'Lee Kang-in to be benched?' Prediction completely overturned... Defies local Spanish expectations, starts against Levante, forms front two with Alvarez

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The 'ace' of the South Korean national football team, Lee Kang-in (25, Atletico Madrid), will start in the match against Levante, overturning local Spanish predictions that he would be left out of the starting lineup.

Atletico, managed by Diego Simeone, will face Levante away at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia in Valencia, Spain, at 10 p.m. (KST) on the 31st in a Round 11 match of the 2026-2027 Spanish La Liga season.

Ahead of the match, Atletico announced its starting lineup through the club's official social media channels. Lee Kang-in's name was included among them.

Atletico will deploy a 4-4-2 formation. Lee Kang-in and Julian Alvarez will lead the attack from the front line.

In midfield, Giuliano Simeone, Pablo Barrios, Morten Hjulmand, and Alex Baena are positioned. The defensive line consists of Marcos Llorente, Marc Pubill, David Hancko, and Alejandro Grimaldo. Jan Oblak will guard the goal.

Lee Kang-in's starting appearance is an unexpected choice. Previously, local Spanish media outlets predicted that Lee Kang-in was highly likely to start on the bench in this match against Levante. The analysis suggested that his stamina could be managed ahead of the important upcoming match against Bayern Munich (Germany).

Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo stated, "Manager Simeone has several concerns heading into the match against Levante," explaining, "This is because he must immediately face Bayern Munich at home right after the Levante match ends."

Atletico will play its home match against Munich in the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase on November 4 at 5 a.m. at Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain.

Currently, Atletico has a record of one win, one draw, and one loss (four points) in the UCL, sitting in 16th place in the league phase. Points are desperately needed to climb into the upper ranks.

For this reason, Mundo Deportivo predicted, "Manager Simeone appears likely to conserve resources such as Lee Kang-in, Koke, Johnny Cardoso, and Ademola Lookman so they can be utilized as starters for the Munich match."

European football statistics outlet FootMob also presented a similar outlook. In its predicted starting lineup for the Levante match, it excluded Lee Kang-in, but included him as a right-side attacker in its predicted lineup for the Munich match.

However, Manager Simeone's actual choice was different. He fielded Lee Kang-in, who was expected to be saved until the Munich match, as a starter from the Levante game onward. This demonstrates that Lee Kang-in plays an important role in Manager Simeone's plans.

Local Spanish media also paid attention to Lee Kang-in's starting appearance. Immediately after the starting lineup was announced, Mundo Deportivo reported, "Atletico has finalized its starting lineup for the match against Levante. There are several changes," adding, "Korean player Lee Kang-in is in Atletico's starting lineup."

It further explained, "All expectations were set on Jonathan David being Alvarez's attacking partner. However, it turned out that the one pairing with the Argentine attacker is Korean Lee Kang-in."

This is also an important match for Atletico. Currently holding a record of eight wins, one draw, and one loss (25 points), the team sits in second place in the league. The gap with leader Barcelona (27 points) is just two points. On the other hand, opponent Levante remains in 15th place with two wins, four draws, and four losses (10 points).

Atletico is in a situation where it must secure three points to continue its pursuit of the league title.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original