Opponent watch: Key Atletico Madrid star will miss Barcelona clash due to suspension

As Barcelona gear up to take on Atletico Madrid in La Liga this Sunday, the Catalans have been handed a boost in the form of the absence of a key player from the opposition ranks.

Indeed, according to MARCA, Atletico Madrid star Marcos Llorente has been ruled out of the match against Barcelona after the appeal to get his suspension overturned was rejected.

Llorente received his fifth yellow card of the La Liga campaign during Atletico Madrid’s last match against UD Almeria, which meant an automatic one-match ban for the versatile midfielder for accumulation of cards.

However, the Rojiblancos had launched an appeal immediately to get the last yellow card overturned. As per the report, Atleti’s legal team tried to argue that there had been a manifest error in the referee’s report which had stated that Llorente was booked for ‘stopping a promising attack’.

But the Appeals Committee dismissed the argument made by Atletico Madrid, stating that the evidence provided was not sufficient and did not show any error.

And thus, Atletico’s attempt to overturn Llorente’s ban ahead of the game against Barcelona proved futile.

Now, they will have to make do without the Spaniard who has played 29 matches this season, scoring and assisting three goals apiece.

This will come as a boost to Barcelona, who will also be further boosted by the return from injury of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, both of whom are expected to start against Atletico Madrid on Sunday at Camp Nou.

Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembele could also be in contention to play a part against the Rojiblancos, based on the feelings in tomorrow’s training session.