Until last Wednesday, left-back Filipe Luis had played every minute of all competitions with Atletico Madrid, but his injury means that Diego Simeone is searching for someone to step into the left-back slot. The only outfield player who hadn't had a single second of rest in the first 16 games of the season, had no choice but to request to come off in match day 17 after feeling a twinge in his thigh that made him fear the worst. In the dressing room, the initial extent of the problem was explored and, in principle, the left-back was diagnosed with a contracture. On Friday, he will undergo imaging tests to reveal the exact extent of the ailment and, as a result, how long he will have to spend out of action. His importance to the team is without question as Filipe Luis is the only player in the whole squad that doesn't have a pure substitute. Lucas Hernandez is a central defender who can play on the left-hand side of the back four, and indeed has already played there under Cholo. Chosen by the Argentine to replace Filipe against PSV, Sime Vrsaljko is a right-back, so clearly one of them will have to relocate positionally.
Six from six
Both players have already responded every time the coach has called upon their services. And when either of the pair have played, Atletico have won. They've participated in three games respectively - Lucas against Deportivo, Valencia and Malaga, Vrsaljko, against Sporting, Rostov and PSV. In principle, Lucas would start with an advantage over the Croatian. Diego Simeone have been renowned for their desire and will to win, but one player that has done more than most in 2016/17 is Koke, the midfielder covering the longest distance of any player in the Champions League. He has played all five group games so far, hasn't missed a single minute and hasn't stopped running either. So much so that no player in any of the 32 teams has worked as hard since the tournament began in September. In the matches against PSV, Rostov and Bayern Munich, Koke has covered 61,265 metres.
Aleksandr Golovin of CSKA Moscow is the player nearest to him with a distance of 60,668m. Those two are the only players to pass the 60,000 metre mark with Rostov's Aleksandr Gatskan in third place, albeit his 59,174m is over 1,000 less than Koke's. Gabi and Antoine Griezmann have also slipped into the Top 10, evidencing the desire of Simeone to work his charges throughout a ninety minutes. The captain is seventh with 58,597m run while the French striker is tenth with 57,057m traveled.Five wins from the first five games mean that, with a victory over Bayern Munich on match day six, the Rojiblancos will join a select group that have achieved something similar in the past. Since the European Cup became the Champions League and started to be played in a format similar to the current one, only five teams have managed to win each and every group game. Real Madrid twice (11/12 and 14/15), Barcelona (02/03), Spartak Moscow (95/96), PSG (94/95) and Milan (92/93).
Five teams in 25 seasons
Only Milan reached the final
However, finishing the group stage with a perfect record is no guarantee of eventual cup success. In fact, none of the teams above ended the campaign with the trophy. Fabio Capello's Milan reached the final only to be beaten by Marseille (1-0). The team of Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Marco Van Basten, Roberto Donadoni and Frank Rijkaard won their group with six victories, 11 goals scored and only one against. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain's participation ended in the semi finals whilst Barcelona and Spartak lost in the quarterfinal.
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