Atletico Madrid confirm injury blow two weeks before new La Liga season

In exactly two weeks’ time, Atletico Madrid will kick off their 2025-26 La Liga campaign with a trip to Espanyol. There is a lot of optimism surrounding Los Colchoneros ahead of the new season after a lot of positive activity during the summer transfer window, but some of that could now be dulled.

Atleti have had a reduced pre-season schedule due to their involvement in the Club World Cup, and that meant their players also did not have a normal period of time away from football. And that could have affected Pablo Barrios, who has gone down with an injury.

As per an official statement from Atleti, Barrios has suffered a low-grade muscle injury.

“Pablo Barrios suffers from a low-grade muscle injury, diagnosed by the club’s medical services after the tests carried out on the midfielder, and will not play the friendly match that we will play this Sunday against Porto.

“The red-and-white ‘8’ will carry out physiotherapy sessions and readaptation work in the gym and the evolution of his injury will determine his return to competition.”

Will Barrios miss Atleti’s opener against Espanyol?

Atleti have not specified a return date for Barrios, who is one of the undisputed starters for Diego Simeone. And given that it is a muscle injury, there is a chance that he could miss out against Espanyol, given that the match takes place in two weeks at the RCDE Stadium.

However, it has been reported by Cadena SER’s Pedro Fullana that Atleti do not expect Barrios to be out for more than a week, meaning that he should be available to start in the La Liga opener.

🚨🇪🇸 JUST IN: The goal is for Pablo Barrios to be ready for the La Liga opener against Espanyol. He will be out for several days.@PedroFullanaSER pic.twitter.com/Y8XfdlsZsb

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 3, 2025

It is a relief for Atleti that Barrios’ injury is not serious, given his importance to Simeone. He will be managed in the coming days, but barring any setbacks, he should be fine to face Espanyol.