Diego Simeone has confirmed that Luis Suarez will play for Atletico Madrid against Valencia on Saturday, despite a lack of form and apparent recent falling out between the pair.
The Uruguay international is Los Rojiblancos' top scorer in all competitions this season with nine goals, but has only found the net once in his last 11 club matches.
Suarez made his frustration known when he was substituted during last month's 2-1 defeat at Sevilla, appearing to direct expletives towards his manager.
The 34-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a Premier League reunion with former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, but Simeone insisted at a news conference ahead of the weekend's clash at the Wanda Metropolitano that he has spoken to Suarez and intends to play him.
Atletico have been on a poor run of late, winning just one of their last six LaLiga games and being eliminated from both the Supercopa de Espana and Copa del Rey in their last two outings.
"Luis Suarez will play," the Argentine coach confirmed. "I have no doubt that these moments make us stronger, because we have been in difficult moments and very good ones during my ten years at the club [as a coach].
"This moment is something we've never experienced before and it is like life itself, we need to defend ourselves continuously. What you did yesterday doesn't count, it counts what you do today and I love it like this because this is what happens in life itself.
"I've already talked to Luis and with the club. With all the people I've needed to, we've talked already. They know what I think, and I'm [currently] thinking about the match against Valencia.”
Suarez has scored 30 goals across all competitions since his arrival at Atletico from Barcelona in September 2020. Karim Benzema (54) and Gerard Moreno (41) are the only players currently based in Spain to have scored more often during that time.
Additionally, only Lionel Messi (231) has more than Suarez's 175 LaLiga goals since the Uruguayan joined Barcelona from Liverpool in July 2014.
Young Reggae Girlz end Concacaf U-20 Champs with 4-1 win over Panama
Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz gave head coach Hugh Bradford something to smile about, as they concluded their failed Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship campaign on a high with a 4-1 beating of Panama, at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
Natoya Atkinson (16th), Davia Richards (32nd), Maya Raghunandanan (37th) and Amelia Van Zanten (74th) were on target for the Bradford’s side, while Meredith Rosas, got Panama’s consolation in the 79th minute.
With the win, the Girlz ended Group A in third on three points scoring four goals and conceding nine, behind United States and Canada, to whom they suffered identical 0-4 defeats. Panama finished at the foot of the standing without a point.
It was a dominant performance by the Girlz, who for the first time in the tournament played with some degree of freedom and bossed possession throughout.
In fact, they were so fluent in attack, particularly in the first half, to the point where they held a high line, got significant numbers forward and camped out in Panama's quarters.
After firing a few warning shots, the Girlz inevitably broke the deadlock when Atkinson fired home from close range, after Destiny Powell’s initial effort came back off the crossbar.
Though they continued to apply consistent pressure, the Girlz had to wait until minutes past the half-hour mark to double their lead. Richards converted from the 12-yard spot, after Mireilis Rojas was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the 18-yard box on the VAR review.
Panama was not without hope, as they tried to play their game and even stringed a few good build ups together to remind the Jamaicans of their potential but couldn’t get anything on frame.
However, the Jamaicans pushed further ahead through Raghunandanan, who pounced on loose ball and lashed a one-time effort from a distance past Alejandra Garay, in goal for Panama, to make it 3-0 at the break.
Panama was never expected to overturn the deficit, but they were certainly more purposeful on the resumption with Sherline King forcing a fingertip save from Jamaica’s goalkeeper Katie Oakley in the 58th minute.
The Central Americans grew in confidence in the attacking third as the game progressed, especially as the young Reggae Girlz briefly became complacent and overconfident.
When they regained composure, the Jamaicans added a fourth courtesy of Van Zanten from the penalty spot, after the fleet-footed Shaneil Buckley was taken out by Garay inside the danger area.
But Panama responded shortly after with a 12-yard conversion of their own. Substitute Andrene Smith felled Aaliyah Gil in the 18-yard box, shortly after entering the pitch and Rosas was cool, calm and collected in firing past Oakley.
The Jamaicans could have added to their tally in the latter stages, but lacked composure in the final third, while it took some brilliance from Oakley to deny Gil, from a distance, four minutes from time.
Manchester United’s Anthony Martial ruled out of FA Cup final through injury
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has been ruled out of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City due to a hamstring injury.
Martial picked up the problem in United’s final Premier League game of the season after stepping off the bench on Sunday against Fulham and scans have revealed the full extent of the damage.
United said in a statement: “Anthony Martial is out of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup final against Manchester City due to injury.
“The France international strained his hamstring towards the end of Sunday’s 2-1 win against Fulham at Old Trafford.
“Assessments have since revealed a muscle tear that rules the 27-year-old out of the Wembley showdown.”
Martial missed United’s first two Premier League games this season due to a hamstring problem, while other small injuries since have restricted him to 29 appearances in all competitions in which he has scored nine goals.
Only 11 of his 21 league appearances this season have been in the starting line-up, but he had been hoping to be in contention to start at Wembley against City, who are looking to complete a domestic treble.
The former Lyon winger, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla, joined United from Monaco for £36million in 2015 and has made almost 200 league appearances for the club in total.
‘We are two great teams’ says Jose Mourinho ahead of Europa League final
Roma boss Jose Mourinho said Sevilla’s six previous Europa League trophy wins will count for little against his side in Wednesday’s final in Budapest.
Sevilla are bidding for a record-extending seventh triumph at the Puskas Arena, in a match the Hungarian media have dubbed ‘The Specialists against The Special One’.
Mourinho has yet to lose in five major European finals as a manager, while Sevilla have won all six of their Europa League finals.
The Portuguese told a press conference: “History does not play. My colleague (Sevilla head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar) thinks otherwise, I have respect for him.
“He believes that history makes Sevilla favourites, I respect that. We are in the final because we deserve to be.
“They have a history that we do not have. For them to play the final is a normal thing, for us it is an extraordinary event.”
Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Europa League with three different clubs after previous successes with Porto (2003) and Manchester United (2017).
The 60-year-old former Chelsea boss added: “We are two great teams, with high-level players.
“It’s curious because we talk about coaching experience, but we face a Sevilla side that has very accustomed players.
“They are a bit more experienced in finals, but my team comes here ready. We have played a lot of European games in the last two seasons.”
Mourinho’s latest European trophy triumph came last season when he led Roma to victory over Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference League final.
Roma finished second in this season’s Europa League qualifying group behind Real Betis and overcame RB Salzburg, Real Sociedad and Feyenoord in the knockout rounds before edging past Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on aggregate in their semi-final.
The Italian side, currently sixth in Serie A with one game remaining, could be boosted by the return of former United defender Chris Smalling (hip), while Argentina’s Paulo Dybala is hoping to play some part despite an ankle injury.
Sevilla head coach Mendilibar, 62, will become the oldest manager to win the Europa League if the Andalusians seal a record-extending seventh tournament win.
He said the side which makes the fewest errors on the night at the Puskas Arena will prevail.
The former Eibar and Alaves boss said: “Mistakes are what you pay for in games like this and it’s about making the fewest mistakes possible.
“We’ve eliminated big teams, but the most difficult one is ahead of us. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes will win.”
Mendilibar has transformed Sevilla since replacing Jorge Sampaoli at the end of March when they were two points above LaLiga’s relegation zone.
They have risen to 11th in the table, 10 points clear of the drop zone with one game left, and won their Europa League quarter-final and semi-final under Mendilibar against United and Juventus respectively.
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