Diego Simeone declined on 21 April to say whether Jan Oblak or Pablo Barrios would reappear for Atlético de Madrid when they travel to the Martínez Valero to face Elche on 22 April at 13:00 hours.
Simeone told reporters, "Todavía no tengo decidido, como siempre lo cuento, quién va a empezar este miércoles. Obviamente, tengo una idea. Oblak está mejor y Pablo está empezando a crecer, así que ojalá en estos partidos que tenemos por delante nos puedan ayudar." The manager said earlier in the press conference that "Oblak está mejor y Pablo está empezando a crecer."
The timing underlines why the decision matters. Oblak had missed six consecutive matches with a muscle strain in his side before returning to Atlético's squad the previous week for the Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Barcelona; he was on the bench in that match and also on the bench for the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad. Barrios, by contrast, has scarcely been available: he has played only one of Atlético's previous 18 matches after suffering a first muscle injury on 5 February against Betis that ruled him out of eight consecutive matches and a second muscle injury on 12 March that kept him absent from the following nine matches. He was included in the squad for the Copa del Rey final but did not play a minute.
Ahead of elche vs atlético madrid, that record leaves Simeone balancing match fitness against the need for fresh bodies in the trigésima tercera jornada of LaLiga EA Sports. Elche, playing at home, have lost only twice at the Martínez Valero — to Villarreal and Barcelona — and are locked into a fight to avoid the relegation zone; Atlético, meanwhile, are trying to stay near the top of the table as the season moves into its final stretch.
The match is scheduled for 22 April at 13:00 hours and will be shown live on and Disney+ Premium; Guillermo Cuadra Fernández has been designated as referee. Those logistics mean any late change in the squad will be visible to a wide audience and could shape momentum for both teams in the run of fixtures ahead.
The tension in Simeone's answer is plain. Oblak is back in the matchday group but only as a substitute in recent fixtures; Barrios has been named but unused in at least one high-profile match. Saying a player is "better" or "starting to grow" is different from entrusting him with 90 minutes in a top-flight match, and Simeone refused to bridge that gap on Tuesday.
The single most consequential unanswered question now is whether Simeone will hand Oblak the starting shirt and give Barrios meaningful minutes in LaLiga action after those long absences — a choice that will reveal how much risk Atlético are willing to take with players returning from muscle problems in the decisive weeks of the season.
