Julián Álvarez’s bid for atonement in focus as Atlético host Barcelona
At 9pm on Sunday at the Metropolitano, Atlético Madrid will host Barcelona in a La Liga match that could hand the winner top spot. The fixture has drawn attention as Julián Álvarez seeks to repair relations with Atlético supporters after publicly expressing a desire to join Barcelona.
Álvarez admitted in Dallas that joining Barcelona had been his “dream” and, after Argentina’s win over Algeria, said: “It’s not the time to talk about this but nor can I hide.” He also told reporters: “I spoke with the people I needed to and the best thing for everyone is a transfer.” Atlético refused to sell and the transfer did not materialise before the window closed six days after he missed training on consecutive days.
Early in the season Álvarez was booed and whistled by home supporters, with one chant telling him to leave and an episode in which he was invited to walk off up the tunnel alone while team-mates turned away to applaud the fans. He subsequently ended his relationship with agent Fernando Hidalgo; Atlético’s chief executive accused the agent of having led Álvarez astray and Hidalgo called the club “liars.”
On the field Álvarez scored against Stuttgart on 20 October and four days later scored in a 1-0 home win over Deportivo A Coruña. After those goals he said: “I would like to apologise to our people for my words at the World Cup,” and added: “I understand the anger; as a fan I would have been angry too, especially after all they had done to support me.” Diego Simeone commented: “I am very respectful of those who say sorry because it is not easy to say sorry,” and added, “I am sure Julián is more at peace now.”
Playing time and output have shifted this season: Álvarez started one of the first seven games without scoring, then started five of eight that followed and scored twice in that period. Team-mates have urged reliance on him for goals—Jan Oblak said in Stuttgart, “We need lots of goals from Julián to be up there,” and Álex Grimaldo added, “He has the quality to score a thousand goals.”
Barcelona’s season developments provide context to the transfer saga: they lost Robert Lewandowski, Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres in the summer, redeployed Raphinha as a No 9 who is “Europe’s top scorer with 19,” and have had contributions from many players—Lamine Yamal has 13 goals and 11 assists and 13 different players have scored for the club. The article notes Barcelona are “on course to get more than 150 in the league alone,” and that their only domestic defeat recently was the clásico reverse amid a run of nine straight wins; they also lost in Paris the same week.
Atlético arrive having won seven La Liga matches in a row, including a win over Real Madrid, and sit ahead of Madrid and just behind Barcelona in the table. Simeone accepted Bayern Munich were superior on Tuesday, and the team’s present record is described as better than at the same stage when they last won the league; league scoring is spread across the squad with Álvarez having one league goal, Álex Baena five, Álex Grimaldo four, and Jonathan David and Giuliano Simeone three each.
A victory for Atlético on Sunday would move them to the top of the table, and Simeone underscored Álvarez’s importance, saying: “If the club wants to be in the places the fans dream of, we’ll need Julián.”