Julián Alvarez faces another chance to rise at Atlético Madrid

Julián Alvarez is approaching another important step at Atlético Madrid. His proposed move to Barcelona fell through, but the coaching staff, teammates and club employees have backed him, and he returned to competition last Saturday. The next questions are whether he will start and whether the goals will come again as Atlético re-enters the Champions League.

Alvarez has scored 17 goals in 25 Champions League matches for Atlético. Sixteen of those goals, along with four assists, came in his last 21 appearances in the competition. Last season, Atlético reached the semifinals before Arsenal eliminated them by the narrowest margin, after a 1-1 first-leg draw featuring an Alvarez goal and a 1-0 defeat in the return match.

Alvarez and Kang-in Lee are the only players in Atlético’s current squad who have won the Champions League. Alvarez lifted the trophy with Manchester City in 2023, while the South Korean won it twice with Paris Saint-Germain under Luis Enrique Martínez.

In the previous Champions League edition, Alvarez contributed to 14 goals in 15 matches, scoring 10 and providing four assists. He produced those contributions in nine games, including wins over Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Saint-Gilloise, Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Tottenham and Barcelona, draws against Club Brugge and Arsenal, and a defeat by Tottenham.

His first Atlético campaign also ended in the round of 16 after a controversial double touch on a penalty against Real Madrid led to the kick being disallowed. He scored seven goals in 10 matches that season. Atlético have won three Champions League finals without lifting the trophy, and Alvarez is now recovering from the ankle problem that affected him in the semifinal defeat by Arsenal. He could start at Anfield, or his return to the first eleven may wait until the following Sunday’s visit to Real Sociedad.