Levante and Atlético Madrid named their starting lineups for their LALIGA EA Sports match at the Ciutat de Valencia, with Marc Pubill back at the stadium where he made his Primera debut. The game was due to begin with a minute of silence for the dead and injured in Urda, while the weather outlook added another layer to the evening.
Levante’s XI was Ryan; Toljan; Ndukwe, Nacho Pérez; Requena, Olasagasti; Iván Romero; Brugué, Eyong and Thiago. Atlético answered with Oblak, Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Grimaldo; Giuliano, Barrios, Hjulmand, Baena; Kang In and Julián. The detail that stood out most was Pubill’s return to the Ciutat in a central defensive role, a position he filled after Simeone chose not to risk Cuti ahead of meetings with Bayern and Barça.
That selection also left Llorente at full-back and brought Hjulmand straight back into the side alongside Barrios, giving Atlético a shape that looked more controlled than experimental. Simeone’s bigger call was further forward, where he picked Kang In as Julián’s partner rather than Jonathan David. It is the kind of choice that tells more than a pre-match note: one pairing was preferred, another held back, and the manager clearly weighed the current match against what comes next.
There was still more around the match than the lineups alone. The CTA planned to begin flash interviews with referees for television rights holders starting with Levante-Atlético and then the next day’s derbi vasco, a step José Luis Allegue described as the latest move toward transparency. And while the focus on the pitch remained on selection, the sky could matter too, with an AEMET yellow warning for Valencia in place until 18.00 and the possibility that rain would leave the ball and the surface less predictable than the teams would like.
For Atlético, the trip also carried a familiar subtext: the Ciutat de Valencia is not one of Simeone’s more comfortable grounds, and every result there feeds into a wider chase. He was one victory away from 344, a mark that would bring him closer to Luis Aragonés’ record. For now, though, the story was simpler and more immediate than any milestone — the lineups were in, Pubill was back where he started out, and the match was about to show whether Simeone’s choices held up under the night’s pressure.
