USMNT star Johnny Cardoso to miss Champions League opener due to injury, Julian Alvarez also out

Atletico Madrid have officially released the 22-man squad Simeone has chosen to travel to Merseyside to face reigning Premier League champions Liverpool in their Champions League opener. Alvarez and Cardoso are the most notable absentees, but Thiago Almada, Jose Maria Gimenez, and Alex Baena have also been omitted from the squad.

Alvarez started Atletico's latest La Liga fixture against Villarreal but was substituted at half-time after suffering a knee injury. The Argentina international has yet to recover from the knock and will miss the European clash against the Reds. While Alvarez missed half of the Villarreal game, he did provide the assist for Pablo Barrios' early goal as Simeone's side picked up a comfortable 2-0 win.

United States men's national team star Cardoso, who joined Atletico from fellow La Liga club Real Betis for a fee of $35 million (£25.7m) in the summer, reportedly sustained a sprain during the club's training session on Monday and will not travel to the UK for Champions League duty.

After facing Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday, Simeone's Atletico side will only have four days to prepare for their next La Liga outing away at Real Mallorca on Sunday. Atletico are down in 11th in the table after winning just one of their first four games.