Athletic Club sweating on fitness of two key players for Atletico Madrid showdown | OneFootball

Athletic Club have an outside chance of winning the La Liga title this season, although for that to happen, they would need to win against Atletico Madrid this weekend. As things stand, they are five points behind their opponents at the Metropolitano, who are only a point behind Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the standings.

Ernesto Valverde’s side have been in excellent form in recent months, but the trip to Atleti will be a massive test. However, they are more than capable of securing a positive result, especially as the hosts played out a mammoth 4-4 draw against Barcelona on Tuesday in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.

However, it is possible that Athletic are without two key players for the trip to the Spanish capital. It is almost certain that Oihan Sancet will miss out, with the Basque club confirming on Wednesday that he suffered a “moderate muscle injury in the rectus femoris of his right leg”, as per Relevo.

Sancet, who has been in excellent goalscoring form in recent weeks, which continued last weekend in the 7-1 rout of Real Valladolid, has had terrible luck with injuries this season. This one is the fourth that he has suffered since August, and although it is not a major problem, he is likely to be out for at least a couple of weeks.

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Nico Williams is also a doubt to face Atleti this weekend. As per Marca, he has been struggling with illness over the last few days, and he again was absent from Athletic training on Wednesday.

Sancet and Williams would be major misses for Athletic, and it would severely limit the attacking threat that they can pose to Atleti at the Metropolitano. Club officials will desperately be hoping that the latter is able to return in the next couple of days.