Koke to miss United match after mother’s death

Atlético Madrid’s Koke will miss Tuesday’s Champions League match against Manchester United after the club announced that his mother, Ana Merodio Borja, had died. Reports said the midfielder was left out of the squad so he could be with his family and that UEFA approved a minute of silence before kickoff. Atlético also planned for its players to wear black armbands in tribute. The match is scheduled for October 13 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid. The supplied reports preview the game and do not establish its result. Koke is Atlético’s captain. The club announced his mother’s death on Tuesday, according to reports, which said she was also the mother of Borja Resurrección, an assistant coach with Atlético’s under-19 side. One report said Manchester United supported Atlético’s request for the tribute; the other accounts did not detail that support. Manchester United manager Michael Carrick said Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo would also be unavailable. Both picked up issues during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and had not travelled to Madrid, he said. Carrick did not specify diagnoses, the severity of either player’s problem or when they might return.