The Reds’ new No.29, signed last week from Paris Saint-Germain, made his debut as a second-half substitute in Friday’s 2-0 win at Ipswich Town.
He is now in line to make his first Anfield appearance for the club on matchday one of the Champions League league phase.
Head coach Andoni Iraola was asked at his pre-match press conference if Barcola could potentially start versus Atletico.
“Yes, I think he played overall with extra time 31 [minutes] maybe or something like this [at Ipswich],” Iraola replied. “I think he’s ready to play more minutes.
“He has been training quite normally. The only thing is he hasn’t had the pre-season minutes that normally players have.
“We have to consider this, but I see him in a really good place. I think he can play more minutes definitely.
“I don’t see him like limited, no, I see him like a normal player with this circumstance that he hasn’t had a lot of pre-season minutes to build his form.
“But I saw him playing very well and I think he is ready to play more, yes.”
Liverpool are heading into a period that will include three games in the space of a week for the first time in the new campaign.
Fulham come to Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday, followed by a Carabao Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur three days later in L4.
On handling a more congested schedule, Iraola said: “This is going to be a challenge, I hope, all the season because it would mean we continue in all the competitions.
“In this case, it’s not the worst scenario because we played last Friday so we’ve had I think a good recovery.
“Probably it’s going to be more difficult for next weekend, especially for the next game against Spurs in the Carabao Cup because we’ll have just two days, game, two days, game.
“But we have to get used to this – it’s what big clubs do.
“Definitely there is part of your mind where you have to think [about] the next games. But for us, the game tomorrow is very important.”
Joe Gomez is nearing the end of his recovery from a muscle issue sustained in pre-season in late July and was involved in Tuesday’s preparations at the AXA Training Centre.
Wataru Endo is unavailable for selection, however. having not been included in Liverpool’s submitted squad for the league phase.
The same applies to Federico Chiesa, who is also currently recovering from an injury picked up last month.
Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni are still absent as they continue rehabilitation from long-term injuries.
Atletico confirmed a 24-man travelling squad ahead of their flight to Merseyside from Madrid on Tuesday morning.
Their group did not include attacker Alexander Sorloth, who is ruled out due to injury.
Meanwhile, Arnau Ortiz is suspended.
The La Liga club added Canada international Jonathan David to their attacking options last week as he arrived on loan from Juventus.
Elsewhere, Julian Alvarez is not yet ready to start but will feature against the Reds, Simeone confirmed on the eve of the game at Anfield.
The striker has played 55 minutes across two matches following his return to the squad after remaining with Atletico in the summer amid transfer interest.
Simeone said: “Julian is getting better – I don’t see he could start tomorrow but what I am sure of is he could help at some point in the game.
“We are in a construction phase, getting used to our surroundings: we have new players coming in, the issue with Alvarez, the arrival of David at the end of the transfer window – and it all takes time.”
Last match
Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool (September 4): Alisson, Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Munoz, Gakpo, Isak.
Athletic Club 3-0 Atletico (September 5): Oblak, Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Grimaldo, Simeone, Barrios, Hjulmand, Lookman, Lee, Baena.