Kieran Trippier is expected to miss Atlético Madrid’s Champions League last-16 first-leg meeting at home against Liverpool on 18 February because of a groin strain. The Spanish club, however, hope the England full-back could be fit for the return three weeks later.
Trippier underwent an operation on Tuesday and, although no return date was given, the procedure was a success and the expectation is that he will take approximately a month to return to full fitness.
Atlético had initially followed a conservative course of treatment in the hope of avoiding an operation, at least until the summer. But with the discomfort in his adductor not subsiding, his continuing unavailability and the risk of the problem getting worse, the decision was made to undergo surgery. Trippier will now begin physiotherapy and gym work, with the early prognosis cautiously optimistic.
He has not played for Atlético since the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid in Jeddah on 12 January, missing three leagues games and one in the Copa del Rey. This is the second time he has had a groin injury: in December 2018 he missed five games while at Tottenham.
Trippier is one of eight players Atlético have unavailable, and they have endured 17 muscular injuries alone this season, with the crisis contributing to their worst season under Diego Simeone. Knocked out of the Copa del Rey by a team from a lower division for the first time since the coach’s arrival in 2012, they trail the league leaders Real Madrid by 13 points and are sixth, outside the Champions League places.
Atlético hope to have Álvaro Morata back for the match against Liverpool, despite his being withdrawn early in the second half of the Madrid derby on Sunday, and the captain, Koke Resurrección, is expected to be fit too. But José María Giménez’s recovery has already gone on longer than anticipated, João Félix’s inclusion remains uncertain following a muscular injury picked up against Leganés last week. While Diego Costa has not been ruled out he still has not rejoined his teammates after he underwent a difficult operation of the vertebrae in his neck in November.
Aware of their weakness up front, Atlético re-signed their former player Yanick Carrasco on the final day of the January transfer window, but they failed to secure Simeone’s primary target, PSG’s Edison Cavani.
Meanwhile, Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé is likely to miss the rest of the season because of a hamstring tear.
