olmo and Rashford.
by OkayFine101
20 Comments
Oh no, another leg with 10 men on the field
Araujo😨
I hope it’s just for trial as garcia can be very good centre back we have players to play in the middle with pedri namely gavi.
Kounde as centre back and Araujo as right back cannot be right.
This is right though Atleticos defense is their weakest aspect in their team for 2nd leg with lenglet le normad there ruggeri will be eaten by yamal and molina is attacking fullback we will be able to attack but we need solid defense from their crazy attack
No way fermin will be benched!
Weird to see Kounde in the center and Araujo on the right. They should be swapped.
No de jong?
Frenkie is not ready?
Lol, that’s 10 players, no?
Damn this seems to be a recipe for disaster
Oh, obviously Sir Flick has learnt that we need to prep for the 10-man lineup
Araujao as right back is concerning start cancelo at rb and balde at lb, balde will be every important
Eric in midfield is not it. Flick always forcing the guy in the lineup. Play Gavi or Casado if De jong can’t start
All this hype that the will make a comeback just for them to get 3-0, i don’t like our players and media, they talk too big and that’s why they will not do shit
Eric in midfield isn’t a good idea.
Kounde hasn’t even played CB since a while and he is just coming back from injury…
Bro get Gavi & Fermin. We need both of them to press because Rashford & Olmo aren’t great at it. That defense doesn’t give me an inch of hope tbh, would be watching in a relax mood. That 1st leg already did enough harm to my mental peace
I don’t think that Kounde in the center is a great idea. He’s better as a RB. Eric and Martin in the centre, Araujo in case of Sorloth. Frenkie and Pedri in the start, later Gavi can go down instead of Frenkie. A lot depends on the game progression.
Atleti’s strength is their attack, this is not 2016 Atleti, which had some of the best CBs of its time in its prime. Atleti will have to play the entire game with Le Normand and Lenglet as their CB partnership. Atleti’s attack is amazing with the likes of Lookman, Alvarez, Sorloth, Griezmann. I am not too much confident with Araujo and Cancelo being our full backs. Cancelo can not defend but if we have another full back like Araujo who is very mistake prone then that could be a big problem and Atleti will look to target us on the flanks with Lookman, Alvarez, Molina.
We should probably go with a back four of Kounde, Eric Garcia, Martin, Cancelo. If Flick wants to play Araujo at RB, I genuinely think that Balde at LB would be a much better option.
Balde at LB and Cancelo at RB could also be a good option to completely overpower on the right flank. Balde is much better defensively than Cancelo.
Overall, I think we should not overthink. We were the better team even with 10 man last Wednesday and today if we keep it simple, do the basics right we will create many opportunities. Finishing would be the key.
Let’s go with a similar plan and high confidence and we’ll get it done.